The Annual Summer Trip

The recurring vacation tradition gives Poppy and Alex a private language, a dependable connection, and eventually a test of whether their friendship can survive change.

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The Summer-Break Pact

A Tradition Takes Shape A promise between friends While traveling on Vancouver Island, Poppy asks Alex to leave his summer breaks open for trips together. He agrees to go wherever they can afford, giving their friendship a shared future beyond college. A dependable ritual The promise becomes more than vacation planning. It gives them a reason to keep returning to one another, even as school, work, and relationships change the rest of their lives.

Learning How to Travel

Travel as Their Language Cheap adventures Poppy and Alex make trips work with student wages, thrifted plans, and improvised transportation. Their days are built from bookstores, diners, hikes, and conversations rather than luxury. A private rhythm Poppy's appetite for novelty draws Alex into unfamiliar experiences; his steadiness gives their adventures a sense of safety. The Summer Trip becomes the setting where each can be more fully themselves.

New Partners Complicate Things

A Tradition Under Pressure Jealousy enters the picture Alex's relationship with Sarah Torval makes Poppy more careful about their closeness. The trip proceeds, but their old ease is constrained by the knowledge that partners may interpret their bond differently. Connection persists Even with Sarah's calls and the new boundaries, Poppy and Alex still share a meaningful vacation. The trip shows that their tradition can adapt, but cannot remain untouched by the lives they build outside it.

A Trip With No Room

A Beautiful Vacation Goes Wrong A third presence The Croatia trip is meant to be a milestone, but photographer Bernard's constant company leaves Poppy and Alex little private space. Their friendship is already strained by their relationships and the first kiss they never discussed. The missed conversation They finally share a kiss, then retreat into silence instead of clarifying what they want. The trip leaves their annual ritual broken and turns a once-reliable source of happiness into a painful memory.

The Tradition Reopens

Trying Again in Palm Springs An invitation with hidden stakes Poppy invites Alex to extend his trip for David Nilsen's wedding and a Palm Springs vacation. She hopes a return to their old routine will restore closeness, while concealing that the magazine has not approved the trip. A changed kind of trip The heat, broken lodging, and emotional honesty force them to stop pretending that the past can simply be repeated. By the wedding, their shared travel is no longer only a friendship ritual; it becomes the beginning of a consciously chosen partnership.

Ten summers ago, during the Vancouver Island trip

From ten to seven summers ago

Six summers ago, during the Vail trip

Two summers ago, in Croatia

This summer, from the invitation through the wedding