The Art of Planning a Dream Girls' Trip

Master the Art of the Perfect Girls' Trip with our latest podcast episode! Discover how to transform a simple getaway into an unforgettable adventure. Learn to select the ideal destination, coordinate activities, and understand your friends' travel preferences. Whether you're planning a serene spa retreat or an adventurous escapade, we've got you covered. Get essential tips on etiquette, safety, and creating lasting memories while avoiding drama and stress. Tune in and make your next girls' trip the best yet!"

The Links
Packing Cubes-these make packing so much easier.
Travel First Aid kit
Drink Covers

Chapters

• 0:22 Tips for Successful Girls Trip
• 13:21 Girl's Trip Etiquette and Safety
• 23:43 Effective Group Trip Planning Strategies
• 29:37 Girls' Fun Trip Tips
• 40:27 Inspiring Travel Encouragement and Appreciation

Transcript

Tracey: 0:22

What's good everybody? Welcome to the Charging Station Podcast. It's your girl, Tracey Massey of Living My EmPOWERed Life. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, if you are new here, welcome. I am so happy to have you here. I hope you follow, subscribe, rate, review. Whatever podcast listening platform you're listening to this podcast on, whatever it asks you to do, do that, okay. Leave a review if you can. Leave a message. This is an interactive podcast. Let me know what you think of the show. If you have episode suggestions, leave those as well. You can always hit me up at hello@ livingmyempowerlife. com

Tracey: 1:01

If you are a returning listener,! b.. t I'm on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and youtube. You

Tracey: 1:02

Hey, boo, you know I love me some. You. Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back, welcome back, everybody. Go ahead, grab your coffee, grab your tea, grab your water, grab your wine, whatever your beverage of choice is. Go ahead, grab that thang thang and have a seat on the couch. And if you're not following me on all the socials, please do so. You can find me at Living my Empowered Life. I'm on Instagram, twitter, facebook, tiktok, youtube. No, not Twitter anymore. X. I'm not even on that anymore. That just flowed off the tongue because I'm used to saying it, but I'm on threads all under Living my Empowered Life. Let's get social. Talk The to Charging me Station talk to me. And also, you're going to need to do that anyway because the Charging Station, season seven, is coming to a close.

Tracey: 1:50

Now, don't worry, this is not the last episode. We got a couple more. Okay, we got a couple more, and when I say couple, I really mean couple. We got two more, two more episodes. And then we're taking a break for the summer because sis got to travel. Okay, it's a hot girl summer. I want to get out and enjoy it before the fall comes around and I get busy, busy. So now that we got all that out of the way, girl, what is happening to the voice? Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, let me take a sip of water. I'm talking about grabbing my water because, honey, I don't know what's going on with this throat. Hold on, All right. Last episode I started coughing. This time I got a little tickle in my throat, all right. .

Tracey: 2:35

So last episode we talked about solo traveling and making taking the fear and the complexities out of solo traveling. So I hope you got an opportunity to listen to that episode. If you have not, go back and listen to it. Actually, just listen to all the episodes of the Charging Station. If you need something to binge listen to throughout the summer, you got over 100 episodes. Go ahead. Listen to them, and just don't judge me from like 2017, when we first started this thing. I'm going to admit the content was good, but, baby, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what I was doing but I did it okay. 2017 will show you the growth of the charting station, and if you've been rocking with me since then, thank you because you came through the growing pains, you came through the trenches with me.

