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Back from Italy France, England Travel was not complicated
I regret to inform you that travel is not that complicated. Can you make a grocery list? If so, you can complete a travel list.
- Passport valid for at least 6 months past return date. If you don’t know about passports, don’t read the rest of this email.
- Be fully vaccinated and keep your CDC card in a safe place. The original is what you need for most countries/airlines/trains/and inside activities.
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Overseas safety was better than in my hometown.
I just returned from our first Women’s Travel Group trip over the Atlantic since early 2020. I felt safer in Dubai than in New York.
Airport: Everyone was excited to be traveling again and yes was masked. Our airline, Emirates, required a PCR test. I went on Yelp.com and found a local pharmacy, where the test was less money, with results next day. I booked on line. At the store, a pharmacist swabbed my nostrils. Next day I got an email with the needed document. Easy.…
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A Do Not Pack List
Read about Do Not Pack Items
Here are do not do packing tips from The Women’s Travel Group from a veteran traveler, not a backpacker but someone who dresses for any occasion.
Never take: A plastic water bottle, why? Buy water in any airport or supermarket and re use the bottle! Always buy water that has a sealed top; do not let the vendor unseal it. That way you know it has not been refilled.…
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Travel Addiction: Why Women?
For a travel addict 2020 was deeply painful and depressing. Personally a sighting of a suitcase brings tears. In The Women’s Travel Group are many travel addicts reading this post. Here is the story of others just like me and probably you.
For me addiction started at St Agnes Public Library, 444 Amsterdam Avenue, in a then dangerous NY neighborhood.
The itch came from The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.…
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Boomers Busted
Aren’t we Boomers Busted, and sick and tired of being home??? Boomers are not traveling and are told every day to be afraid. We are looked upon as future nursing home residents. We are warned a mask is not sufficient; we must self isolate and remain lonely.. We are bombarded with sad even frightening images on television which are timed to be seen by non working (ie retired) viewers. The iconic scare ad is still streamed: it is the I’m falling and I can’t get up?…
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Delta & Lysol Your Dancing Partners
Good news on airplane toilet sanitation: Delta is partnering with Lysol using its disinfectant liquids, sprays and wipes on the plane, boarding areas, baggage areas and in its Sky Clubs. Lysol is the hard to find gold bar for this pandemic. The US Environmental Protection Agency approved two Lysol products as effective against the virus when used on hard, non-porous surfaces.
Lysol Disinfectant Spray and Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist meet the EPA’s criteria for killing the virus fast. Now with Delta also buying it we know why Lysol is impossible to find in stores or on line.…
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Your First Pandemic Vacation
What does your first pandemic vacation feel like? I just took 5 days off and traveled to a new location, stayed at a hotel, ate in restaurants, played golf, walked in parks and on a beach. I was able to chat with others at a distance or behind a mask and by Day 2 it all came together: We can do this and enjoy it.
Here is what I found:
Every place had hand sanitizer and it was used!…
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Packing and Weather
Packing and weather do not dance together well. During Summer, we pack light clothes and tees; therefore, forgetting that altitude and general direction of winds can create unseasonably cold air. Moreover, we forget that planes are cold and some airports as well. In winter we can overpack again forgetting that in cold weather, one can use sweaters and jeans for a number of days. But that shoes might get wet so we need a second pair.
A good way to zero in on what to pack is to make some notes on what you are wearing on different weather days.…
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5 Stages of Mourning for Travel
One can never compare loss of family or friends to mourning for travel. Personal losses stay deep in our hearts. Mourning for travel is also real. Travel can be such an important source of joy, that its loss must also be mourned in 5 stages.
Let’s start this conversation with a comment by British author, CS Lewis. “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear”. Today we are scared along with mourning. Are we going thru the 5 stages of mourning?…
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Widows: Your Wanderlust and Wishes
Please share with friends who are widows who wish to travel. Vacations for widows?
Being quarantined has made loneliness worse. This blog post was originally sent out only about taking a first trip alone. It is revised to reflect what we are going through during the pandemic: March-May 2020. Vacations for widows are even more intimidating now.
Let me start by saying these thoughts come from talking to you out there and from my friends.
Planning a trip as a solo is a different exercise.…