“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

Like our Girlfriend Guru ARLETT R HARTIE, I have been at several blogging conferences in the last few weeks (three within the last three weeks, but who’s counting?). I love spending time with other bloggers, seeing girlfriends I haven’t seen in a while, and meeting fabulous new friends.

Traveling can be wonderful, but it can also be exhausting (right, girlfriend?). As Arlett reminds us, traveling with the right girlfriends can make all the difference.

I was late getting this post together for you this month. Why? Because I was getting ready for, attending, and then recovering from Blogalicious. Now I could not do my post early because today I am sharing with you my tips on how to travel with your girlfriends. I could not write it before the trip.

Last weekend I was in Las Vegas with two of my great girlfriends. I was going to attend Blogalicious 2012, an awesome conference that provides all kinds of info and inspiration on how I can better serve you here and on Chasing Joy. They were going because I invited them. They are not bloggers but hey it was Vegas. Who wouldn’t want to go to Vegas and share a discounted conference rate room and a spectacular hotel (Red Rock Casino and Spa)? Our trip was a success. Actually success is an understatement; our trip was marvelous!

I know you want to have marvelous trips with your girlfriends too so here is how you do it:

Be on the same page. This is the most important thing. Everyone should know why you are traveling,  what you expect to get out of it, and be in some type of agreement. Now for our trip, I was going to focus on the craft of blogging but I also wanted to have fun Vegas-style at night. I made sure my girls knew this. I told them what the conference itinerary looked like and how I thought my days would go before we even left Philadelphia. Then each day while we were there I updated them on when I’d be back in the room and ready for a night on the strip. There was no confusion as to how my days would be spent. No one was blindsided by my absence during the day. We were on the same page. I understood that they were there to have fun and party. I encouraged them to do whatever they wanted during the day and I stayed up late with them on the strip even though I had to be up early for the conference. We were on the same page and everyone got out of the trip what they planned.

Pick the right girls to travel with. Now this goes hand and hand with being on the same page. When you travel with others it is important you pick people you actually want to spend lots of time with in close quarters and sometimes stressful situations (airport security). But liking them is almost a given right? They are your girlfriends after all. You have to make sure the girls you travel with have the same or similar idea of what fun is. I have several friends that I love to spend time with and have girls nights out and do all kinds of things with but I have no desire to travel with them. Their idea of vacation fun and my idea of vacation fun are two different things. I like to lie around and be pampered. You will find me by the pool or at the spa. I enjoy seeing the sights and the cuisine as well as some shopping and nightlife. You won’t find me up at the crack of dawn with a backpack on, map in hand, ready to visit every local museum, historical site, or local hot spot. So my girlfriend with the map in hand and I don’t really need to travel together. We will be at odds and neither of us will end up fully doing what we want to do.

Be flexible. This is helpful in almost all situations including traveling with your girlfriends. Things don’t always go according to plan even when you pick the right people and are on the same page. Be able to adjust and work together to make sure you all have fun.

Speaking of fun, remember that you are not responsible for your girlfriends having fun. You are only responsible for yourself having fun. If you have picked the right people to travel with and you all know what to expect out of the trip then fun should be a given. Even if you are the trip organizer do not put more pressure on yourself by taking on the responsibility to make sure your girls have fun. If you do, I guarantee you won’t have as much fun as you should have yourself.

Lastly, when the trip is over do not be a big mouth. This is especially true if your girlfriend getaway was to Las Vegas like mine was. We all know the rule what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. So I won’t tell you who did what late one night sort of spontaneously but not regrettably. And I won’t tell you what show we went to see where the men did… and we were like…. You get the idea.

Keep these tips in mind for your next girlfriend getaway and you will have marvelous time, just like I did, traveling with your girlfriends.

What has your experience been traveling with your girlfriends? What is your best tip for Joyful Girlfriend Getaways?

ARLETT R HARTIE is the author of the blog Chasing Joy. Arlette’s writing focuses on her efforts to find happiness after a rough time in her life, and hold on to it through all of life’s ups and downs.  She writes about all things related to joy, positivity, and gratitude.  She is a daughter, sister, auntie, and Girlfriend.

THANKS ARLETT for sharing your great girlfriend wisdom. Check out Arlett’s previous guest blogs:

• Ten Tips for a Joyful Bridesmaids Experience
• Girlfriend’s Guide to Goals
• Are you too independent to be a good Girlfriend?
• 10 Joyful Summer Ideas for Girlfriends
• Ever want to be Her?
• It’s Your Birthday / Joyful Advice
• The Joy of Girlfriend Get-togethers
• Mirror Mirror Girlfriend Inspiration.

Here’s some more Girlfriend Travel posts:

• Traveling with Girlfriends | Laughter from Guest Blogger Lori Stone
• Traveling with Friends | Girlfriend Getaway Advice from Maire Hunter
• Traveling with Girlfriends | Five Tips for Fun Travel with Friends by Kathlene Mullens

By the way, we LOVE guest blogs here at Girlfriendology. Have a great girlfriend story to tell? Want to celebrate your fabulous female friends? SHARE! (And, we also have Girlfriend Gurus – check that out to be featured on Girlfriendology!) SIGN UP for our weekly newsletter and get our FREE eBook ‘30 Days / 30 Ways to Be a Better Friend‘ - check it out!

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THANKS to our BIG 2012 Sponsor – Biz Stain Fighter and Mean Green Degreaser (check out their coupons!). And – THANKS to YOU Girlfriend!