Three Reasons to Take A Girls' Trip
This one’s for the girls. For the daughters, the mothers, the wives, the girlfriends, the sisters…whoever you are. As women, we are typically the caretakers, the plate spinners, the glue that holds many families together. And everybody has an opinion on what we “should” be doing. We’re told to lean in-but also to lean out, to be polite but break down barriers, to be gracious but also stand up for ourselves. We’re told to get good grades, go to college, get a good job, to exercise and eat right, to shave our pits, find a partner, buy a house, start a family, save for retirement and diversify our portfolios. Does anyone else want to scream?
You know what you need? A girls' trip. You know why you need it? Because you deserve it. So many people lean on you or depend on you in some way, so it’s okay to chase your own happiness once in a while. Travel is about owning your own time, about choosing your destination, deciding where you want to eat, what you want to see, what time you want to get up in the morning. As we get older, so little of our time is actually dictated by our own desires. You likely have a routine, a schedule that consumes nearly every waking hour of your day, at least five days a week. I don’t have to tell you how soul-sucking that can be, it’s like spending your paycheck before it even arrives. A trip with your girlfriends is a great way to reconnect and breathe new life into the dark recesses of your mind and body that may have collected a few cobwebs over time. And while we’re at it, say this out loud with me: “Should is a word I am actively removing from my vocabulary.” Here are three reasons to give yourself permission to take a trip with your girls.
1. You will never have a bond like the one you have with your girlfriends
Hear me out. Your girlfriends are the ones who know that you are more than the labels you’ve assumed throughout your life. They knew the “you” who thought perms were fashion forward, the “you” who went through that unfortunate grunge phase, and also the “you” who made a mean grilled cheese with an iron in your dorm room. To them, you are more than someone’s wife, girlfriend or mother, you’re still the same girl you’ve always been. The one who secretly egged their boyfriend’s car when he was caught cheating, and the one who encouraged them to take the job in the new city even though they didn’t know anyone. Sometimes, we all need a reminder that we are still the girl we used to be, especially if we haven’t recognized her in the mirror for quite some time.
Or you know what? Maybe you aren’t the same girl you used to be, and that’s ok too. But your girlfriends are the ones who’ve been your champions and have seen your growth over the years, no matter how painful that metamorphosis may have been. That bond is a level of intimacy that is hard to replicate because they know who you are at a fundamental level, not just who you are in your current chapter of life. There is a huge sense of relief that comes with shedding the everyday pressures of who you have become. And not necessarily because you became someone you didn’t want to be…but because every once in a while we need to put the weight of it all down and just breathe.