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Tips for Winter Spa/Fitness Getaways
Tips for choosing a winter wellness week.
Ixtapan Spa will be your 2016 gift.
- Make sure your hotel includes fitness and/or spa treatments in prices. Do not be fooled by discounted room prices. Service charges on spa treatments are usually 20% on top of the price.
- Ask what is walkable from the hotel. Everyone wants to leave the confines of a resort, no matter how lovely, and many destination resorts are remotely situated.
- Shopping? Is there shopping near. Most hotels have ridiculously overpriced shops.
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5 Tips for Navigating a Street Market
On some Women’s Travel Group tours we include a street market if it is exciting, local and has good products. Those might be Florence on our Tuscany Cooking/Seeing trip, an organized and both local and tourist market. Or they might b the Sabato market included in our Mexico City trip, the best crafts market in Mexico’s capital. Or finally it might be one of the more upmarket street scenes in Delhi on our India trip. You will never have either enough time or energy to feel you really ‘did it’.…
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Yes it is summer in NY
Planning for unexpected weather on your trip, weather.com gives you a 10 day look so LOOK the day before you leave. Getting warm is easier than getting cooler.
Always toss in one t shirt. I love Hanes men’s tees for their 10% cotton and budget.
Long sleeved shirts that are easy to push up work.
As ugly as they are, Columbia and others make zip off pants. Pants become shorts.
In some countries go shopping: India, China and Mexico are excellent for cheap and cheerful.…
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Heavy packables to throw out
Travel clothes today are easy, leggings have replaced trousers/ washables have replaced cotton. So why is your suitcase so heavy? Travel doctors tell us that back issues are the number one health problem for traveling women. Moving your heavy case in the hotel room is one reason. So here are some weighty things to leave home.
Shoes: toss heavy shoes and replace with light walking shoes. Merrell is one brand that produces solid but light walkers. Also: Easy Spirit, some Rockports, Keen.…
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Mexico City on the Map with a low Peso
Now is Mexico our new safe haven? Mexico has always been safer than news media wants to paint it. As writers confide quietly, they don’t get headlines by writing positives. They get headlines with fright and fear. Count the number of times scary words appear on google then count pleasant words, the scary ones have many more millions of mentions.
We will shortly be going to Mexico City, a global capital that spans pre Colombian times to 21 century art and architecture.…
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Is it Odd to Travel Solo for Christmas?
Do we all fit the image of ‘happy family with turkey and gifts under the tree”? Or are you with no family, and friends who invite you because you make a great cake? You are not an oddball; we hear this all the time.
No matter what your religion, going away for Christmas removes you from the intensity, memories, and obligations of the season. Leaving home and family, if you have any, means more than ‘taking a trip’. It is a form of refreshing independence. …
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Quick Efficient Way to find out if a Place is Safe
This question came up today from a woman who is thinking of going to Iran with The Women’s Travel Group in August 2015. So here are a few quick ways to self-comfort and hush your family/friends about travel to unusual places:
Will our general travel insurance cover you? If the insurance company will cover you, then breathe easily. (Iran by the way, is covered by major travel insurance companies including ours, Travel Insured).
Is the place on a DO NOT GO actual warning from major Western governments?…
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How to Get Better Airplane Seats
This topic is covered everywhere with all kinds of complicated information along with sites promising you will almost sit on the pilot’s lap. How about some simple ways to improve your chances of a better seat from The Women’s Travel Group?
- Join the frequent flier program of the airline you are using, even if you will rarely use it again. You might have to book, then join, the go back to your booking for your seat.
- Know what your PNR is.
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How To Bargain without Embarassment
Women are uncomfortable paying for something that does not have set price. Tips, discretionary donations and bargaining make us squirm. Yet 48% of all Americans tried bargaining in the last 3 years according to Consumer Reports.
A few guidelines on bargaining might help you:
Do not be intimidated by a fancy store or an aggressive salesperson. Know that in some countries bargaining is part of the normal process. Everyone wants to make a sale. In cities like Paris where we go Dec 21-28 2015, ask up front for discounts for tourists and or tax rebates.…
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Icky Toilets and Women's Travels
Women are skittish about using bathrooms overseas. Frankly speaking, it is harder for us to ‘activate’, right? Our noses never had the ‘locker room experience’, and we are more prone to infections.
The Women’s Travel Group tries to find the cleanest facilities on all our trips. Our guides know where to take us; many will forewarn if the bathroom is an un-preferred situation. In India, our guide uses the terms: happy bathroom or unhappy bathroom. You get it.
Advice on bathrooms i personal, however here is mine: Wear pans or leggings you can roll up to at least your knees.…
