Two-year-old plans that evolved on the floor of a McCarty triple finally came to fruition this past weekend. They waved a thankful goodbye to the group chat and celebrated at a taco restaurant in Vancouver, Canada for happy hour.
During my freshman year of college I met three girls. Little did I know then, that we’d share and create some of the best memories of college together. We’d spend dining hall dinners dreaming of the adventures the next few years of college would supply. Last weekend, we finally checked off the long-awaited girls trip from the college bucket list. And it was everything and then some. While the trip was nothing short of amazing, the planning was a bit tricky. Aligning four schedules, preferences, and budgets can be quite the feat. Here’s what I learned from Girl’s Trip ‘24:
1. Pick a date
On the first day of classes, we sat down for lunch in the HUB, pulled out our calendars, and shuffled through various weekends. We landed on a mid-October Friday-Saturday. Once we picked that date we stayed true to our commitment to it, researching hotels and events for that weekend only.
2. Budget transparency
My friends have a multitude of amazing qualities, but one that really shines through is their honesty and transparency. I love that we’ve become close enough to say no to each other when something doesn’t work for us. I learned that all of us being open about our budgets and boundaries allowed us to find hotels, restaurants, and modes of transportation more easily. We only researched places to stay that fit within everyone’s desired budgets, which quickly led us to a hotel. One of my friends offered to drive and we all chipped in for gas, which was immensely helpful. We chose to stay one night instead of two because of food and lodging costs. All in all, it’s so important to be honest about these boundaries from the start!
3. Lists galore
Compiling a shared list of places to go, explore, and eat, as well as activities to do is a must! For our Canada trip, we added restaurants and activities we’d want to go and do, which made it so much easier when we got to the hotel, hungry and ready to go out!
4. Document!
I am the self-proclaimed documentarian of my friend group. I’ve captured thousands of photos over the years, documenting the best nights of our lives, the roughest of mornings, the meals we’ve shared, and the places we’ve been to. The girl’s trip was the perfect excuse to fill my camera roll with even more photos and videos that we’ll look back on and love. We made sure to take pictures of everything, from the small moments like scoring $2.00 tacos to the core memories like running through the streets of Downtown Vancouver in the pouring rain.
Take this as a sign to get your girl’s trip out of the group chat and make some memories with your best friends!