2019 brought on a boom of articles like Taking a Trip With Your Girlfriends is Good For Your Health, According to Science. We talk over and over again as to why you should take a Girlfriend Getaway.
We know it’s good for us, we know it’s why we need to getaway. And it’s no wonder that in 2019 the fastest growing demographic for travel was Single Women and Women Only Travel.
And, here at Serendipitous Traveler, we. are. here. for it.
When Serendipitous Traveler was founded, it was founded with the ideal that all women deserve a vacation. Women are the caretakers of everyone, even when on vacation. I mean, Mom’s, when you take a vacation, do you really feel like you were on vacation?
NO!
But why don’t we take vacations with our friends?
- Because women will traditionally put everyone else’s needs ahead of their own.
- Because they feel guilty about spending the money on themselves.
- Because they can’t trust their partners to hold down the fort to get away.
- Because they don’t have people to travel with
- Because
- Because
- Because
And to that we say phooey
Because if women practiced real self care instead of superficial self care (i.e. a long weekend away to refresh and recharge versus a bubble bath where someone is knocking on the door every three minutes) then we really could run the world.
So here’s our response:
Women will traditionally put everyone else’s needs ahead of their own.
When you put your needs on the back burner, the only thing you end up being is resentful and frustrated. And that serves no one. Now I’m not advocating for you to flip the switch and become a narcissist. (And if you do, please don’t join us on on of our Serendipitous Squad trips).
But if you are taking care of you, you show up to take care of others even better. And you do it from a happy, wholehearted place, then you are setting the example for your own family to show up happier and more wholehearted as well.
And can’t the world use a little more of that?
NEXT!
Money
Man, people would rather talk about puke before they talk about finances. And for many years, I was very much the same. Ignoring my finances and putting my head in the sand was really the only safe way to deal with the scariest topic I could think of – money. And spending money on travel can, at times, feel frivolous.
But let me challenge you there.
I believe that we should be living a life by design, not default. And if we aren’t intentional about our lives, including money, then we are letting life happen to us. And, once again, that serves nobody. When someone stands up at your funeral, I doubt they will tell many stories about how pretty your tchotchkes were. But they will tell a great story about time they spent with you. Quality time, fun moments, endearing conversations – that’s what we want to be remembered for. And we can’t create these moments if we are too afraid to take the time to plan them out and schedule them.
I had a college professor that started every class with the saying “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” And nothing could be more true when it comes to our finances and travel. So plan out your travels. Talk with a good advisor to see how much your travel is going to cost, and figure out and make a plan for what you’ll need to do to make it happen. Trust me – you won’t regret your vacation near as much as you’ll regret that ill fitting top you bought from the factory outlet.
They can’t trust their partners to hold down the fort to get away.
Excuse me while I pull out the soap box for a minute (I’m really short, you see).
They. Absolutely. Can. Survive. Without. You.
Do you know how I know that? Because you are amazing, but if you had to leave this world tomorrow, they would find a way. The problem is that it may not be your way.
And that’s ok.
They may flounder a little. They may make cheese quesadillas for every meal while you are gone. They may order out. The house may be a little messy.
But they absolutely will make it. And they may even find new appreciation for you and all the things you do in the process.
And either way, it’s not a good enough reason for you to not take care of you. Remember the resentful, burnt out part I mentioned earlier. It serves no one. But the refreshed you. The one that laughed until she cried. The one that talked things out with her friends. The one that slept in and let someone take care of her for a change. That woman shows up and makes her family even better. And don’t they deserve that too?
They don’t have people to travel with.
This was the number one feedback I got from women over and over again as to why they don’t take girlfriend getaways.
So how can we at Serendipitous Traveler hold up our mission when this is a problem so many women face?
Easy – that’s why we are starting to host Girlfriend Getaways of our own. Because if you don’t have a tribe, then you should travel with ours. You can read more about it here and see more information about our group travel opportunities here. We work hard to forward plan different opportunities to make it easy for you to travel and getaway. We hope you can join us!
In a world where time is money, why aren’t we all working to be more productive and intentional? That’s why we encourage every woman to plan her getaway, work backwards to save and prepare, and then take the time to put herself first. Because it makes all her days better, more relaxed, more productive, and happier.
So in the New Year, we have a new challenge to put in front of our female comrades everywhere. Schedule it. Take time for it. And take time for YOU.
The world needs you to.
Because when we are practicing self care and self love we are showing up for our people in our corner of the world even better than before.
And then who run the world (even better than before)? Girls!
