No Boys Allowed!

Lets face it, girls just want to have fun – sometimes we want to do it as a group.  I went on my annual Women Only Rafting Trip a month ago and I am still trying to hold on to the last bit of euphoria that I bring home with me from these trips…but it is wearing off and I am longing for another hit of girl power.

Don’t get me wrong, mixed trips are fine, family vacations are great, any time away to catch your breath and remember what is true in life is a good thing.  However, I find that women only trips rejuvenate me in ways that other trips just don’t.

The Women’s Rafting trip takes place on the Trinity River in Northern California at Redwoods and Rivers Rafting Co. Two nights and two days spent on the river with a group of amazing women.  Home cooked meals are a treat and they have cabins and tent cabins and a tree house and hanging open air beds for a great night sleep.  There is a wonderful organic garden, and chickens (fresh eggs for breakfast) and this trip I found out they have a sweat lodge as well.  When I go there, I feel like I am going home, but in a good way – no family drama, just love and laughter and if there are tears they are cleansing tears shared with friends, new and old. 

I learn so much on these trips, the women are all so different, and range in age from teens to 70-somethings.  I’ve met college women living off grid, business owners and business women, teachers and working folks, and of course there are the river guides – some who have done this for years and learned from the best (Redwoods and Rivers Guide School) and those who have recently graduated guide school and are just starting out.  Many folks are well traveled and have adventure stories to share.

This trip my ride backed out at the last minute and Michael, one of the owners contacted someone he knew would be coming my way and she not only agreed to give me a ride, I had plans to stop a Buddhist Temple that was on the way and she was open to stopping in for a tour.  This woman is 70 years old and had just returned from an 8 day kayaking and camping trip in Iceland, and was getting ready to do a 14 day trip to the Grand Canyon…kayaking!  Did I mention that I am so inspired by the people I meet there, and that I learn so much every time I go? 

What do we do on these trips?  We eat great food, we laugh a lot, we share and get to know each other.  Every trip we get gifts from Wanda, owner and beautiful spirit, stones painted with women’s faces, necklaces or perhaps a key chain she crafted – there is art everywhere you look, found objects, repurposed items (like old toilets turned into planters).  We raft and kayak, the river is rated class I to class III we raft places like Hell Hole, Pinball, and Otters Playpen.  They bring lunch to eat on the river complete with table cloth and activities.  We swim, sit by the fire, and we relax and forget about “real life” for a few days. 

Yes, Women only trips can be wonderful and I encourage everyone to seek them out.    I realize this is where I should list trips for you but after starting my research I realized there are so many different kinds of trips that it really does depend on what each individual is looking for.  Do you like yoga and mediation?  There is a trip for you!  Hiking, Biking or other types of exercise… there are trips for you too.  There are foodie excursions, farm getaways, is art your scene?  Do you want to create it or simply go to galleries?  Wine tasting, rafting trips – do you want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, yes, they have that too.  Dog sledding, skiing, snow shoeing, or perhaps horseback riding in Mongolia?  Yup!

You may also want to seek out local groups, a friend that does the women’s rafting trip each year also started an “Adventure Group” which meets monthly for different activities, they may take a painting or ceramics class, go for a hike or kayaking.  They come up with new activities every month and it is a chance for some “me” time that we all need more and more with our busy lives.  If you don’t have something like this near you, why not start one?

Here are a couple of good places to start looking for women only adventures: Road Scholar – most trips are over $1000 but these are 5-7 day trips all expenses paid.

WAVE Journey (Women’s Adventure, Vacations & Experiences) have done their research, and there are links throughout the site for everything under the sun, spa trips to motorcycle adventures, cruises and more.

If you are in northern California or would like to see what Redwoods & Rivers has to offer, please check out their website for more information.  They are a family owned business and have been providing fun and adventure since 1994.  They have a wide range of offerings from family rafting to team building, at-risk youth, senior trips and of course the women only trip and river guide school and swift water rescue.

Go forth and find some adventure with a group of like minded women, there is so much to do and having a group of wonderful women to share it with can be powerful, meaningful and rejuvenating.