A friend has been dating her boyfriend for eight months, and they’ve yet to go away together. I’m not talking two-week safari, but just a weekend trip. She says it’s too early. I think she’s not that into him if she thinks that after eight months of dating it’s too soon to spend 48 hours together out of town.

Not that there’s a set time when it’s OK to vacation together (for some people it may be a month; others may need several months — or more).

It’s kind of like there’s no set point when you should say “I love you” or move in together. The vacation planning is more about how you feel about the other person.

“If this is a Christian couple, they may not be intimate until marriage — thus, the vacation trip together would not be something they might even consider until their honeymoon,” says relationship author Mary Jo Fay. “On the other hand, with today’s more sexually open society, not going away with someone after eight months would lead me to ask, ‘What’s up with that? Who is afraid of what here? What more has to happen for this situation to make you feel comfortable?’ ”

One reader of the On the Edge blog (http://blogs.timesunion.com/kristi) gauges travel readiness like this:

“Once a couple has passed the ‘inaugural gas passing’ or has passed the stage where you have both used the same toilet for certain purposes (ahem), you are ready to progress and go on vacation,” wrote “crumble,” when commenting on a post on the topic on the blog. “I have a girlfriend who is scared of vacationing with her newish boyfriend because she doesn’t want to have to do a ‘number two’ in their hotel room bathroom. She actually considered running down and using the hotel lobby bathroom each time.”

“Crumble” sees this as a sign you’re not comfortable being an imperfect person with your significant other and need to wait a bit. I agree.

Going away with your S.O. is a step in a relationship, like meeting the family, being seen in your eyeglasses and with no makeup or when you start referring to one another as boyfriend and girlfriend.

When you travel together, you get to see all the idiosyncrasies. Does he need to be restrained from jumping over the ticket counter when your flight is canceled? Does she lug four giant suitcases — and expect you to carry them all for her — for a weekend away? How adaptable is she with hotel choice (does she go into diva mode after learning the breakfast is a buffet — complete with frozen waffles)? Does he recoil at the sight of a beach filled with children, or does he jump right in the water?

“Going away with someone means you trust them that much to let them see your ‘dark side.’ (You’re a grouch in the morning. He’s a morning person, you’re not.),” says Fay. “Many of those things can stay hidden for quite a while if you’re not spending serious overnight bedroom time with your intimate one. But they sure don’t stay hidden when you’re together 24/7 over several days.”