My girlfriends from university and I recently had a fantastic girls weekend. Over the years we have been very good about consistently getting to
gether at least once a year. This has helped us maintain our friendship, AND get a much needed break from our families.
I am not going to get into all the reasons why it is important for women to do this. I will, however, say the reasons are endless; it’s important for maintaining friendships (remember your kids will move out eventually, fingers crossed), it’s important for self care, etc. You will be a better you, partner, parent, etc. (whatever your circumstances) because you took this trip.
If you don’t have a group of friends to go with, get some ideas from our post Loneliness as a Grown Women: Making Friends and Keeping Them.
A fun trip doesn't have to break the bank. In a group of friends, affordability can be a wide range, and if you want everyone in your group to be able to come on the trip you need to keep finances top of mind.
So how can you save money, let's get planning!
Agree on a price range. If you want to plan a trip that is inclusive for everyone, your girls trip may not be a trip to Mexico. If you do want your trip to be more expensive, I suggest making that clear from the outset: “I am planning a trip to Mexico. I would love to turn it into a girls’ trip; does anyone want to join me?”
Find a budget location and book it. Keep in mind a fun trip location doesn't have to break the bank. Our latest girls’ trip was at my house. My family went away for the weekend and we used my house for home base. Since some of us are on tight budgets and there were nursing moms and babies involved, it was a perfect solution (with a bit of extra cleaning for me). We have a pool, plenty of room, a stocked kitchen, and live near a beautiful path by the water for walks.
Find cheap things to do. There are so many things you can do on the cheap, on our latest trip none of our activities cost money (unless you wanted them to). We went to the Ornamental Gardens of the Central Experimental Farm and we window shopped in the Glebe. Get creative and research the location you are going to, there are alway budget activities or free things to do. There are so many blogs out there now, you may even find a great list already prepared for you.
Save money on meals. Eating out is expensive, there are lots of alternatives. You can try a lower cost restaurant, eat out for limited meals, or make your own meals. Split up the cooking, you may even find someone in your group genuinely loves to cook and their food is amazing, sweet deal! Get creative.
Planning a girls trip on a budget will take some extra work, but it is with it to spend time with your crew!
If you want more trips for planning your trip, listen to the latest episode of the podcast, 10 tips to plan the perfect girls trip Ep. 97.
I hope these tips help you plan your next girls’ adventure. I would love to hear about it, so get planning!
Tell me in the comments, what would you add to this list?