Her Holiday

Girls just want to hit the road. And as travel companies cash in on the wanderlust, holiday packages exclusively for women are the new rage. The men can wait at home

Bharati 1shroff, an advertising consultant from Chennai, was surfing the Net when she came across a blog entry on Women on Wanderlust WOW, an all-woman travelling club based in Delhi. Bharati8217;s husband was busy at work and she was desperately looking for a break. So, she dialled WOW8217;s number and immediately signed on for their trip to Egypt. 8220;I8217;d never intended to go on holiday only with women, but it was wonderfully liberating. We chatted about everything, from lipsticks to shopping. It was my time, and I came back making friends with most everyone on the trip,8221; she says.nbsp; nbsp;

Gayathri Upadhya from Manipal had a similar experience. A single mother of a six-year-old and an inveterate traveller, she has travelled alone, with family and with friends, but nothing compares with her trip to Egypt last year. Ditto for Lubeina Shahpurwala, a 32-year-old entrepreneur from Mumbai, who says: 8220;I did things that I8217;d never imagined I8217;d do. Like belly dancing with a scarf tied around my hips, shopping for silly trifles, interacting with the local people and trying the local cuisine, and generally having a whale of a time with all the girls,8221; says Gayathri.

A survey has revealed that women find travelling alone or with other women more liberating than dangerous and that most of them are as much in love with their backpacks as their vanity cases. Cashing in on a growing demand for 8220;girlfriend getaways8221;, travel companies are organising special packages for women travellers.

So, what is a 8220;girlfriend getaway8221;? A trip filled with lots of shopping 8212; without men sulking in the background 8212; relaxing at spas, gossip sessions and girl bonding.

A popular concept abroad, especially in the US and western Europe, it is fast catching up in India. The average ages of women on these trips ranges from 20 to 60; most are professionals, from corporate executives to entrepreneurs. Sumitra Senapaty, founder of WOW and a travel writer by profession, came across this trend on her many jaunts abroad. 8220;I just knew that there were many women like me who were keen to get away, but because of logistical restriction, they could not,8221; she says. As a woman, she thinks it8217;s easier for her to cater to women8217;s tastes. Men, she says, prefer a structured itinerary when on holiday, while women are more spontaneous. 8220;They are more keen to explore and discover the local flavours.8221; nbsp;

The first trip she organised was to Ladakh, with a group of 15 women. And now, there are packages for women that have options for sightseeing, trekking, pilgrimages and historical and cultural trips. Sumitra8217;s WOW, may be one of the earliest firms to have started, but now other travel companies are jumping into the fray. Like Kesari Tours of Mumbai, which offers My Fair Lady, a 8220;ladies only8221; package. Introduced last year, the trips so far have only been to destinations in Southeast Asia. But this year, a holiday to Switzerland is in the offing. 8220;We have queries from women of all age groups turning up who want to travel abroad, but either don8217;t feel safe alone or cannot find someone to accompany them. Which is why, we8217;ve had great success with this package,8221; says Poonam Dande, product manager at Kesari Tours.

A lot of these rips are specially marketed as gift packages, from a husband to a wife, or a son presenting a holiday to his mother. 8220;On one of our trips we had an eight-year-old, who was with her mother, and we had a retired lady who was 80. Every woman in the group tried the hookah and danced on the deck of the ship. When women are together, they always bond,8221; says Sumitra.