A comically oversized sun hat, a spritz by 11am, no itinerary decided by committee and absolutely no golf courses — that's the aesthetic, and attitude, behind the 'Hot Divorcee Summer' trend now shaping how women book their holidays. Coined by comedian Tatty Macleod on social media in April, it's less about marital status than a mood: travelling untethered, putting yourself first, and not waiting for a partner to become available.
The trend lands on fertile ground. Google reported in April 2026 that searches for 'solo travel' hit an all-time high, with 'women solo travel' at a 15-year peak. In a Solo Female Travelers survey, 85 per cent cited freedom and flexibility, and 76 per cent wanted time to relax and prioritise themselves. Australian context helps too: 49,158 divorces were granted there in 2025, up 4 per cent on the year before, and the average female divorcee is 44 — with decades of travel ahead.
The destinations skew glamorous. Think Cap d'Antibes and the beach clubs of St Tropez, Formentera with lobster ordered before noon, or Sardinia's Costa Smeralda, where megayacht marinas coexist with rugged, near-empty white-sand coves. New hotel openings are catering to the mood: Paris boutiques L'Aventure and Le Bus Palladium have built-in underground clubs, and Madrid's Nomade Temple layers a speakeasy with breathwork, social saunas and vermouth afternoons.
Crucially, the best hotels for this kind of travel make being alone feel unremarkable. At Norway's Storfjord Hotel, the new Boathouse restaurant has no tables for one — everyone shares a long table while the chef cooks over open flames. At Killiehuntly Farmhouse in Scotland's Highlands, there's no room service or menu; guests eat together whatever the cook has made from the estate that day. Travellers arrive as strangers and leave with the best conversation of their year, as one luxury travel consultant puts it.
The trend also intersects with the 'Year of the Hobby': craft retreats like Thread Caravan's textile workshops in Guatemala, shibori dyeing in Japan and basket-weaving in Mallorca, plus women's surf camps in Ericeira, Portugal. Reading retreats are the standout subcategory. Ladies Who Lit, a travelling book club founded three years ago, now runs up to 75 retreats a year across 15 countries — in villas, castles, ranches and yachts — with 2027 trips planned for the Byron Bay hinterland and a cowboy-themed escape in Vancouver. Newly divorced women are a significant slice of its guests.
Why should travellers care? Because it's a permission slip. One 41-year-old Gold Coast mother, who waited 15 years to visit Hobart's MONA with a partner before finally going alone and booking the degustation at fine-diner Faro, sums it up: treat yourself so well that you'll never accept the bare minimum again. Whether you're divorced, single or happily attached, the lesson is the same — the trip you keep postponing for company is the one worth booking now.
Story first reported by Traveller (Sydney Morning Herald).
