I traveled with friends in my early 20s and again in my 40s. I love traveling with girlfriends at different life stages.

19.06.2024 - 13:45 / insider.com / Will I (I)

I walked around Singapore Changi Airport feeling like a kid at summer camp for the first time. It was my first trip away from my family in a decade.

"Will I be OK?" I wondered. "What if I feel homesick and want to go home to my children and husband?"

I sat down and checked my backpack for the 10th time to make sure my passport and wallet were still inside. Then, I took a deep breath and wondered why I felt so anxious.

An earlier version of me used to travel alone all the time when I was in my 20s, filled with a naïve optimism that everything would work out. Yet there I was, at 39, feeling completely out of my depth.

I connected to WiFi, and my phone lit up with a message. I felt a rush of relief as I remembered I wasn't alone on the other side of the world. Three of my college friends were heading to Bhutan with me.

They had just touched down from Brisbane and wanted to know where to meet up. "See you at the gate," I wrote, and started making my way through the terminal.

Suddenly, I heard my college bestie call out my name. "Millllllls," she yelled. It was like a scene from a bad romcom, as she came sprinting along the travelator and tackled me. We laughed and hugged, then made our way to the other women.

Three of us are moms who ditched our husbands at home with the kids . The fourth friend decided to join us literally a couple of weeks before the trip, much to our delight.

We've all had vastly different life experiences, but we share an enduring bond — the kind that's formed during those early foundational years and lasts the ages. We met at college and traveled through Cambodia and Vietnam together in our early 20s.

Over the next eight nights, we had the time of our lives in Bhutan. It had been almost 20 years since the four of us had traveled together, but somehow, we picked up right where we left off. Another friend also joined along the way, and she fit in perfectly with the group.

During the holiday, I had so many revelations. The main one was how much I love traveling with girlfriends at different life stages.

There were times when we laughed so much that we cried, starting with our layover in Kathmandu on the way to Bhutan. I had woken up to go to the toilet, and when I reappeared in our twin room, my friend thought I was an intruder. She let out a blood-curdling scream that shook the walls. "It's me, Carmen," I said, then we both collapsed in a fit of hysterics, laughing until our stomachs ached.

Another time, we talked about something serious in a restaurant when the only other patron let out an almighty belch. We all looked at each other, then keeled over with laughter.

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But the funniest moment of all was when our somewhat conservative Bhutanese