Traveling is always more fun with girlfriends, however, there are some things to consider. We’re giving you the ins and outs of perfecting a girls’ weekend!
Group Size
● When Courtney and I go on our girls trips, we go with two other girlfriends so there’s four of us total. It’s the perfect number. It makes it easy for hotels because we can get a room with 2 queen beds and it’s split evenly. Ubers are also super easy because we only ever need one car! It also makes it a breeze for eating out! Groups bigger than four are always a little harder to get seated on the spot. We try to make reservations wherever we go, but we have found that a lot of places outside of NYC don’t take reservations so we have to just try our luck and hope for a table! It also makes it super easy for bathroom trips (girls, you know what I’m talking about). No one likes to go alone! There’s always a bathroom buddy and the other two can always hold down the fort. We never have to worry about leaving someone alone.
Group Personalities
● When traveling, you want it to go as easy and smooth as possible. Too many opinions can make the trip less fun and more stressful, which is the total opposite of what we want to focus on! Our group of girls are all pretty easy going and are always down if one of us wants to try something new or different. We all consider what the others want to do and do our best to make it all work. If we have to, we can split up in two groups but we try to schedule things accordingly so we can do it all together. When first starting your girls weekend, we suggest if you have never traveled before to start small. We started with a road trip to Boston two years ago before adventuring on a plane. It was a great baseline on learning how each other are when traveling (plus you really get to know each other when you’re stuck in a car together for 5 hours!). You could be the best of friends but people are very different when traveling so doing a mini trip before committing to an extended trip is a great way to test it out.
Rough Itinerary
● As soon as we book a trip, we can’t wait to look up all the best places to go! We create a rough list and itinerary of all the pretty places to see, all the food and restaurants we want to indulge in, and all the fun nightlife. Research, research, research. This is one of the most important parts. The last thing you want to do when you finally get to your final destination is waste time looking up where you should go and when you should go. Our list has everything you need to know about a place: when stores/restaurants open and close, when the best time to go to something is, what you should order at a cafe,what’s best on a rainy or sunny day, and if there is anything that is not absolutely necessary to attend but would be fun to if we have time. It is also a great idea to note places by area so you are not going back and forth and wasting more time in an uber or subway! If you are there for more than a couple days, you can basically check out one area a day if you plan it correctly. Once we have a list, we try to make a rough itinerary. By rough, I mean, we try to follow it but it’s totally okay if we change it up a bit, do something out of order or even replace some things. You never really know how things will pan out until you get there. You could stumble across a pop up biergarten like we did in Philly and want to hang there for a little and that’s totally okay! You’ll figure out how to fit everything in but you should be able to enjoy yourselves as well. Unless there are places that get packed very easily or close at certain times, you should be able to go with the flow and have fun!
Packing List
● This is necessary! There are going to be a few things you forget if you do not make a list. The same few things should be on your list every time no matter the weather: toiletries, makeup remover, comfortable walking shoes, jewelry, sunglasses, headphones, book, chargers, camera, undies, etc. If you’re going for a long weekend, which is mostly what we do, you’ll need some options but everything should fit into a carry on. Some airlines now a days charge you for your first bag, so it encourages us not only to save money, but to it also helps us not to overpack (too much)! If you’re going to a place that’s going to be a little chiller, it’s best to wear the bulkiest items (jacket and boots) and to pack the smaller/lighter items. Also, don’t forget since you’re going with your girlfriends, you can always go shopping in each other’s suitcases. We always seem to borrow each other’s clothes, hair dryers, curling irons, makeup remover, and a lot of other things. To make life easier, you could each plan on bringing a couple things that you know everyone will need so that you don’t have to bring 4 of each item. Plus, that adds more room for the important items like clothes and shoes. 🙂
Once you figure out your girlfriend group, the rest is easy breezy! They will be your go to girls for when you want to explore a new city and you can always count on them to have a great time. We just got back from Nashville and we’re already in talks of our next trip!
Happy Traveling!
xo A
