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Family Pressure and Your Travels
Three months ago, I fell down the stairs in my old house which has steep painted wooden stairs. Everyone in my family warned me about wooden stairs and better “concentrated bannister use”. Did I sell the house? Install an elevator? Stop using the second floor? NO. I forced myself to go up and down repeatedly until there was only a frisson of fear left. My family was concerned but I…
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More Pilots on Drugs?
Why did I let myself read that small article today about the greater number of pilots which have been found to have drugs in their system? The most scary category was sedating antihistamines, present in 9.9 percent of pilots who died from 2008 to 2012, compared with 5.6 percent from 1990 to 1997. The ingredients in Vicodin and Valium also showed up more frequently. Now why would we tell you this bad news, if we are encouraging you to travel?
Reading the news in depth is a way to ruin your love of travel.…
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Solo Scares on Large Cruise Ships
Today we have choices of all sizes of ships, from riverboats of 100 guests to cruise ships of 1,000’s. What is best for women who are serious travelers? Why should you avoid the temptation of cheap fares on huge ships?
Large cruise ships need ports for docking. That means you often arrive far from the actual place you wish to see. For example from its port city, Livorno to Florence, the drive is a minimum of 90 minutes each way. You have to get up very early for the tour than when you arrive in Florence, you find yourself surrounded by cruisers blocking the very things you came to experience. …
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Last Minute is Not Tomorrow
Last minute is used by tour companies to wake you up. Most companies call last minute 90 days before arrival. Why? Because if you travel with a big group, hotels and airlines require deposits ahead of time. However if you travel with a smaller group like The Women’s Travel Group, last minute is only 2-4 weeks away. We once booked a woman the day before a trip!
Our last minute trips include:
Canyon Ranch Health Resort, Lenox MASS. October 9 arrival for 4 nights or October 10 arrival for 3 nights. …
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Melatonin from Costco?
We all adore Costco, with its edible tidbits, amazing prices, and little surprises. Today the surprise was Melatonin. Which reminded me to talk about other Costco Travel Stuff. Luggage of course but you might do better at Marshalls or TJ Maxx. Snacks for sure: granolas, dried fruit, candy bagged into small lunch able sizes, basically everything you might crave in between meals. Then there is the giant container of zip lock bags- never enough it seems-even if you throw a few empties into your suitcase.…
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Group Trip Deadlines & Discounts
The Women’s Travel Group has strict deadlines for bookings on most of its trips. The reason is that most resorts / airlines etc. impose these dates to control discounts. For instance, Canyon Ranch gives us a 35% discount on our group booking for Columbus Day Weekend, but the resort takes away unsold rooms in mid August– months before our arrival. This rule guarantees them that unsold rooms can be given to the general public at a higher rate, and it puts pressure on us to fill them.…
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What is a non Plastic Visa?
Since we had this question from some women going to India with us in October,:here is a primer on visas.
To enter foreign countries, (or for non citizens to enter the US), travelers need a visa. If you look at your passport, you will see pages called Visa Pages. For many countries, US Citizens only need to have their passports stamped when they arrive overseas-that stamp is a visa.For Morocco for Thanksgiving, US citizens get their visa stamp on arrival easily.…
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Women Do not Treat Themselves to Travel
Why is it that most women do not treat themselves to travel, but will splurge the same money on clothes? weekly hair? insane shoes? or on their grandchildren????
It is time to treat yourself and if looking for a special item, try one of the nation’s most famous resorts: Canyon Ranch Health Resort, during the peak week for changing leaves in New England.
Three decisions you need to make:
1- Will this kind of trip last longer in changing my lifestyle?…
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Love your FF miles; hate the rules?
Try insuring them when you use ff miles! If you have to cancel a trip and redeposit your miles, you will need to pay a fee. Last time I paid it was $150 to Delta but that might be higher now.
Our insurance now covers the redeposit cost, any change fee on your flights and more.
Now if your airline changes the flight on you; you usually have the right to get miles back with NO fee. You might have to call them and ask for the supervisor, but you will avoid a fee.…
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Fear of Flying: Alone that is
You do not have to be afraid of flying to meet up with a Women’s Travel Group trip. We are happy to coordinate you with others. If you live in the West and we are going to Europe or you live in the East and are going to Asia, you might want this service even more. We have several alternatives:
Meet up in the city of departure. On our Cuba trip, we meet up in Miami the night before and have our orientation at an airport hotel.…