Tracey: 3:24

But since we talked about solo traveling on the last episode this episode I wanted to take a moment to talk about how to prepare and have a successful girls trip, because if you have been online at any moment in time, I'm sure you have seen or heard some horror stories about said girls trips. Sometimes girls trips can go left, and the tips that I'm going to provide are some of the things that my friends and I do when we travel. First things first, though disclaimer you can't travel with everybody, baby. You can't travel with everybody. Everybody is not a good time on a trip, but there are some things that you can do ahead of time to kind of foresee those things coming and kind of help you pivot if those things you know, the bad trip vibes pop up while you're on a trip. So let's just get into the content, shall we? So you know the number one thing I'm going to say, number one thing I'm going to say Number one thing I'm going to say because this is just me, this is my aesthetic, this is my life Plan ahead, plan ahead. If you don't have a plan, you are planning to fail. I know that's not the saying, that's Tracy-ism. You know that's my little whatever, my little spin on it. But plan ahead. Start first by deciding on where you're going to go. What's your destination going to be? Is it going to be a mountain trip? Is it going to be a beach trip? Is it going to be a trip to Vegas? How long are you going to stay? Things like that, just kind of brainstorm with the group that you're trying to travel with.

Tracey: 5:03

Also, for me, I have different types of friends. I have friends who, like my girl's trip that's coming up pretty soon, we're going to the beach and this is the group that we don't do any activities but lay on the beach, eat snacks and giggle. That's all we do because we're all busy women um, we all have demanding jobs. We have people that we're trying to take care of and keep alive, so that time is our time to just chill on the beach, and I love that group. Then I have a group that is more adventurous. So I know if I go travel with them, we're gonna be doing some kind of activity. I also know I have a group that's spa ready. So I know if we go somewhere, most likely we're going to go to a spa, a place that has a spa, so a spa resort or a resort that has a spa. So I know that group. And then there's a group that I know you know they're not very adventurous at all. We're going to be sitting by the pool or hanging out in each other's rooms. But it's a different dynamic with each group and I'm blessed to be able to fit in each one where you know in any kind of capacity.

Tracey: 6:14

So you also need to know what kind of traveler you are. I know that I am a bougie traveler. I have some friends that will go backpack across Europe and stay in hostels or be sleeping on people's couches from country to country. That's not me. You try to get me in a hostel, baby. We fighting. Okay, we are beefing. I probably won't ever speak to you again. I for sure will never travel with you again. But yeah, I am very travel, bougie. I need to know reviews, I need to see pictures. I'm that person.

Tracey: 6:46

So planning ahead and knowing who you are traveling with and what type of traveler you are will help alleviate some of these issues. So when you start and you decide where you're going and everyone gets excited about it, you know everybody in the group chat is always excited when you start to talk about the trip. So just be prepared for the group trip to not make it out the group chat. Let's just be real. But for now we're going to pretend, like everybody, the group trip is making it out of the group chat, okay. So when you plan ahead and everyone's excited about the talk. And make sure you the details Like what kind of accommodations do you want to be in, what's the transportation going to be like, what kind of activities? And honestly, the earlier you start to plan, the better, because you can get some good deals. You can work out payment plans if you need to.

Tracey: 7:41

if, I don't know about y'all, but it's just something about dropping a whole bunch of money at one time on a trip. Even if I can, when I can, I just like I'm going to pay this deposit and then maybe a month later I'm going to pay it off. It's just something, and I'm like that with everything. It's just something about dropping a whole bunch of money. I sent the money over for my rent today and I was like, ah, ah, just seeing that money leave my account. It's like oh God, but money comes to me effortlessly and easily. So finger I just had to speak that little affirmation over myself before I had a little fit. So you're planning ahead. . .

Tracey: 8:21

Everyone's excited in the group chat. We're going to this destination. So once you get the destination in mind, budget, budget wisely. And this can be a sensitive topic because you're talking about money, so you're not necessarily micromanaging people's pockets. But you do. money for stuff, and I think that this is the problem with a lot of group trips, especially with younger women, not necessarily older women, we tend to put this out on the table, but with younger women you don't want to have that money. Talk, and it's nothing wrong.

