A growing number of single women are taking "we-moons" — milestone vacations with close friends that borrow the ritual of a honeymoon or babymoon, according to a first-person essay published in Self magazine on April 24, 2026.
Writer Jessica Cruel described the concept while on a speedboat in Anguilla, surrounded by honeymooning couples. She was traveling with two single girlfriends to the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Anguilla.
"The shot I want is the waves, the boats, the islands, but I can't seem to get the kissing couples out the background," Cruel wrote. "No matter which way I turn, there are honeymooners in my viewfinder."
Cruel calls the trip a "we-moon." She defines it as a vacation taken to celebrate a major life milestone — in her case, finishing her first book — with friends rather than a spouse.
The distinction matters, she argues. A standard girls trip is casual. A we-moon is deliberate, marking an achievement that doesn't fit the traditional timeline of marriage and children.
"Single women are so often traveling to celebrate others for their bachelorette or wedding or baby shower," Cruel wrote. "Rarely do we get friends to travel and celebrate something that doesn't fit into the typical timeline."
The essay taps into a broader conversation about how unmarried women spend their travel dollars. The wedding industry has long sold destination bachelorette parties and honeymoons as rites of passage. The we-moon flips that script, applying the same ceremony to accomplishments like a book deal, a promotion, or a big birthday.
Cruel's framing also pushes back on the assumption that solo or single travel is a consolation prize. She describes her Anguilla trip as a celebration of friendship and adventure, not a substitute for romance.
The trend has no formal commercial infrastructure yet — no registry, no dedicated booking category. But resorts and tourism boards have increasingly courted group travel among women, a segment that has grown steadily in recent years.
Cruel's advice to readers is simple: make the call and invite your friends. The milestone doesn't need a ring attached to it to deserve a celebration.
She and her two companions were the only single people on the boat that day, she noted. That, she suggests, is exactly the point.
