2019-11-01 Cosmopolitan

It’s all about the drop-in trip now, y’all. By ANNIE DALY

u

nless you’re

the lone

spreadsheet

queen of

your friend

group (we see you,

we love you, don’t

change), you proba-

bly hate trip planning.

Which is why you’ll

love the whole “drop-

in travel” thing that’s

happening right now.

Here’s the gist: You

book whatever short-

ish vacay you want.

Then you tell a few

friends (three or four

is ideal) that you got

a room at this insane

spa for [insert dates

here] and it still has

some open spots.

Whoever’s free can

just hop on in.

Honestly this is

the *ideal* way to

vacay: You get to run

the show (read: do

exactly what the hell

you want) without

having to coordinate

a million schedules

or get sucked into

logistical nightmares,

says Natalie Shalk of

HotelTonight. Plus, it’s

more of a guarantee

that you’ll actually use

your PTO instead of

throwing in the towel

when the planning

gets too annoying.

You also still get

that Zen-like alone

time if your friends

can only make part (or

none!) of your fab get-

away. “It’s not a prob-

lem if I go solo,” says

Candice Wigfield, 36,

who regularly uses

this drop-in strategy.

“It’s just a bonus if my

friends can come.”

Even better: If

you’re invited to this

kind of sitch, you’ll

spend zero weeks

picking a place

or finding housing

(dreams). That’s how

Morgen Henderson,

24, ended up on a

last-minute girls’ trip

to Vegas—one friend

rented an Airbnb and

hit up five others. “It’s

near impossible to

find a weekend we

can all meet up in the

same place,” she says.

But for the one night

they overlapped, it

was full slumber-party

mode. Ideal.

The big group trip

is

dead

It’s more of a

guarantee that

you’ll actually

use your PTO.

1

TELL FRIENDS

YOU’RE JUST.

GONNA. CHILL.

Seriously. Set

the bar super

low from the very

first text convo.

That way you

avoid becoming

trip mom.

2

O N L Y R E S E R V E

A ROOM

YOU CAN PAY

FOR ON

YOUR OWN

I forbid you from

going broke

making drop-

in plans. Don’t

lay out a bunch

of money and

assume people

will pay you

back. Instead,

book only what

you can afford,

and what you

end up splitting

with whoever

shows is gravy.

3

KEEP THE

CREW TINY

This ain’t a bach-

elorette party.

To avoid falling

into 20-person

brunch-research

torture, gently

suggest that

your plus-ones

not invite their

plus-ones.

Sorry, randos.

4

BE PREPARED

TO GO SOLO

Of course, you

run the risk

that no one else

shows up. But

is that so bad?

You’ll be lef t

with some sweet,

sweet me-time.

Books are your

friends now.

Hi, books.

HOW TO

NOT GET

SCREWED

IF YOU’RE

THE HOST

A vacay

without Google

docs? Miracle.

100 Cosmopolitan November 2019

ST

OC

KS

Y.C

OM

.

life