Tracey: 9:02

If you have a friend who's not economically in the same space as you are, just be prepared to foot the bill for them and have that discussion. Like, have. that discussion. If you have a friend that wants to go on a trip or you want them to go on a trip and you are in a space where you can foot the bill for them, have that discussion with them, food; therefore you don't want to have anybody embarrassed CashAp p know, I know to CashApp fully embarrassed Zelle somebody paid for me to go on a trip and I had to sit there and eat famous sandwiches. And also, don't throw it up in their faces. If you're going to foot the bill for somebody on their trip, don't throw it up in their faces. Don't embarrass these people. Don't embarrass your friend, especially if this is your friend. Don't embarrass your friend, okay, but have the money. Talk up front, be up front about what the budget is going to look like and make sure everyone is comfortable with the spending plan, and this also helps avoid any awkwardness later.

Tracey: 9:54

So if you know, like I know I have a couple friends who the hotel accommodations they want five star, they want five star. They want their own rooms. I don't mind sharing a room with people, but some people just want their own rooms. I don't mind sharing a room with people, but some people just want their own rooms. That can be a little expensive. So find a place, especially if you're going to a hotel. Find a place that has different tiers for pricing. And also find. I know a couple of friends of mine who love to eat and they eat well. It's these expensive restaurants and some places that you go like. When we went to Las Vegas, easily we could have gone to one restaurant and could have dropped $1,000 on our food.

Tracey: 10:37

Also, talk about if you're . to be splitting the bill. If you're going to a restaurant, are we splitting to Give get separate checks? Some restaurants have it where somebody has to put their. card down for the reservation. So if that person is putting their card down, make sure you have a way to say all right, I'm spending a hundred bucks on my food. Therefore, I'm going to go ahead and cash up you. I'm going to cash up you or Zill you or whatever it is that you guys use. Here's the money for my stuff. So have those conversations beforehand, before itinerary, make on a trip, so you can come back from the trip as friends, okay.

Tracey: 11:15

Third thing, your shared interests. Plan activities that everyone episode, but, whether it's a spa day Coordinate a hiking adventure, a shopping spree but make sure there's something for everyone to do, and also be flexible in these options. While it's a good thing to have a plan, be flexible. Things might not always go as planned, and that's okay. The most important thing is that you enjoy each other's company. So braided, and also also don't be .

Tracey: 11:54

I love a good planned trip, I love an itinerary, but I can't stand when there's activities the entire time. When there's activities the entire time, give people space to be able to go off and do their own thing Because, like for me, I'm going to take a nap. I'm going to take a nap. Y'all want to go out into the desert and ride camels? Great, I will see you when you get back. I'm going to take a nap. But give people the flexibility to do things that they want to do or do nothing at all. It's great to have an itinerary, but even in the itinerary. Make space for them to do nothing. You don't have to be in each other's faces the entire trip.

Tracey: 12:44

Number four, number five we talked about this on the last episode. But pack smart, pack smart. Coronate on what to bring and avoid duplication. For instance, you probably don't need four hair dryers for one hotel room. Most hotel rooms have a hair dryer and you know, if you're African-American, like us, like most of my friends, we're going to get our well, one. Well, they're going to get do, if hair braided. I'm getting my hair cut, but they're gonna get their hair braided before we go on vacation. So we don't have to worry about hair dryers. And this also saves for check back fees and things like that.

Tracey: 13:21

Get with your friends and say, all right, girl, I have the sunscreen, who's bringing the toothpaste, who's bringing the mouthwash? So everybody doesn't bring the same thing and it's taking up space, especially if you're using a space like Airbnb. You know the space may be limited. You may have limited bathroom space, so that will help save space. Gremlin It will also Gremlins? save time and it also Gremlins helps save space in your packed bags, all right. . .

Tracey: 13:49

Capture said this moments each other's space. Everyone needs some alone time, especially if you're on vacation. Respect each other's needs for space and don't take it personally. Please don't take it personally if somebody just wants to go lay down or if somebody is just not feeling well, you know, do you have somebody on a trip that's not feeling well? One thing that my friends and I do. If somebody's you have somebody on a trip that's not feeling well one thing that my friends and I do. If somebody's sick, somebody's checking on that person, so we may rotate and see who, making sure that person is good, but don't take it personally. If somebody wants to have a little space, please, especially if your friend is an introvert, my friends know.

