Quote Originally Posted by shootingstar View Post
I guess...it just sounded (to me) he doesn't seem to want spend vacation time in another place far away with her.

The more I realize: he took a free hotel ride on her conference work trip in Quebec City recently, just 2 months ago. Wouldn't it be nice ...a free of hotel conference trips' exchange among 2 partners? [...]
The situation and our discussion of it looks to me like an overlay of "people are different and have different needs and preferences, and that's ok" and "some [many!] people's relationships suck". Unlike you, I don't know the couple involved, and most of us are polite enough to assume the nicer option when we don't know. My partner has a very strong need for "alone time" when I don't, and I've learnt to accept that this is not about me or our relationship at all, but about what she needs to stay in balance. I have different needs.

This said, "guy stuff" or even outright sex-oriented entertainment aimed at groups of heterosexual men at the margins of conferences and work meetings is still striving and several of my female friends have at one point run with surprise into what their completely normal and charming male co-workers get up to when no women are around. And they'd certainly avoided bringing girlfriends along.