A recent girls' holiday to Puglia, Italy, exceeded all expectations, offering a perfect blend of freedom, fun, and self-discovery. The trip included swimming, napping, reminiscing, enjoying crudo and fiano, and dancing to Sarà perché ti amo, with laughter that left stomachs sore and faces wet with tears.
The Joy of Girls' Trips
The author notes that despite their ages, the term "girls" feels more appropriate than "women," as the holiday transported her back to studying together in Italy, though with less street harassment this time. Powered by Aperol, thousands of similar trips are likely happening across southern Europe, where women share stories about their husbands' domestic habits with comic precision.
Cultural Significance
The girls' trip has become an institution, central to "hun" culture and featured in films, books, and TV shows like The Five-Star Weekend. The author's own novel, Female, Nude, uses a girls' trip to a Greek villa to explore friendship among four women in their early 30s grappling with ambition, marriage, and motherhood. Since the 1989 film Shirley Valentine, the girls' trip has symbolized emancipation and the need for women to spend time together away from their daily lives.
Personal Reflections
The author has known her travel companions for nearly 20 years, and together they have seven children under eight. Swimming in the ocean without worrying about childcare, having uninterrupted conversations without men present, felt rare and luxurious. They discussed birth, death, health, identity, relationships, children, and even practical matters like life insurance and food safety. The conversation blended comedy and heartache, leading to profound truths.
Trivialization and Value
Despite a tendency to trivialize girls' holidays, the author argues they are worthy of serious cultural inquiry. Stepping away from daily life with long-time female friends allows emotions to surface, potentially leading to change. The mix of freedom, fun, and self-inquiry should always be embraced. The author returned home with a new perspective and is already planning the next trip.
