NEWSWhy Women Want to Travel Without Men Even If They Love Them: Insights from WanderLusty Woman
Ashley Maxwell and Kristen White
July 8 2025, Published 1:24 a.m. ET
For generations, women have been conditioned to wear many hats, from the unofficial CEO of the home and the emotional compass of the family to the dependable colleague and the reliable friend. Even with societal progress, domestic and emotional labor still leans heavily on women. The mental load from the silent checklists, appointments, permission slips, and unspoken expectations rarely takes a day off. Slowly, this quiet weight blurs the lines of identity. A woman looks in the mirror and sees ‘mom,’ ‘wife,’ or ‘boss,’ but not necessarily themselves.
Given this context, it’s hardly surprising that more women choose to travel without men, even when they adore their husbands, partners, or families. The point is release: freedom to break away from roles, from tasks, and from being needed to simply being. For women, travel becomes not a luxury but a life-affirming act of reclamation.
That’s where WanderLusty Woman stands out. The brand represents a growing movement, a global constellation of curious, creative, and ambitious women reconnecting to their wild, vibrant selves. Co-founded by Ashley Maxwell and Kristen White, the company was born from the belief that travel means return. “It’s return joy, to spontaneity, to deep belly laughs and meaningful conversations with other women who want more,” they say.
Ashley Maxwell and Kristen White
Something sacred happens when women step outside the routine and into the unknown. It’s not just about sipping wine in Santorini (although, yes, that helps, as per the founders). It means experiencing oneself without the invisible demands. White jokes that her most brilliant creative downloads never happen while loading the dishwasher or driving the school carpool, but on the beach in Paros, where her mind had the space to dream. “I wouldn’t have come up with that screenplay idea while scrubbing pots,” she says.
It’s not all epiphanies and sunsets, however. Sometimes, it’s the snort-laughing with one’s besties because someone tried to take a sip of champagne on a boat flying 80 miles an hour through the Andaman Sea. “That was our abdominal workout,” White jokes. “Still not sure if it counts, but hey, it burned calories.” It turns out that humor is healing, too, and laughter with one’s tribe of like-minded women can feel like therapy.
Maxwell adds that women don’t just need a break from schedules. “We need a break from being scheduled,” she says. WanderLusty Woman’s trips, and most importantly, the community it nurtures, are designed to offer unstructured, unscripted, unfiltered space to breathe.
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It’s remarkable how transformative this freedom can be. A study shows that close friendships between women help reduce stress, boost oxytocin, and contribute to increased longevity. Still, the most profound benefit may be identity restoration. When a woman travels with others who reflect her fire, her humor, and her dreams, she begins to see herself clearly again as a beautiful, autonomous being.
Maxwell recalls what she thought of after seeing a photo of herself in Ibiza: “That’s me, I’m more than the woman I see in the mirror every day. This version of me, on the beach, hair wild, and eyes alive. This is the real me.”
The creative spark reignites, too. There’s something about wandering a souk in Marrakech, bargaining for handwoven treasures, or sipping coffee in a tucked-away café in Paris that stirs the artistic soul. WanderLusty Woman champions these moments as catalysts. Artisans and entrepreneurs who travel with the community often return with ideas, stories, and businesses inspired by the people and beauty they encounter.
This is where WanderLusty Woman is changing the narrative around travel. Yes, it offers a luxury experience. But it is also a platform that offers a “match-making” framework where women can find one another, connect around their dream destinations, and make their travel magic happen together.
In this way, the WanderLusty Woman community is becoming the digital hinge that opens doors. Whether through its growing membership or its curated events designed to spark deeper connections, the brand is about building bridges globally between women. From a beach in Bali to a boutique in Buenos Aires, the goal remains to connect like-minded women who are ready to ditch the routine, take bold leaps, and live vibrantly.
The founders even created a philosophy around this kind of living a life on fire,they call it B.R.N.N. “Be Bold, take Risks, do something New, and do it Now,” they say. “The clock isn’t stopping, and neither should your joy.”
For those worried about losing the magic once the trip ends, there’s more. The club aspect means that the friendships don’t end at the airport gate. Members stay connected, inspired, and in motion long after they’ve unpacked. It’s a rhythm, a ripple, a return to self again and again. These experiences are far from a scrapbook memory; they transform into a living mantra for adventure and joy.
Men have always had their famous ‘golf trips’, but unfortunately, women haven't always had access to such a luxury due to their endless list of commitments. Couples don't always share the same travel dreams, and these moments apart allow them to explore their own individuality. But it goes beyond that, because let's face it, individuals recharge in different ways, and that's okay.
Ultimately, women don’t just want to travel without men because of a particular lack or frustration with their partners. They do it because they’re tired of waiting for permission to live fully. Even if they love their partner, their kids, and their lives, sometimes they just need a week where they’re not somebody’s something, where they’re just themselves: glorious, curious, wild, wise, and laughing until their abs hurt. White remarks, “Sometimes, that’s the best core workout you’ll ever get.”