Tracey: 14:29

First of all, don't come at me at the side of the side of your neck, talk about you being anti-social. I am. I am because if I don't get that alone time, that that space, especially on vacation, I'm gonna be evil, like nobody wants me around. Nobody wants to be around me when I'm sleepy. I'm like a gremlin. Y'all remember gremlins. If you don't remember gremlins, you are too young to talk to me. But I'm like a gremlin, you got to feed me and I got to go so don't get upset if I look I need to break away. Go get a snack. All right, don't take it personally when somebody just says, hey, I need a minute, let them have their minute and there's nothing wrong with them. You don't have to call it out, you don't have to make a comment. Let them be One of my favorite things to do. I forgot what number I'm on. Number five, maybe Y'all keep track. Y'all keep track of this. But number five Capture the moments.

Tracey: 15:31

Capt, capture ? the first. Always moments. Anytime we go on a girl's trip, it's taking the pictures, it's taking the video. Now, I'm not saying that keep the camera up all travel, the time, but there are some moments where it's just good to capture the moment. I had some memories pop up on my phone today from the girl's trip that I took three years ago. One of my friends was pregnant with her son and it just reminded me like, oh my gosh, he's about to be three years old. But on that trip she was pregnant and we were having a good time. We were on the beach, we were. Where did we go? Were we in Savannah? Yeah, that was our Savannah trip. We were having a great time and I looked back over those memories like, wow, look at how far we've come in the last three years. So capture the moments and don't forget to take lots of pictures and videos. These will be great memories to look back on.

Tracey: 16:28

Number six stay positive. Stay positive, keep the vibe positive and drama free. Listen, this is why it's so important to know who you're traveling with. If that person is full of drama at home, they're going to be full of drama on the vacation. Vacation is a time to relax and have fun and strengthen your bond. I don't want to be arguing with anybody on my vacation. Okay, make sure you know who you're traveling with and make sure you know what type of traveler you are. Leave the drama at home, at home.

Tracey: 17:09

Number seven maybe Safety. First, always keep each other's safety in mind. Stick together, especially at night, and keep an eye out for each other. One thing that we do when we travel nobody gets left behind. Nobody gets left behind. There's no running off with no man. You know, I know we grown women, but safety, baby, even if we're out somewhere we? don't really club like we used to, but even if we're out somewhere we're watching drinks. . ?

Tracey: 17:38

when, this is something that I grew up. When I started, when I was in my late teens, twenties, mid twenties and we would go out to the club, my mama always told me watch your drink, watch your drink. These people out here are are some people out here are crazy and they're very sneaky and you know trafficking is real. So watch your drink. There's even I'm going to link this in the show notes for you, but there are little covers that you can put over your glass to keep people from putting things in your drink. Don't KevO n Stage down and. then On Stage and dance and then come back and try to drink that from putting things in your drink. Don't sit your drink down and then go off and dance and then come back and try to drink that drink. Never leave your drink unattended and always keep it covered. .

Tracey: 18:17

And if you do have, if you do happen to go dance with somebody, make sure there's safety in mind, nobody's left behind, nobody's leaving off with anybody, even if, like I said, we grown so there may be somebody in your party who wants to go off with somebody, location them. What's your location Check in sis, because the one thing that I don't ever God forbid, I don't ever want to experience is one of my friends going missing while we out on a trip. No, I could not live with that. So safety first Keep in mind. .

Tracey: 18:58

When you're on vacation, you're a little bit more relaxed. Keep your head on a swivel. Keep your head on a swivel. Another thing, a number eight maybe Cherish the time together. Remember the goal is. to have fun and create lasting discuss So cherish the time you have together and make the most of it.

