The science behind why girls’ holidays are good for you

the science behind why girls’ holidays are good for you

Studies suggest that quality time spent with friends has a positive effect on our health, happiness and wellbeing – Getty

Going on holidays with your mates is a rite of passage. From clubbing in Ibiza to mud-bathing at Glastonbury, these experiences often form the foundations of lifelong friendships. Yet, as we get older and our calendars fill with romantic minibreaks and family getaways, perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to relegate holidays with our friends to the past.

According to a study by Dr William Chopik, a psychologist and associate professor at Michigan State University, quality time spent with friends has a positive effect on our health, happiness and wellbeing. He analysed data from 271,053 people in almost 100 countries for a study in the journal Personal Relationships and found that, while our relationships with both family and friends have an effect, it’s the ones with our mates that have the biggest impact later in life.

Another study by Harvard University showed social connections have as much of a positive effect on our long-term health as getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and not smoking. It provided the impetus I needed to put five of Dr Chopik’s findings to the test with a bunch of girlfriends in Tuscany (all in the name of science, of course).

the science behind why girls’ holidays are good for you

Tracey and her friends bonded during a holiday in Tuscany

1. Friendships become more important as we age

Keeping a few really good friends around makes the world of difference to our health and well-being. A recent milestone birthday gave me a reason to whisk five of my best girlfriends to a luxury villa in the Tuscan hills to ring in the next decade in style. We stayed at Villa Chiantisol, a sprawling honeyed-stone pile on the outskirts of the village of Tavarnelle Val Di Pesa.

Within minutes, the ladies had each chosen one of the 10 beautiful bedrooms – all rugged oak beams, terracotta tiled floors and rustic wooden shutters opening out onto those famous views – and reconvened on the terrace for a first Aperol spritz. I looked around at the fabulous women I’d collected over decades and raised a toast to my brilliant life choices. I was starting to understand what Dr Chopik meant.

2. Friendships have all the benefits of being in a relationship, without the enormity of it

It’s smart to invest in the friendships that make you happiest. “How we behave with our friends is different to how we are around family. It’s because these are relationships of choice,” says Dr Chopik. “You choose to hang out together because you enjoy each other’s company.” But it’s important to invest as much in our friendships as our romantic relationships.

A holiday with friends is different to one with a partner or family. Maybe it’s the absence of duty, but a group getaway is often more about relaxing and reconnecting than exploring. One key to its success is to not overplan, be flexible and remember that it’s everybody’s holiday.

My aim was to lounge by the pool, enjoy a rustic lunch in a vineyard and indulge in some light pottering around a medieval hill town. Mary and Teresa both had a hankering to revisit San Gimignano, Hannah and Rhonda had never been to Florence before, while Laura and Amy were happy as long as we always adhered to aperitivo hour. We all had different ideas, but we were fundamentally on the same page about what we wanted from our trip.

the science behind why girls’ holidays are good for you

It’s smart to invest in the friendships that make you happiest, says Dr Chopik – plainpicture.com

3. Friendships boost our happiness and morale

As the old saying goes, you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. Dr Chopik’s study found that those who put time and effort into nurturing friendships over the years reported themselves as feeling happier and healthier.

“Spending this quality time with like-minded women has been magical,” Rhonda told me during the trip. “We’re at an age when nobody’s pretending anymore. We’re all aware of our foibles and our neuroses but a holiday like this means having the space to have those massive heart-to-hearts (of course, alternating with being silly and acting like teenagers again). It truly is the best of times.”

After one blissful afternoon drinking Bellinis around the pool, we decided to venture into Florence, 30 minutes away by car. Inspiration for the world’s greatest artists, the Renaissance city is home to Italy’s finest art galleries.

Had we binned off the Bellinis and arrived a little earlier, we could have visited the Accademia and Michelangelo’s David or seen Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus at the Uffizi. Instead, we continued our exploration of Italian aperitivo at Caffe Gilli on Piazza della Repubblica.

4. Spending quality in-person time together helps you form emotional connections

“We have a saying in Italy, ‘il dolce far niente’, the sweetness of doing nothing,” revealed Lorenzo, owner of Casa Lucii, on our visit to his organic winery near San Gimignano. Sitting on the terrace overlooking the vineyard, sipping Lorenzo’s chilled Spicchio rosé and nibbling on oil-drenched artichokes, I couldn’t think of a better place to do nothing – or better people to do it with.

“Keeping in touch with friends via text or social media is fine, but nothing replaces the face-to-face connection that spending time away together can afford you,” says Dr Chopik. “You can sit down, look them in the eye, have a true back-and-forth and read each other’s body language. They can see you and your facial expressions. You’re emotionally responding to things. You don’t always get that through a phone call.”

Once again, I agree with the Doc. Whether it was preparing lunch together or chatting around the pool, our little snapshots of friendship proved priceless.

the science behind why girls’ holidays are good for you

Engaging and investing in relationships is associated with both psychological and physical health benefits, says Dr Chopik – Bettmann

5. Investing in relationships is associated with psychological and physical health benefits

The doctor says the quality of close relationships has been linked to healthier behaviour and lower mortality. After the gallons of Chianti and troughs of prosciutto and pecorino we’ve consumed during our week away, I’m not sure healthy behaviour is quite the right term. But the near-constant laughter has tightened up my stomach muscles to form a veritable six-pack.

“I’ve had a blast,” said Laura. “It did all of us the power of good to spend proper time with each other. While our lives have changed since we might have done that 25 years ago, this time together has cemented our female friendships in a heavenly locale.”

On our last night, we had dinner in the town of Panzano at Antica Macelleria Cecchini, the beef restaurant owned by “the world’s greatest butcher” Dario Cecchini. While the waiters doled out silky slivers of seared carpaccio and slow-roasted hunks of rump, I topped up our glasses from the straw-wrapped flasks of Chianti and raised a toast to my gorgeous gang of women – my secret weapon for the next half-century.

Essentials

CV Villas (020 7261 5400, cvvillas.com) has a week at Villa Chiantisol for up to 20 people from £10,529 (or £751pp), including easyJet flights from London Gatwick to Florence.

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