The Rise of Women’s Trips

Let’s talk about the surge in women’s trips.

Maybe you’ve seen women in the Cotswolds or France on an Atlas Adventures trip, or visiting Agatha Christie’s home on a Ladies Who Lit jaunt, or taking aesthetic photos on a photography retreat.

From interior designers to reading retreats, summer camps to antiquing trips, I am seeing a surge in travel oriented around creating community experiences abroad for women.

Here are a few examples:

Boxwood Ave Abroad Interior Design Trip

This, of course, is right in my wheelhouse - small-group travel plus empowering women? Sign me up.

Let’s talk about why these trips are becoming so popular.

When I put together my 40th birthday trip for my girl friends in the British Countryside, we all came away energized and fulfilled in a way that many of us hadn’t for a long time. For many, the week was the longest they had been away from their children.

We had to trust that yes, our husbands could handle the kids for that long without burning down the house. And yes, as much as other people need us on a daily basis, we needed THIS.

My 40th Birthday British Countryside Trip

We women play a lot of roles for a lot of people - running businesses, mothering children, wifing - and there’s not much time left for true connection with friends, reading, thinking, or just taking things at our own pace.

When we travel with our families, we are still the cruise directors - and often come home feeling more depleted than before the trip.

At home, I feel like I’m constantly behind in catching up with friends, and I rarely feel intentional with my time.

Enter the Women’s Trip.

Imagine a trip where somebody else is in charge and you actually get a vacation.

• You don’t have to pick the restaurant or the hotel.

• You pack just for yourself and wear what you want.

• Somebody texts you the schedule for each day, and you can opt in or out of what you want.

On a trip where you are able to:

• leave your phone in your hotel room, where you give yourself permission to have an adult conversation at dinner without worrying about whether the babysitter will text with an emergency

• where you can poke around in an antique shop for as long as you want

• or dance and belt out Disney songs because everyone else on the trip also knows all the words…

That is MAGIC.

For many of us, we haven’t taken this kind of trip since our days of bachelorette parties.

The focus on these trips is not on how much we can drink, but rather on how much we can take care of ourselves. And we finally have the money to do it right - no more trundle beds in a random AirBnB split between too many girls with too much drama.

I was lucky enough to help a friend and amazing creator put together a poetry retreat for women in Ireland this October, and what happened was truly special.

My Women’s Retreat in Ireland with Christi Steyn

We had an international group of women who really bonded with each other. Everyone came seeking something - mostly, time for themselves to be creative. Time that is so very hard to take at home.

Maybe it’s my algorithm, but I’m flooded with images and videos of women taking back this travel for themselves.

And I’m SO here for it!

You know how when you’re a little kid and you talk about what you want to be when you grow up?

Well, this is really all I want to do. I love building group trips and giving people the chance to explore the world and connect together.

I’m putting together a few retreats next year, but would love to know where you’d like to go?

xoxo

Anne Marie