Tracey: 19:21

One of my favorite things is having a girls' trip. Now, granted, a girls' trip isn't necessarily always us going to another location. I love when my besties and I get together and we get a hotel room and we just giggle. We giggle until one of us gets sleepy, which is pretty early now because we're older. One of our favorite pastimes is sitting in the bed and rubbing our feet together like a cricket. If you over 40, you understand that. You understand having your favorite. You know sleepwear on and I love socks. So I have my fuzzy time, on, wood, b ut happy camper, but I love it when my girlfriends and I are just able to get time together because we all live in different states, we all have lives that are going on. Some of them are raising young kids, you know, so they got husbands, so it's kind of hard to get that time together. So when we get it together, it is precious.

Tracey: 20:24

At the end of this, I'm going to share some of my favorite girls trip destinations and, if time permits, I'll be able to share some of my favorite spots, like staying some of the places that I like to stay, maybe because I don't want everybody to know where I have to stay when I go on vacation. So maybe, maybe. But cherish that time together, especially if you're going to. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Scratch that thought I was enamored the last couple of days watching Kev and Melissa Fredericks known as Kev on stage and Mrs Kev on stage. They had a 20th, they celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary and they had a vow renewal in Mexico and they had their closest family and friends at this place. And one thing Kev said was he thoroughly enjoyed being on air quotes vacation with everybody. And those are memories that he and Melissa and their families and their friends will be able to cherish forever Because, even though they were there to celebrate their anniversary cruise their love, having those moments with all of these people by the pool, or you're having dinner together, everybody getting together to go have breakfast, those are memories that nobody can ever take away from you. So cherish those moments, cherish that time together, because you never know when the last time you see that person will be the last time. Not to sound grim and morbid, but it's true. Anything can happen and life happens fast.

Tracey: 22:04

I remember the last get together that I had with my girls and our best friend Robin. That I had with my girls and our best friend Robin. Well, it's not the last, it was one of the last moments. But we it was the March birthday, so in our group there's two of my girlfriends are born on the same day and then there's me, so we're like two days apart, and so we grits the March birthdays. My bestie, one of my besties got us a hotel room. See, get in the hotel room. They all came up to Charlotte and we sat in that hotel room and had a. good time. But I remember it being so funny because our friend Robin not to get confused with my sister number one, yeah, but my friend Robin had this game and Robin was basically trying to get us drunk. She was basically trying to set us up and get us drunk, but she ended up being the tipsy one. So when I see the pictures and the yes, I got video video of that moment I crack up because, guess what, robin is no longer with us. But I have those memories to go back and look at and just be like, wow, we really had a good time. So cherish those moments. Another thing, okay, that I would like to share with you. What number? What number, I don't know Child we just on the next thing. Please, please, please, communicate.

Tracey: 23:43

Communication is key. Communication is key, even if you make these plans and you know, life happens. Sometimes people may have to drop out of the trip, whatever, whatever. Whenever there's a change, communicate it Before you go on a trip. Discuss expectations, any potential issues. Clear communication can prevent misunderstandings and ensure everyone is on the same page. For instance, like on the girls' trip that I'm getting ready to go on, we had a couple people who aren't going to be able to make it. Are we sad about it? Absolutely, absolutely. We wish they could go, but life happens. So not only are you know. Their funding portion of the trip has changed. It's no longer there, so that means our out-of-pocket is going to be different. So we had to communicate that. Hold on one second, I have to sneeze, excuse me. Everything is happening while I'm up in here. Thank you if you say, bless you. But yeah, so now our trip dynamic has changed, so that means our out-of-pocket expense is going to be a little different, and so we had to communicate. They communicated this early enough for us to be able to make adjustments and it not really affect us. So communication is key.

