THE KIDS BICKER, THE DOG IS SICK, the inbox at work never clears. Dirty clothes are breeding in the laundry hamper. And what's for dinner?
There's only one response to this chaos: road trip!
For decades, men carved out time to be with their guy friends and get away from it all. They've had bowling night, poker night, golf tournaments and Vegas weekends. Now, more and more women want "girlfriend getaways."
"The relationships we build are `snippet relationships' -- a little bit here, a little bit there," says Traci Williams, 41, of Dallas, who does regular getaways with three other women. "When you're a mother and a friend and a wife, you're interrupted all the time. Men will take their time. But in order to get quality time, women need getaways."
A survey last year by AAA found that 24 percent of American women have done a girlfriend getaway in the past three years, and 39 percent plan to do one in the next three years. An American Express Travel survey of agents in June found similar results.
"They're getting away, they're doing it in style and they're saying, `I'm away. Don't bother me,'" says Audrey Henley, vice president of marketing for American Express Travel.
"Everybody's lives are getting busier and more complicated, and I think there's just a sense of people wanting to connect with each other," she says.
The Fine Living Network plans to launch a series next month called All-Girl Getaways, and Williams and her friends will be featured in one episode. The industry is taking notice, too; many travel agencies cater to women travelers.
April Merenda, founder of Gutsy Women Travel, said the concept of "gutsy women" was "to indulge in that women's spirit of wanting to invest some time into themselves. It's not about climbing Mount Everest. It's saying, `You know, I nurture everyone in my life, everyone in my circle, and I need to do something for me.'"
That theme of deep friendship echoes among women who go on girlfriend getaways. So does trust.
"In our society, mothers tend to judge each other -- parenting styles, working versus nonworking, breast versus bottle, whatever," says Kelly Brown, 39, of Silver Spring, who goes on getaways with three female friends she met in high school.
"In this environment, even though the four of us run the gamut from stay-at-home to full-time work or primary-income person, we let go of the judging and see each other for who we truly are and realize that it's no different for any of us -- the struggles, the complications, the stresses."
