People We Meet on Vacation Book vs Movie: What Changed and Why? (Netflix 2026)
People We Meet on Vacation Book vs Movie: What Changed and Why?
Updated: January 9, 2026
Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation (published in 2021; also known as You and Me on Vacation in the UK/Australia) finally made the jump to Netflix in 2026. Like most page-to-screen romances, the film keeps the emotional core (Poppy + Alex + years of history) but tweaks the “how we get there” to fit a 1h 57m movie runtime.
Quick verdict
- Most of the big feelings are still here: the slow-build friendship, the “are we more than friends?” tension, and the dual-timeline vibe.
- The movie simplifies the travel: fewer on-screen trips and more streamlined set pieces.
- The biggest headline change: a key wedding trip moves from Palm Springs (book) to Barcelona (movie).
- If you’re a book fan: expect familiar moments plus new dialogue and a few re-ordered romance “beats.”
What stayed the same (the stuff the movie couldn’t lose)
- The central dynamic: Poppy is the restless, experience-chasing one; Alex is the routine-loving, grounded one.
- The long history: the story still relies on years of shared vacations shaping who they are together.
- The nonlinear structure: you’re still bouncing between “now” and “then” so the emotional puzzle locks into place over time.
- The core question: are they best friends forever… or endgame?
Biggest book-to-movie changes (and what they do for the story)
| Change | Book | Movie | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wedding location | Palm Springs | Barcelona | Shifts the vibe to a bigger “destination wedding” canvas and refreshes the setting for readers. |
| How many trips you see | Many distinct vacation chapters across years | Condensed set of vacations (combined/streamlined) | Movies need momentum; too many locations can feel like a highlight reel instead of a romance. |
| Where they went to college | University of Chicago | Boston College | Affects small details (how they meet, the road trip setup), while keeping their “opposites” chemistry intact. |
| Rom-com tropes get re-timed | Several classic beats land later in the timeline | Some big beats land earlier (or in different moments) | Re-ordering can create a cleaner on-screen arc and make the tension readable without inner monologue. |
| Side character emphasis | Side arcs exist, but you mostly live in Poppy’s head | At least one side arc gets a clearer “button” | Movies often “externalize” growth so it plays on camera, not in narration. |
1) Palm Springs → Barcelona (and why that’s the adaptation’s loudest choice)
In the novel, the “present-day” trip is tied to a Palm Springs wedding, heat, and that pressure-cooker feeling where the relationship finally has nowhere left to hide. The movie keeps the heat and the wedding energy—but relocates it to Barcelona.
That change is doing two jobs at once: it solves production realities (where you can actually shoot a feature film efficiently) and it gives book readers something visually new, instead of trying to recreate a setting everyone already “cast” in their imagination.
2) Fewer vacations (because the book travels like a world tour)
A big part of the novel’s charm is that each trip feels like its own mini-romance chapter. But that’s also the hardest thing to preserve in a movie: each new city normally means new permits, new crews, new schedules, and a lot more screen time just to “arrive.”
The adaptation compresses and combines so the movie can spend its time where it counts: watching Poppy and Alex change each other.
3) “New scenes” for book fans
Emily Henry has been open about loving that readers get to walk into the film and discover jokes, dialogue, and moments between Poppy and Alex that aren’t straight lifts from the page. That’s a smart strategy for this specific fandom: it rewards people who already know the big beats.
What changed “because movies,” not because the book was “wrong”
1) Runtime forces hard choices
A romance novel can afford to linger: long conversations, internal doubts, tiny realizations, and multiple “almost” moments. A movie can’t (not without feeling slow). So the adaptation keeps the relationship arc and trims the travel sprawl.
2) Inner monologue doesn’t automatically translate
In the book, you live inside Poppy’s head—so you understand her misreads, her self-protection, and the way she narrates Alex to herself. On screen, those same thoughts need to become actions: a glance, a pause, an interrupted sentence, a choice to stay instead of run.
3) Locations aren’t just “pretty backgrounds”
A book can jump from place to place with a chapter break. Film has to physically move a production. That’s why “condense locations” is one of the most common (and least personal) changes when novels go to screen.
Spoiler section: ending + bigger plot tweaks
If you want to go in totally fresh, stop here.
Romance beats may happen in a different order
One of the biggest “book vs movie” feelings isn’t that scenes disappear—it’s that certain iconic rom-com beats are relocated to earlier or different points in the timeline to keep the film’s tension clean and visible.
Some character arcs land differently
The movie gives at least one side character a slightly clearer “where they go next” moment than the book does, which can make the ending feel more rounded in a film-friendly way.
FAQ
Is the People We Meet on Vacation movie based on the book?
Yes. The Netflix film adapts Emily Henry’s 2021 bestseller and keeps the core idea: long-distance best friends take annual vacations and slowly realize what everyone else already sees.
What’s the biggest difference between the book and the movie?
The headline change is the wedding trip setting: the book’s Palm Springs becomes Barcelona in the movie.
Why did the movie change locations?
Most book-to-movie location changes come down to practical production constraints plus creative opportunity: filmmakers need places they can shoot efficiently while still matching the emotional tone of the story.
Where can I watch People We Meet on Vacation?
It’s streaming on Netflix.