Tracey: 25:04

Let somebody know if you have allergies, like for me. I think I'm the one that has has the most allergies. So whenever we go on a trip my friends know this already, but they know that I have a shellfish allergy. So whenever we go to restaurants and things like that, thank God they're mindful of me. So, first of all, I never put my allergies as a responsibility on another person.. can happen. I've been in situations thank God it hasn't happened in a long time knock wood situations thank God it hasn't happened in a long time, knock wood. But I was in a situation one time where we went to a seafood restaurant and they fried their french fries and their chicken tenders in the same grease as they did their shrimp. That's a danger. That's a hazard for me because I could really have a bad, really bad allergic reaction. But let people know. If you got medical issues, you know, if you got heart problems I don't want you on the zip line, you know. Just kind of let people know what's going on in your life. Now you don't have to tell all your business, but kind of give people a heads up. If this is an issue for you, let somebody know.

Tracey: 26:19

Now great tip is to delegate responsibilities. So if you have a big group like I, my family and I are planning a family cruise next year, 2025. I have to be mindful of what I'm saying because you can listen to this episode in 2026. But we're planning a family cruise in 2025. That's a lot of people. So one of my cousins and I have taken the reins of planning this trip. We have our cruise coordinator who works for the cruise line, but the communication and everything comes through myself and my cousin. So we've delegated the responsibilities. He was in charge of the booking and accommodations. I'm researching activities and we're planning the dinner and any kind of activities that are coming along. But the workload is shared so it doesn't feel like it's a burden on one person. And being able to disseminate information is a lot easier when you got two contact people, because if they can't, if fam that's going on the trip can't reach me, they can reach my cousin and they can also reach the crew's coordinator. So disseminating those responsibilities has been a huge help.

Tracey: 27:33

So if you're planning a group trip, whether it be four people or 20 people, put some of the responsibilities on somebody else. So even in our small girls trip, the girls trip that I'm getting ready to go on, one person found the accommodations. Another person has found she's researching restaurants for us to go eat. I know I'm responsible for breakfast because they love I make these amazing grits. Y'all they love my grit, so I know we're going to be cooking breakfast. So, delegate, delegate, delegate. Now this is a tip that I found online that I thought was kind of good. Do with it what you may Create a shared fund.

Tracey: 28:14

Consider creating a shared fund for a group expenses like meals, cab fares and tips. It simplifies payments and ensures everyone contributes equally. That is a great idea. That is a really great idea. Now, with that, it has to be somebody who is responsible with money, because you don't want to be putting funds into a shared fund and somebody run off with all the money. So, legally, you may want to put some kind of legal parameters in place that would mean who has access to the account or things like that, but that is a really great idea. I have not done that one. I'm not going to stay there much longer because I haven't done that one, but that is a . really great idea.

Tracey: 29:03

Think about behind. Y'all a first aid kit. I said this on the last episode. Having a first aid kit, accidents are going to happen and I am a clumsy person. Accidents happen. I went on a trip one time to the beach, rolled my ankle tore, not tore, but I almost. I came real close to tearing my ACL. Came back from that trip, I was in a boot for eight weeks Now, granted, a first aid kit couldn't really, you know, fix that.

Tracey: 29:37

Well, granted, a first aid kit couldn't really fix that? Well, yeah, we could. There was an ace bandage in there, so I was able to wrap my ankle. But having a first aid kit, you may get a cut or a scrape, having things on hands like Band-Aids, pain relievers, sometimes prescription medication. But again., like the last episode, when I said in the last episode, be careful with those medicare medicants. Be careful with those medications.

Tracey: 30:08

If you're going to a foreign country, research that country and make sure that what you're bringing . into the country is is legal for you to bring. It's not illegal for you to bring. I don't to hear nobody that listened to this. podcast episode ended up locked up abroad. No, no, no, no, no, no. But having a first aid kit, you know a little small one and they have some online. I'll see if I can find some of those too and just kind of link those. Let me see if I can find the one that I got. The one that I got I've had for about eight years, maybe eight years, so it's old I just one good thing about it is I can refill it as time permits. And also, if you have a first aid kit and it has medications in there, check the expiration dates of your medicine. Okay, just check the expiration dates, because if you, you don't use a first aid kit every day, so check the expiration date.

