Being single and trying to go on holiday with friends is harder than winning the lottery - Alexander Brown

Summer is nearly here, and with it a deluge of holiday pictures and stories from my friends.

Seemingly everyone I know has packed up and gone to find sun, enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation after a horrible few years.

Opening social media, my feeds are awash with pictures of Italian sunsets, French patisseries and my pals tensing/breathing in by water.

Now I love holidays, and form relationships with the country upon visiting, whether it’s seeking out more of its food when I come back or picking a local football team.

Holidays are better spent with someone, says Alexander Brown. Photo: Anyaberkut/Getty

That first step past passport control makes me giddy with anticipation for the sights, wine, and culture I am about to consume.

Basking in the thick hot air when you step off a plane, a petit biere facing into a town square, walking back to where you’re staying to the smells and sounds of the sea.

Even the mundane becomes a joy, with supermarkets transforming from a requirement to a museum of curiosities.

It’s exploring the crisp aisle, investigating the bakery section and needing a separate trolley for the array of local beers you want to try.

But as yet I’m not going and don’t know when I will, and I think it’s because of my age.

It didn’t used to be like this, you could ask if people fancied doing something and the answer was inevitably yes, with the only risk being it could cost too much.

But now, not to be all this is 30 about it, but my friends are at stages in their lives where their careers are either really starting to take off, or somewhat less excitingly, they’re shacked up with a partner they now prioritise.

They’ve already going away as a couple and can’t afford it, or they’re saving for a house together, and we’ve all been told not to enjoy nice things if we want to own.

This is also not a problem limited to seeing those lucky enough to be in love.

As my generation gets more affluent, we also get busier, and with great incomes comes great responsibility.

I’ve had friends agree and swap Airbnbs we might stay in, only for them to get promotions or new jobs and want to make a good impression.

The obvious solution to this would be to go on a solo holiday, go find myself and spend my days writing, reading and walking away from it all.

But I simply don’t want to, I spend enough time with my own thoughts in Britain, I don't need to do that alone.

Holidays are about sharing that excitement when you open the door to where you’re staying, trying each other’s food, having someone to make fun of the sculptures with in museums.

I want to go on holiday, but being single makes doing that so much harder.

It’s not a lack of resources and it’s not for want of friends, it’s just as you get older there is more real life to get in the way.