The Night An Igloo Changed My Life: The Value of Women-Focused Active Travel Vacations

Once the days of making construction-paper valentines for every classmate passed, Valentine’s Day mostly felt like a Hallmark holiday to me… especially as someone who has spent more of those days single than not.

But I do appreciate the newer variations — Pal-entine’s, Galentine’s, or really any excuse to celebrate the people who show up for you.

My appreciation for women-centered friendships, however, didn’t come from a retreat, a group chat, or a carefully planned girls’ weekend. It came from one dark, snowy, freezing night in college.

During an outdoor education course, we were assigned groups to trek through deep snow, build an igloo, and sleep in it. This Southern girl was already cold, tired, and grumpy — and then I learned I’d been placed in the only all-female group.

I’m the only girl among my siblings and first cousins, and most of my childhood through college “best friends” were boys. I can talk baseball stats and have no idea about makeup trends (true to this day). I honestly couldn’t remember a time when I wasn’t surrounded by guys.

I moaned internally.

What was I going to talk about?

Would I fit in?

How was this going to work?

We slogged through the snow to our campsite, dropped our packs, and laid out snacks. Immediately, I noticed something different.

No one lunged for food.

No competitive scramble.

We lingered, chatted, laughed, and grabbed things casually. It felt… calm.

Then we started building the igloo.

Everyone worked. No one hung back. No one acted too cool or too tired. Block by block, we built a surprisingly sturdy shelter together. And when it was finished, we didn’t just crawl inside — we stood around it in the snow, belting out “I Will Survive” at the top of our lungs, laughing until we could barely breathe.

It was one of the best nights of that entire course — and one I’ve never forgotten.

To be clear, I still treasure my male friendships and love mixed-group adventures. But that night revealed something special about being in a space centered around women — a kind of ease, encouragement, and collective energy that felt both grounding and energizing at the same time.

It’s the same feeling I’ve witnessed again and again on women-centered trips I’ve guided: cycling through Tuscany, hiking in the Dolomites, celebrating milestone birthdays, bachelorette weekends, retirements, or simply the rare chance for friends to be together without the usual responsibilities waiting at home.

These journeys aren’t about excluding anyone. They’re about creating space — for confidence to grow, for stories to unfold, for laughter to last longer than it normally would.

Sometimes the most meaningful celebrations aren’t candlelit dinners.

They’re shared challenges.

Shared pride.

Shared memories that keep resurfacing years later.

And this kind of experience doesn’t have to be planned only by the people going. Some of the most thoughtful inquiries I receive come from partners, husbands, brothers, or sons who want to give the women in their lives something deeper than a traditional gift — time together, adventure, and the chance to feel fully alive.

Whether it’s a milestone, a transition, or simply a desire to reconnect, gathering the people who know you best and placing yourselves somewhere extraordinary can be its own kind of love letter.

And while I still won’t say no to flowers on February 14th, the memories that last aren’t wrapped in foil or tied with a bow. They’re built — sometimes literally — block by block, with people who make you laugh when your toes are frozen and your hair is full of snow.

If you've been dreaming of booking one of our women-focused active travel adventure vacations, I’d be honored to help bring it to life.

Let's Build an Igloo... or Another Fun Adventure!