I invited a guy I'd been dating for a month on vacation. It was the perfect relationship test.

The author (right) said this was the first picture she took with a guy she was dating during a trip to Acadia National Park.

Courtesy of Renate Flanagan.

I had been dating a guy for about a month when I took a chance and invited him on a trip.

I was worried it might be too soon, but the vacation turned out to be a great compatibility test.

Six years later, he's now my husband.

This trip is one we look back on fondly.

How soon is too soon to invite a new romantic partner to go on vacation? I asked myself that when I had been dating a guy for a month and had an upcoming vacation that I had planned before I met him.

During the height of the pandemic lockdown in the spring of 2020, I was going stir-crazy not being able to travel freely.

In those early days before vaccines or access to testing, air travel felt risky, and there were even restrictions on interstate travel .

As an avid traveler who always has a next destination in mind, I needed something to look forward to during those dark days when I was afraid to hug my parents because of social distancing guidelines.

I didn't know it yet, but a solo adventure to cure my cabin fever would turn into a litmus test for a budding relationship during those unprecedented times.

I planned a trip that seemed doable, even with pandemic restrictions I loved hiking and the outdoors before the pandemic.

While many places were closed due to social distancing mandates, the national parks were mostly still open.

I had never been to Acadia National Park in Maine, even though I lived in New England until I was 10.