-
Water Water but none to drink
Even on an inclusive trip, an extra cost can be water. A liter of bottled water in Europe averages 5 euros in a store and 10+ in a restaurant That means $100 a week to quench your thirst. When should you drink H2O from the hotel sink, when not?
Center for Disease Control Airplanes dehydrate, travel is tiring, water at meals might not appear. Most of us are shy about asking for tap water, especially while watching Europeans order the bottled stuff. …
-
Bye Bye Passport, Old Friend
If you are a big traveler, you suffer a stone in your stomach, as you say Good Bye to your passport. You drop your beloved passport into the black hole of the mail box. You feel a lost at sea imbalance.
Source US Passport Agency Another love it or hate electronics. You can now renew your US passport on line. This update/innovation means no mailing of a passport to the State Department and no paper application. Plus no worry that an interloper will masquerade as you on their journey to Rome.…
-
Are you a difficult traveler?
Over 32 years we have had 1,000’s of women travel with The Women’s Travel Group. Our company asks you on a Booking Form if you have special needs. Yes, some needs might be dietary vegetarian? vegan? no red meat? no sugar? only fresh food? Others are physical as in hearing or eyesight issues, colostomy bag issues. (We had a blind guest travel with us; she came with a friend.). A third group are allergies: perfume, peanuts, shellfish even on someone else’s plate and gluten. …
-
“Why did I buy it”?
Visiting Vineyards in Italy with The Women’s Travel Group Women like to scratch their shopping itch when traveling abroad. Here are a few items to reconsider.
Shoes. Shoes in Western Europe, especially Portugal, Spain and Italy are mouth-wateringly attractive and cheap. Bear in mind the following: the ‘last’ used in European shoes can be different from the ‘last’ used in shoes made for the American market. European shoes can be narrower, with sizing based on centimeters not inches. The difference in measurement can alter the shoe fit.…
-
Be Your Own Concierge
Even in a group tour like The Women’s Travel Group, you might want to book an extra goody, with guaranteed transportation. You can use a concierge; but be aware they might get a commission and might only offer expensive suggestions.
Some apps we use in North America can be used overseas. Uber is the best example. When in another country, your Uber app works, debits your credit card with a fair US exchange rate. Not sure Uber is available? Click on the app and it will show asap if it works in say Tokyo or Bangkok.…
-
Women and Travel Constipation
It is not The New York Times we grew up with. An excellent recent article in the Travel Section was about Travel Constipation. We, women relate. Some of us fret. Some worry ahead of time. Worst, some women do not travel at all for fear of mixed up “internal” health.
Enjoying a great meal in Northern Italy. The Times has the following suggestions and we added more.
Drink more liquids on the plane and on the trip.
Don’t sit in one position the whole time.…
-
Airline App Lesson 101
How likely are senior women to load electronic travel apps on smart phones? I say: highly unlikely. Most of us are half in the modern and half in the non-electronic world. We love sending photos with phones; we hesitate to manage flights on the smart phone airline app.
Our Group in India. Save $150 on India now. Here is why it is best to learn the airline app and get on with it.
You have control over your reservation. You have easy access to the record locator or id number of your flight and its departure times.…
-
What Traveling Women Fear
Travel advertising is a turn off to us senior women. Brochure photos show clothing often associated with hiking, and the outdoors. Jackets by Patagonia? Shirts by Columbia? Parachute pants by LL Bean? Women travelers often analyze clothing especially shoes to assess the group. Women travelers do not relate to groups wearing fly fishing outfits. In sum, travel clothing in industry brochures is a turn off to senior women. We are retired or still working professionals; we need to be a teeny bit of a slob on the road. …
-
Women & Packing Obsessions
I am guilty of being a perfectionist. Similarly many woman are obsessed with minutiae when they travel. Here are simple packing solutions to make you less fraught when you join The Women’s Travel Group.
The Women’s Travel Group in Ethiopia Leave home most make up. Honestly no one cares in Florence, if your skin glows less without your serum.
Wear socks twice, no one will mind; there are no socks’ police in Japan.
Tiny spot on your tee shirt? Enjoying your bistro meal on the Cote D’Azur, no one sees it.…
-
Senior Women love Hotel Lotions?
Source: United Nations Development Program Women, especially senior women love mini bottles in hotel bathrooms. We hoard tiny bottles of fancy lotions, shampoos, conditioners. The Women’s Travel Group is telling you, these bottles are going going gone. Major hotel chains are ending these goodies, because single use plastic is toxic. There is push back, particularly by younger guests who are their market more than are we, the female seniors.
In 2019, industry leader, Marriott announced the end small plastic amenity bottles.…
