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For many couples, the idea of boarding a cruise ship for a weeklong sea voyage, hopping on a plane to an exotic destination or even driving to a mountain retreat for a long weekend sounds like the perfect chance to kick back and forget about their worries. However, for an increasing number of couples these dream vacations are actually being used as opportunities to address their worries, particularly as they relate to their marriage.

According to experts, a growing number of married couples here in the U.S. are embarking on so-called “save-cations” or “Hail-Mary-moons” in a last ditch effort to rekindle their romance.

They theorize that the relative explosion in these kinds of trips can likely be attributed to the lingering effects of the recent recession in that people are wary of what they believe are the economic realities associated with filing for divorce — spousal support, child support, property division, etc.

While the idea of scaling glaciers with a spouse in Iceland or relaxing on a beach in Mexico with a significant other certainly sounds like a recipe for saving a marriage on its surface, is this really the case?

The answer, of course, is that it depends on the individual couple. Some married couples have reported returning from these expeditions feeling refreshed and recommitted to one another, while other couples have indicated that they merely hastened the end of the relationship.

Understandably, family experts are divided on whether the save-cation can actually save a marriage. Some believe that they are just preventing the inevitable and that couples can quickly begin to feel angry and suffocated while miles away from home, while others believe that they can and do keep couples together.

These proponents of save-cations, however, urge couples to remember that the trip is just as much about working on their marriage as it is about having fun, and that complaints, blame and irritation must be left behind.

What are your thoughts on the idea of save-cations? Is it a good way to save a marriage or a waste of time, money and energy?

The New York Times, “The Hail-Mary Moon,” Carrie Seim, July 31, 2013