Why Going On An Adult All-Girls Holiday Is Good For You

 

Sometimes it pays to leave your partner and children at home

The idea of a girls holiday is seen as a rite of passage. Those sun-drenched, alcohol-infused trips are a mainstay of our late teens and twenties, memories that go down in the mythology of your friendships, keeping the embers going when life gets in the way of creating new experiences together. 

Here's why you should book one:

1. You'll strengthen your friendship

There is nothing like the intimacy of a week or weekend away with a friend to intensify your relationship. As we get older and the sleepovers and long nights out peter off, it's easy to fall into the habit of only seeing your friends in bitesize chunks – for dinner or drinks when you dedicate the majority of the evening to catching up on what you've been up to in the interim. But friendship is based

on experiences, memories and the kind of chat that spans the silly, the deep and the frustrating. You won't cover all that with a few hours in the pub, but you will with a holiday away. It's all very well to reminisce, but you need more to fuel that friendship fire than that now-ancient time you got drunk and danced on tables in your teenage years.

2. It's wildly freeing

There is nothing that feels more liberating than getting on a plane with a best friend or two and removing yourself from domesticity. It doesn't matter how happy your relationship is or how much you love your children, spending quality time in an unfamiliar location, whether on a Sicilian beach or in a beautiful castle in Wales, makes us all feel younger – reminding us of the uninhibited joy of school and university. All there is to worry about is making sure you're wearing enough sun cream and where you're going for dinner that night. While you might have put your alcohol-fuelled days behind you, that "fuck it, we're on holiday" attitude still applies.

3. You're more likely to meet new people

When you're with your friends, you're more open to chatting to new people, and that doesn't necessarily have to mean romantic potentials (although it could). Couples understandably tend to be more cocooned and less willing to meet anyone outside their bubble. In all-female company, you will explore more – you'll see more of the nightlife because going out with your partner is not the same. There is a far greater chance you'll do things you didn't expect – whether driving mopeds through an island without a license or dancing until the sun comes up.

4. You will party more

While it's fulfilling to spend a day visiting local attractions, you've truthfully only seen half a city or a destination until you've experienced it by night. Places have different personalities under a cloak of darkness, and you're definitely more likely to make an effort to explore nightlife if you're with friends, rather than a partner and children. Days just last longer with your friends: where you might go for dinner and a drink with your partner before going back to the hotel, nights with girlfriends tend to go on later – whether you head to the clubs or just spend the evening putting the world to rights over a lengthy dinner.

5. You'll remember why you became such good friends in the first place

In the same way that going on a romantic break can revitalise a relationship, going on holiday with friends can help you remember why you first became friends. You're seeing your closest pals at their most relaxed, away from the pressures of normal life. It's everyone's respite away from the daily grind, so you're more likely to be on good form.

6. You'll talk through each other's life problems

Women have an incomparable ability to talk about everything, but sometimes when we meet up for a quick catch-up, there isn't time to go through our deepest worries or problems, and definitely not how to solve them. With unlimited time on your hands, you can both work out how your friend is going to get out of that job she hates, or that niggling issue you have about your partner. There is time to be mutually, fully supportive.

7. Not all plus-one integration is going to work

Many of us have, at some point, had a fantasy about the way our partners or children are going to mix. Our paramours will be best friends, bonding over shared interests and humour. Our children will adore each other, maybe one day they’ll marry. The oft reality is that these integrated scenarios where we force our loved ones to socialise are usually awkward. The partners run out of conversation, maybe the children just don’t see eye to eye. All of this is OK. If your crew are a merry band, then perfect. If not, don’t try to force it – holidays should be relaxing. Just go with the girls instead.

8. You'll have a holiday song that will make you smile for ever

There will be that one song that you play over and over again, whether by the pool, on the dancefloor or in the car, and every time you hear it, it'll make you smile and remind you of why the main friends in your life are as important as family.

Credit: HarpersBazaar