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Moms seeking a break from their kids might try a 'momcation'
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Last year it was "mancations." Next year it could be anything from "kidcations" to "seniorcations." Or, maybe, "gaycations," "churchcations," "dogcations" or "kittycations."
But, for this year, the "cation" that the travel industry hopes will catch on is the "momcation."
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Billed as "the revenge sequel" to male-bonding "mancations," the "momcation" targets mothers seeking a break from screaming infants, frustrating adolescents and defiant teenagers. Which pretty much covers the gamut of motherhood.
"All this talk about men's primal need for mancations drove me crazy," says Kathy Carl a member of the Hopkinton (Mass.) Girls Getaway Group. "My friends and I wouldn't trade our kids for anything — but we recently decided it was time to hatch a plan for a no-kids, no-husbands escape."
Not only are some women envious of men who take off for a weekend to fish, drink, play poker and smoke cigars with their buddies, a few of them are openly resentful about it.
After watching a television program about mancations, one respondent to a motherhood blog wrote: "i saw the show on this last night, and i was so (really nasty word Eddie Murphy used to use a lot) irritated ... as if men don't have enough mancation in general just living. i hate the implication that men have it so rough, that they need time away from the women in their lives. (Same really nasty word) off."
No matter how crudely stated, emotions like those are music to the fiscal ears of companies such as I'm in!.com, which calls itself the "leading authority for gender-based group travel."
"Activity from moms groups on I'm in! has doubled since we launched last fall," says company founder and CEO Josh Lesnick. "We are seeing a tremendous amount of interest in women's two and three day trip itineraries, which feature a variety of destinations and activities from spa to extreme outdoor adventures. Women traveling in groups is the evolution of Girls Night Out."
"Thousands" of groups of women with names such as the Hard Working Moms, the Book Club Babes and the Runaway Mamas, the company reports, are using its site (www.imin.com) to plan getaway trips. According to its research, more than 20 million women take at least one of these trips a year, spending an average of $791 per person, per trip. The average trip for women, however, is one day less than for men and a majority of them are within three hours of their homes.
Where are they going?
To New York City and to Gilman, Ill. From the sands of Paradise Island, Bahamas, to the mountains of Whistler, Canada.
And what do they do?
"Babes in the Berkshires at Canyon Ranch" in Lenox, Mass., offers pilates, kayaking, a ropes course, gourmet dinners and a spa, with a package price starting at $2,000 for a three-night stay. "Manic Mommies Escape to Newport" in Rhode Island touts group yoga, mansion tours, guest speakers and a chic boutique, starting at $399 for two nights. "Mackinac Mamas — Mackinac Island Girls' Getaway" includes horseback riding, golf, and "chocolate and cherries pedicure and spa treatment," approximately $500 for three days. Three days and two nights of nutrition, stress management, yoga and a high ropes course start at $650 at the Heartland Spa, Gilman, Ill., 90 miles south of Chicago.
For mothers, there are an infinite variety of ways to escape on momcations.
Or, as the travel industry hopes they will prove to be, cashcations.
Contact this writer at (937) 225-2439 or at
dlstewart@DaytonDailyNews.com.
