Society has decreed that people who are in a committed relationship should be only intimate with each other, and many couples who defy this rule have found it is best to keep their private lives completely off-limits to others. They have often found disapproval for their behavior, and they are unwilling to accept it from those who make different choices in their personal lives. Hiding an open relationship from friends and family can be difficult, so discussing it with a partner is important.
For those who are not in an open relationship, it is difficult to understand there are agreed upon rules for couples who enjoy being intimate with those other than their spouses. Many of them tend to have a particular timetable when they will be with others, and they work hard to keep social engagements out of the equation on those nights. It makes it easier to keep their friends and family from finding out about their personal habits, and it gives them an opportunity to be with others without censure.
Part of the difficulty of having an open relationship is finding partners, and many couples become adept at hiding their search. They might use online services to help them, but others rely on intimate partners to help them find others who have the same social norms they do. They are only interested in hiding their activities from loved ones, so sharing the search with intimate partners is often the only outlet they have in this area.
If friends and family find out a couple engages in this type of activity, there are often severe repercussions they will face. Some of them can be disowned by their family, and their friends will often choose to spend time without them in the future. Hiding this type of relationship can become second nature to those who enjoy intimate encounters outside their relationships, and it can even enhance the experience.