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Festival Trips: What Never to Do!
This article was written for The Three Tomatoes site with interesting info and events for women in the NY and LA areas. Subscribe for great fun and good information.
If you choose to go on a tour that includes a festival, there are positives and negatives. Positives are you will see local people in their most colorful and joyous. In Pushkar in India, you witness weddings, dances, tribal clothes and jewelry, camel and other races. In Sicily in December, you will join a procession with lighted candles, brass bands and clergy to walk to the Basilica in Palermo.…
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Preparing for Italy Departure Minus 1 Day
Tomorrow some of our group leaves for Tuscany and our Villa/Cooking trip (the others are meeting a day later). Here is how I organize the day before a big trip:
Eat sensibly adding more salad and yogurt than normal (to balance out junk airplane chow and food impulses at the airport.)
Double check packing list against what was used today and what is actually packed.
Update/refresh all passwords and refile in my secret cave.
Check weather again for both New York tomorrow and for Pisa.… -
Travel Safety Clothing: A Big Fraud
The word, ‘safety’, gets the most attention in travel media. The word, ‘clothing’, gets the most attention in travel media from women readers. So it is all too frequent that article themes are ‘new travel clothing for women’! Today a google alert about women and travel, had another promo about a travel shirt for women. DON’T SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THINGS LIKE THIS.
The best safety tool you have is your common sense and your ability to go on a trip as rested as possible.…
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Is travel for Octogenarians??
Arthur Frommer is back at the helm of his travel book empire which inspired many of us to travel to “Europe on $5 a day”. Yes, I did and (except for inevitable shopping) did Madrid on $5 a day and lodged and ate pretty well.
Frommer, long ‘a friend’ of The Women’s Travel Group and supporter of women travelers, is the owner once again of 340 excellent guides and other travel books. With Pauline, his charming and delightfully smart daughter, Frommer offers books that enhance your experience while being honest about safety, value, and trends.…
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Travel Medicine: Too Much? Not Enough?
We are getting questions about what shots and precautions for our upcoming India trip, Oct. 25-Nov 4 and for other trips to more exotic places. These questions bring up several themes:
The obvious one for us as tour operators is we are NOT medical advisers and are not equipped professionally to give out medical advice. We can tell you what one of us does for our personal health, but this is not a guideline for yours.
The second comment is that what you will need depends on what season you are visiting a country.…
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What to Wear When You Complain at a Hotel
When you need to complain about your hotel situation, how you look can be as important as how you talk. Assuming you are traveling with minimal clothes, here is how to dress for this encounter. (We already printed a blog on How To Complain). Here is how to dress:
Pick out the most conservative shirt and or / jacket you have. Swirl around a scarf to make you look less formal but ‘dressed’. If you only have a tee shirt, then cover it nicely with the scarf.…
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Trip Waitlists; Are they for Real?
Waitlists are used by all kinds of companies to generate interest in their products. In travel, they are used for 4 reasons mainly
The obvious one is that the trip is full or at least the desired number of people have booked. This might be like our discount at Canyon Ranch, where we are only allotted a specific number if places at a special price. PS we have a waitlist on this one, so send us your name if you want to be on it.…
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Do not read newspapers
Returned home today to The New York Times on my doorstep. Having read half of the first section, I decided not to go to Asia, Mexico, Turkey or even to leave my apartment as there was a gas explosion in Manhattan. Then on line, I read the headline about London airport being closed due to fog; yikes.
Why do we allow print and other media to destroy our sense of adventure?
My belief is we are basically a skittish lot and any hint of trouble or misunderstanding is enough to keep us home. …
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Hotel Bars and Do Not's for Women Travelers
After a long day working, don’t you wish the hotel bar were less intimidating and less noisy? Tips to find the right hotel with the right amenities for women:
Living Lobbies: these are lobbies that incorporate the bar into a larger living space. So you can sit away privately from the bar and have your glass of wine.
Magazine and newspaper racks: these say, come relax and read without being bothered.
Armchairs in bar areas: armchairs let you sit alone and enjoy your drink; they insinuate you wish to be left alone.… -
Five Unusual Travel Tips for Women
Top Travel Tips from The Women’s Travel Group Members
If the hotel is too cold, reverse the sheet and blanket so the blanket is next to your body.Solo traveling but going out with strangers you have met on a trip? Require them to leave their national identity card or a photocopy of their passport picture page with the concierge.
If you expect to shop ’til you drop, fill your empty suitcase with bubble wrap.
To make friends on the road, bring along a globe beach ball to show where you live and perhaps start an informal game with local children.…
