Woman Went On A Trip With A Male Friend After She Told Her Girlfriends She’d Rather Travel Solo, So Now Her Friends Are Annoyed

Liberty Canlas

29 minutes ago

Female tourist taking a photo of the cityscape

Pexels/Reddit

There’s a special kind of freedom that comes with traveling on your own.

This woman is no stranger to the perks of traveling solo, so she rejected her friends’ invitation to go to Spain. But then she went to Spain with a male friend, so her friends felt betrayed.

Read the full story below for more details.

AITA for going on a trip with a guy friend after telling other friends I prefer solo travel?

I (27F) have always loved solo travel. At home in the States, I’m generally the “mom friend” of the group—I’m always hosting things, cooking for people as a source of comfort, and people also call me the “therapy friend,” that sort of thing.

In my 20s, I’ve come to love traveling, and I discovered early on that solo travel is my favorite way to experience a new place.

I love the freedom of doing exactly what I want, when I want, without taking care of anyone else or having to compromise plans.

It also makes it easier to meet new people and have some adventures.

This woman refused to go to Spain with her female friends but went with a male friend instead.

Last year, a good friend group of mine from college planned a trip to Spain together.

I told them I was really touched they invited me along, but I’d already been planning a solo trip to Spain, and they know about my preference for solo travel.

However, when I did end up going to Spain myself last year, my old college roommate (27M) decided to tag along last minute.

This caused the other friend group to get really annoyed with me, and I tried to explain that my college roommate is very similar to me in how he travels.

He does his own thing, he doesn’t expect us to coordinate anything together; the only time we linked up was when we coincidentally wanted to do the exact same activity at the same time.

Her friends did not like her double standards when it comes to travel companions.

This friend group tried to argue that for daytime activities, I could’ve done my own thing with them, too.

So I told them my second reason was that this friend group was all women, and they’re big on traveling as a pack for safety (especially at night). Since my college roommate is a guy, we each felt safe to do our own thing.

I personally am willing to take my chances traveling solo as a woman. I’ve trained in martial arts/self-defense since I was 16, I think I generally have good instincts, and while it’s still risky, I’m just… okay with that.

I totally understand and respect why this group of girlfriends does NOT want to take that risk, but I don’t want to feel responsible for their safety, or worry them about mine, on a trip like this.

When I go out with this friend group here in the States, I make sure everyone gets home safely and definitely participate in the sisterhood of looking out for one another in bars, nightclubs, or whatever.

But when I’m traveling, if I want to disappear into the night on a side quest, I don’t want to have to worry about anyone else.

She got uninvited to a friend’s bachelorette trip because of it.

Now this friend group is generally annoyed with me for this gender double standard, although some of them begrudgingly admit it’s kinda valid.

One girl in particular, though, doesn’t want to invite me on her bachelorette trip anymore, which I find hurtful.

Most of the time, I am very much a “girls’ girl” and show up as a good friend; I just want some freedom on vacation, but a bachelorette trip is about celebrating HER, not about me, so I definitely wouldn’t have the same attitude for that.

AITA for having this double standard when traveling?

Traveling with a group can be exhausting, especially for the “mom” of the group.

Other people in the comments section are sounding off.

Here’s a balanced opinion.