Tracey: 31:07

Another tip is to have a plan. b. Sometimes things don't go as planned, so having a backup plan ensures that the fun doesn't stop, even if the original plan falls through. You go on a trip and have an excursion. The excursion can get canceled, so what's the plan B? Are you just going to go rest or are you going to do something else? Have a plan B. If somebody backs out of the trip. What's the plan B? Are you going to cancel the trip or are you going to continue and have everybody up the ante, so to speak? Have a plan B. Sorry, somebody, I'm at the podcast studio y'all and people walk by and they just staring like what Another great tip.

Tracey: 31:56

Leave work behind'all. As a content creator, this is so hard. This is so hard because everything is content, almost everything is content. So you, you want to pull out the laptop and write the blog or do things like that. So, even if you're not a content creator and you work a nine to five, I have I do both. Leave the work behind, try, try your very best to disconnect from work and fully immerse yourself and be present. Immerse yourself in the trip, be present in the trip. This is the time to unwind and enjoy your life. Unwind and enjoy.

Tracey: 32:40

If you can unplug, unplug. I know that that may be hard for those of you who have children at home. You know somebody needs to get in contact with you. It may be hard to unplug, but you can unplug from that job. You can unplug from that job for a little while. That's why you have PTO Paid time off. Try to unplug.

Tracey: 33:02

One thing that I'm trying to get better at is I'm really great at leaving my work laptop Really great at that. But that personal laptop that South use to create all of my content, edit podcasts, episodes, do graphics, all that stuff Whew, whew. It's hard to leave Beulah at home. Yes, I named my laptop Beulah. It's hard to leave Beulah at home. And I have to leave her at home because I know what's going to happen if I bring her with me. I'm going to crack her open and start working and the next thing I know, five hours later, my girls will be looking at me like girl, what you doing? You've missed half the trip is gone and. I know that this is hard because ideas come all the time. So here's something that I do. If you're a creative, you might want to do this. .

Tracey: 33:56

I always have my journal with me, Always, because I'm Nevada going to journal about my experience and sometimes I can write a blog post, or I can write my thoughts for the next podcast episode, whatever ideas I'm having. Sometimes a whole campaign may come, or a marketing strategy, or whatever. If God gives me a download for the business, I need to have that somewhere. So I will write in my journal. Sometimes I will use my phone and I'll create a video and do clip-to-clip YouTube stuff. So use your technology, but don't go overboard with it.

Tracey: 34:33

Remember you're on vacation. You're on a girl's trip. You're on a guy's trip. You're on vacation. Let work sit somewhere. It's going to be there. Okay, it's going to be there. Being overworked is not cute. Being in hustle mode all the time it's exhausting. Take this time out to refresh and recharge and enjoy yourself. Have fun, no matter what happens Nevada. Another to have fun and enjoy this time with your friends. That's why y'all book the trip, book the ding dang trip, and if you have never traveled with your friends, now's a good time to start. It's summertime, let's go. Let's go somewhere. So all right.

Tracey: 35:12

A couple destinations Tennessee that I love for girls trips and again, this depends on the type of traveler you are and the type of who you're traveling with. Keep in mind, I have friends with various travel needs and wants and desires and all this stuff. I have one friend who refuses to fly. So I know when we go on a girls trip it's got to be someplace where we can drive within two or three hours, maybe four max, five max, because I hate flying. I hate driving more than five hours. Put me on a plane, I'll meet you there. So a couple places that I love.

