Calling all besties, 2023 is your year. You heard it right, time to celebrate with your true other half - your bestie.
After COVID and experiencing isolation, there was a major increase in travel last year, with people wanting to get out there and experience the world while reuniting with those they have not seen in quite some time. Travel spending reached a pandemic high in September, while in October, it moderated a bit but still remains positive at 3% above 2019 levels.
Thus, comes the birth of the “bestiemoon”. Like a honeymoon or babymoon, this trip marks a dream vacation that you take, not to highlight a momentous event, but to dive deeper into your most cherished friendship.
Honestly, this is way overdue. Gone are the days for needing a reason for leisure travel, especially needing to wait to have a significant other to plan a big vacay. We lose sight of our friendships and how we also need to date our friends and prioritize quality time. Travel is a great way to reunite with your bestie! You can catch up on life and spend much-needed time with a person that is so integral to your life.
Cognitive behavioral psychologist, Melissa Wasserman, shares that when women prioritize traveling together on a one-on-one basis, their need for companionship is fulfilled in a different way than they would be with a significant other. Think of it as an intimate girls' trip where you hopefully go home not hating one another.
We saw viral videos about the demise of girls' trips on TikTok, where users shared horror stories of travels with multiple girls. There was almost always one friendship in those stories that ended within the group. The difference with bestiemoons is tailoring the experience to be one-on-one so you can devote your full attention to each other. Your best friend & you are able to connect and experience new things together that can help your friendship flourish like never before.
Now, you can see this trend of traveling with your besties having more visibility on TikTok in a positive light. The hashtag #bestiemoon has over 939K views, and #bestievacation has 3.8 million. My prediction is that bestiemoons will become the new “it” travel trend this year, and we will see a lot of content shared from these adventures.
Personally, I’m going on my first bestiemoon with my best friend of 12 years this summer to Italy! Can you believe we have never traveled together, just the two of us, in all that time? Don’t be like us. Start to prioritize the friendships that mean the most to you.
Bestie, it's about damn time! Book the flight, get that PTO, & plan that dream trip with your real soulmate. ;)