I feel like this is all about context. I don't know how big your trip was or whatever. If you ask my opinion, I personally would have saved that money versus go on a trip, but it's your money, it's not my place to judge. I think we see "poor" people doing financial things we disagree with all the time, but fail to remember it's not our business. Maybe that expensive phone was a gift? Or something like that. I know when I was struggling my grandmother would send me very nice things, so even though rent and food were issues, I'd still have a few nice things or experiences because she wanted me to enjoy myself occasionally.

Even poor people or people in hard financial situations deserve a chance to take a break. Certainly I would agree it should be done responsibly and within your means, but that's up to you. I would have used that money differently, but that's me. It doesn't mean you were wrong or that you owe anyone an explanation. If one of your friends does ask you, you can simply explain you were very stressed and needed a break so you could come back and hit things hard again. That's totally understandable. Just because someone loans you money for rent one month doesn't mean they get a say in how you spend money on anything else. If they disagree and choose to never loan you money again, that's up to them, but you are perfectly reasonable in having a boundary that how you spend money is up to you. And certainly how or to whom they loan money is up to them. Example: a bank can loan you money for a house but they don't get to choose the house.

Yes, people may disagree with your financial choices. But that's okay. People don't have to agree with you. You get to make choices for you own life, whether good or bad. You don't have to cow tow or change your mind because others disagree. You don't even owe anyone an explanation unless you want to explain.