Tracey: 35:52

South Carolina is one of my Tennessee. And to visit. Maybe it's because I kind of grew up there, but I love going to Hilton Head, south Carolina. It is laid back. It is such a vibe you don't see a whole bunch of. It's just very quiet. It's a very comfortable place to unplug, because I love the The beach Charging Station are beautiful Airbnbs there. There are hotels there, the food is amazing. It's within driving distance to Charleston and Savannah, so you can have a day trip to Savannah, you can have a day trip to Charleston and be right there at Hilton Head. I love it. It's one of my favorite places and for a girl's trip it's a really good spot places and for girls trip. It's a really good spot. So, especially with us living in North Carolina and South Carolina,. Another one of my favorite places is Tybee Island, tybee Island, georgia, tybee Island. Again, I love the beach there. There are Airbnbs there, there are hotels there. Again, the food is amazing and it's within distance to Charleston and Hilton Head as well, so you can do the day trip thing.

Tracey: 37:09

Another one of my favorite girls trip places Las Vegas, nevada. Granted, you have to fly, but Vegas is a good time. Vegas is a good time. Granted, I don't gamble. I gamble. The first time I went to Vegas I lost three dollars in my very warm glove. It was my, my favorite pair of gloves. I lost one glove and I was like all right, I'm done, because my thing is no shade to those who gamble, do what you do. I don't like spending money that I don't have anything tangible to have. So when I lost that $3 and my glove, I was like, oh no, this ain't for me. I went shopping. So Vegas is a great place for a girls trip. There's so many activities. You can do a show.

Tracey: 38:00

One of my favorite girls trips was when we went to go see my baby dad Usher, at his residency. Granted, we were and for 48 hours. It was a hard 48. But I had such a great time. My best. See and I went ziplining. We ate good food, the show was amazing. It was a great trip. So consider Las Vegas, nevada, another one of my favorite places going to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Tracey: 38:28

Pigeon Forge, tennessee. My family and I did a family trip there a couple years ago and we had this huge cabin. It was about 20 of us in this cabin and I know that may sound like we were on top of each other. We were not. This cabin had four levels. We barely saw the children because they were in the movie theater, because the place that we had had games video games. It was a game room. It was a PlayStation that was hooked up. We saw those kids when it was time to eat and when it was time for us to go to the amusement park and time for us to leave. So that's when we saw the kids. We had a hot tub, we had a grill, we were outside playing cornhole. So being in the mountains was a great, great, great time.

Tracey: 39:17

So check out Pigeon Forge, tennessee, and I would love to hear from you what are some of your favorite destinations to visit, whether it be locally or internationally. If you are an international listener, let me know what your favorite spots are. I would love to come visit. We have people all over the world that listen to the charging station, so I hope some of these tips are good for you, helpful to you as well, but I would love to hear from you all what is your perspective? What kind of places do you like to visit? Do you have any other tips that you we may not have covered, but you have tips that have worked well for you. Are there any tips that we listed that you are planning on implementing? So let me know. I want to hear from you. Are there any tips that we listed that you are planning on implementing? So let me know. I want to hear from you Always, always, always.

Tracey: 40:03

If you're following us on Instagram, you'll see the post for the podcast episode. You can comment on that post. You can always email me. You can reply to the email. If you're on my email list, you get the episode first. It comes out to you as soon as it hits, so you can always reply to that email. Let me know if this has been helpful for you. So, y'all, that is it. Those are all the tips that I have.

Tracey: 40:27

I hope this has blessed you in some kind of way. I hope that you are encouraged to get out and travel if time in your budget permits. Okay, don't do it because I say so. Do it because you want to see some world. Get out here and see some world. So, with that being said, we are going to close out this episode and we have what? Maybe two more, two more episodes to go, y'all, and then we'll be closing out season seven of the charging station. I can't believe we're coming up on eight years, y'all. August will be eight years. So I appreciate you for rocking with me all of this time. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And before we close out, I want you to remember this always God loves you, I love you. It ain't nothing you can do about it. Boo bye.