Where my ladies at?? (Is that a song? I feel like it is.) Alright moms, I know you hear me when I say, sometimes you want to just get away. After the third cup of milk that has been spilled and you find one more place with crayon on the wall, someone needs a timeout. And I am not talking about the kids this time. A girls trip is like a mommy timeout. You plan and prepare, get away for awhile (even for just a night) and come back ready to face the world! Ready to smile every time they tell another fart joke or laugh as you tell them for the fourth time to put their shoes and backpack away.

But how do you make it happen? The average American doesn’t use all of their allotted vacation time and misses out on the stress relieving benefits of vacations. Time off is critical for everyone. It is a way to step back and recharge for your life and daily grind.

Here are a few steps to get your girls trip on the schedule.

Find some ladies who also want to party!

When planning a girls trip you have to think about who you are interested in spending more time with. Although a girls trip can take MANY forms, most likely you will be spending a good deal of time with these ladies. You want ladies that you don’t see very often and don’t have a lot of drama in your relationships. This helps to keep the trip stress free! You only need one other person at most. I have done girls’ trips with anywhere from 2-8 people and I have loved them all.

Money, Money, Money.

Decide how much money you want to spend on this trip. The great part about a girls’ trip is that you can often share costs. Book the same hotel room, car or shuttle. This will often save you money. If you want to go on a cruise there are rooms that can fit 2-4 people. You will need two people willing to sleep on the top bunks if you are sleeping 4 to a room. If you have 2-6 people you can get a suite in the hotel and fit everyone as long as you are ok to share beds. You can also share costs on lunches or dinners.

Along with sharing costs you can also decide on a trip with extremely low costs. Stay at a friend’s house that has extra beds and will not cost you anything. Or you can choose activities that are free or cheap. Instead of going to Disneyland, head to the beach. Instead of eating out every night, get a place with a kitchen and cook dinner. Or stay at a place with breakfast as part of the price and snag an apple as a snack for later. Head to the grocery store and get your lunch fixings along with some baggies. I love to read and I told my girlfriends that we should go on a trip to a friends house a few hours away. While there we each get a book and read by the pool all day the first day. Then discuss the books the next day. It. Would. Be. Awesome. And so cheap!

Scheduling.

In my opinion this is the hardest part. You need to decide how long you want to be gone. Then you need to decide when everyone can go. Of course the smaller the group, the easier this should be for you to decide. If you want dads to be around to watch the kids then you will need to go over the weekend if that is your husbands work schedule.I feel like it is often easier if one person has decided a basic plan (cruise, Disneyland, beach, etc) and you discuss the smaller details as a group. It is hard to get so many opinions to line up.

Get the kids ready (or yourself).

I used to hate missing my kids MANY activities, but then I realized it is no longer possible or necessary for me to go to every single game or practice, every single day. I just let my kids know ahead of time and they are good, especially if Nana or Dad are taking my place. When I took my very first trip away from my kids I was so worried that my kids were going to be sad and crying and missing me the whole time. I worried that Nana wouldn’t know all the ins and outs of our day so there would be problems. And then I came back from my trip and the kids cried because they had to come back home with me and leave Nana’s house. Well, thank you very much. I love you too. But in the end I learned that my kids are fine. Although they love me dearly and really were glad I was home, they survived for a few days without me. It was harder for me than for them. Somewhere around 7 days of a trip, (the hubby comes when it is that long) I get sad. I am ready to go home and be with my babies.

I have even done a girls trip with my daughters, my friend and her daughter. It was so fun! The girls had friends and so did I. Everyone had a blast.

Alright, now get on it! What are you waiting for? Girls’ trips are the best and I cannot recommend them enough. Check out our Instagram feed to see what we did on our trip this week. It was great, as usual!

 

Need more ideas or have a question? Leave us a comment.

Wanna go on a cruise with your ladies? Read our post HERE about tips for choosing a great cruise that works for you. If you have more questions or need help, contact us now.

 

Tammy is a master Jedi planner and organizer able to battle the fiercest traveling adventure for anyone. She is married to a traveling junky and has 5 kids. In her spare time she plans vacations to build memories, strengthen families, and challenge companies. She can also be found running, reading, cooking or sleeping. (one of her favorite past times)