If 19/25 of these things happen, you’re definitely on a Exeter girls’ holiday

There is nothing like a girls’ trip to keep the summer suitably spiced up. The carefully calculated combination of sight-seeing and bar hopping that occurs on these adventures abroad is something that should be studied by scientists. We Exeter girls like to think we’ve perfected the formula – but the reality is we’re probably just as likely to turn up to the pre-paid boat trip absolutely hanging. If you’ve done 12 more of these things that ALWAYS happen on a girls holidays, you’re definitely on an ‘Exe-Girls’ trip – even if the lads are there too!

1. You have a schedule for every day you’re there

There is always at least one person responsible for organising the entire trip. They booked the bus from Exeter Park-and-Ride to Bristol airport and decided on the sleeping arrangements, the daily schedule and the house rules before the plane even touches down on foreign soil. This is no small feat; your friend deserves some serious love for ensuring you make the most out of your 18 quid EasyJet ticket to Budapest.

2. Someone has a bag that is bigger than them

This friend has brought anything and everything they could find in their room. Mary Poppins’ bag has nothing on this backpack. Need sun cream? Got it. Extra toothpaste? No worries. Didn’t bring your vape? Don’t sweat it, they’ve got a spare.

3. There is drama that only occurred because you were tired (or hungry)

It’s not a uni holiday if there wasn’t some completely irrational beef that happens because everyone is hot, sleep-deprived and hungry. It often ends in a full blown civil war that is then miraculously resolved after one cocktail and some crisps.

4. You ‘save money’ by sharing beds

The AirBnB place says it only beds five? We’re fitting nine girls in there EASILY – have you seen some of the rooms on Danes road?!

5. One of you gets with a local

After two glasses of limoncello, one of the group goes mysteriously missing, only to return with what is usually a horror hook-up story that no one ever really gets the facts straight on. Which is probably for the best.

6. Everyone’s phones run out of storage

Every meal, every monument, every sunset and every six minutes, a photo will be taken. You will then be added to a “Shared Album” with about 4,000 pictures from a two day trip. Your phone will probably freeze and shut down after loading just one of the thousands of blurry photos and you will probably only keep about three of them.

7. Everyone actually has a toothbrush

While someone is probably crying about leaving behind their gua sha, most of the girls have brought with them a skincare bag the size of a briefcase. They’ve got moisturiser, an eyelash curler, tweezers and a hairbrush with three different ends, so best believe they’ve got a toothbrush. We’re all sensible girls here.

8. Someone falls over/gets injured on a night out

Predictably, someone leaves the holiday with a scar for life – probably from a night out – but no one can remember how it really happened. But it will never be bigger than the bruise you get falling down an Exeter club stairs.

9. You get to the airport with an hour to spare

While you might still end up running to the gate, you got there with enough time to have half a bottle of wine and an overpriced sandwich, which is still more than the lad’s holiday behind you.

10. Someone brings zip lock bags

A seasoned flyer remembers that all liquids need to go in a plastic bag, takes one look at her friends and decides she needs to bring extras for everyone. And as always, she is right.

11. One of you runs into someone they know

“Oh LOOK! It’s mullet-boy from TP!”

12. There’s a notes page going with all the debt recorded on it

Women in STEM. The notes page has the local currency, its equivalent worth in pounds and every single monetary interaction that occurs on the trip. At the end of the holiday, everyone is sent the bill from the only one with the Monzo card (and an overdraft).

13. Someone throws up in the shared bathroom

It’s not a girls’ holiday if someone doesn’t get blackout drunk and destroy the bathroom on the first night. That’s law.

14. There is blonde hair EVERYWHERE

If you were sent a cleaning bill, it would have one word on it: hair. Probably recently-dyed blonde, in true Exeter-style.

15. You turn up drunk to somewhere it is not appropriate to be drunk

Be it a museum, a boat tour, a restaurant, a monument, there will be someone who is either still drunk or ferociously hungover. Her fake Prada sunglasses from Amazon do little to hide this.

16. At least one person gets sunburnt

And she has to fork out like nine euros for some aftersun (that doesn’t do much in the way of damage control) and spend the rest of the holiday in the shade. Boo.

17. Someone accidentally smuggles home something illegal

She has nothing to declare except her innocence – how was she supposed to know that she can’t bring back a stray cat from Greece in her suitcase??

18. One of you is unapologetically only there for the food

The only thing that beats an Efes takeaway after a night out is fresh, traditional gelato from Italy.

19. One person in the group tries to fully immerse everyone in the culture

Trying the local dish, wearing the local clothes and falling for the local tourist trap; this girl does it all.

20. Someone breaks or loses an accessory

Let’s have a moment’s silence for all the signet rings, Vivienne Westwood necklaces, and shell anklets that have been left strewn across the world by soon-to-be-devastated Exeter girls on holiday. Unfortunately, no one leaves a girls trip without some minor casualties to her wardrobe, but luckily daddy’s credit card is there to pick up the pieces.

21. You go shopping for food at the local supermarket so you can make your own lunches

You think that you’re planning ahead and saving money, but it probably causes more stress than it’s worth. Especially if you’ve got someone with food allergies – they’re having crackers for the whole trip.

22. One of your friends turns into a full blown TikToker

“Wait guys, who wants to be in my TikTok?”

23. Someone is ALWAYS waiting for the shower

The time it takes for 6 girls to wash their hair is astronomical and not to be underestimated after a day at the beach – remember this next time you decide to book dinner at 5:30pm; this isn’t a post-Exmouth shower.

24. There’s at least one teddy on the trip

This one needs no explanation. Nothing gets between an Exeter girl and her Jellycat – not even Ryanair’s ridiculous hand luggage limits.

25. Someone just wants to go home

Nothing can win this person over until they’re back on the bus from Bristol airport.

Related articles recommended by this writer:

If you have 49/53 of these things you definitely live in an all girl’s student house

44 things it took me three years of being a uni student to realise

If you have 13/15 of these summer accessories I guarantee you’re an Exeter student