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The I don’t need it shopper
The Women’s Travel Group does not specialize in shopping tours but we know a lot about it. In some countries in Europe you will inevitably buy some treasure, despite protests of “I have too much already.” Temptation is strongest in Italy: leather, shoes, purses, clothes, pottery, food items. Another area is Scotland and Ireland for woolens.
Here is how the experts judge leather quality:
Press with your finger, the leather will indent with a wrinkle then return to its original state.…
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Upgrade or Chanel?
Is the cost of upgraded airplane tickets worth it? Some thoughts from The Women’s Travel Group.
In the last few years, travelers have become obsessed with airline status and their seats. This frenzy is, in part, caused by airlines themselves. There is branding / selling status by airlines. Who doesn’t want to be ‘special’ ‘elite’ ‘first in line’, ‘envied’ and ‘fussed over’.
Lets start with the special bit. Anyone who can afford to fly is already special.…
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New in Women’s Travel What is Old: Fear
What is new in Women’s Group Travel in 2024
Immediately after the pandemic, travel was slow, then grew, then exploded. 2020-2023 travel was named “revenge travel”; with feeling safe splurges. 2023 was a banner year for travel. Prices stabilized. Tour groups were full to capacity and flights busy.
2024 flights are expected to reach 40 million world wide with 4.7 billion travelers. How will this effect you?
So far in 2024, US domestic fares are 6% lower.…
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First Solo Trip, Where to Go
What are the best places to go for a first solo trip? Travel tips from The Women’s Travel Group.
My first solo trip was to Geneva, Switzerland. I was 15 going to a French speaking school near the Chateau de Chillon on Lake Geneva. In those days, Americans, especially teens, were exotic. With the 3 other Americans I met at the Institut, we acted fearless and, truth be told, naughty. (There is a doctor somewhere in Italy who, as a teen, gave me a first grown up kiss).…
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Women and Toilet Terror
In grade school, we asked permission for the little girls’ room. In high school, we also asked then went to the bathroom to gossip or put on make up. In college, we did not ask permission, we sauntered out of class. Public toilet Terror is non uncommon in The Women’s Travel Group.
As senior women today, some of us dread public bathrooms.…
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Things for Double Taking When Packing
Travel packing tips from The Women’s Travel Group. Saline, bottles are tiny and can fall into an airplane seat. Dry eyes are exacerbated by the dryness in airplane cabins. Flying to Santa Fe with us May 1? You’ll need saline in high deserts also.
Chargers for phone and iPads. Hoteliers say chargers are often left in the wall, bathroom socket or behind a bureau or end table. …
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Room Share Scare
How I Re-learned to Share
A hotel room that is. My first experience sharing a hotel room with a stranger. On one of Women’s Travel Group’s first trips- in partnership with a university professor of Chinese, I agreed to share a room with a stranger. I had a room mate in college. I had ‘trained’ my husband. And now I was going to learn all over again how to cooperate with a room mate.
Like most of you reading this article, I was apprehensive, though she seemed quite pleasant. …
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Obey or Pay: Travel Insurance
Yesterday we chatted with one of our travelers from Minnesota. She questioned the validity of travel insurance. While traveling in a remote area in Egypt, her husband became ill. They immediately consulted a doctor, who diagnosed a bad case of Covid. The doctor suggested they NOT go to a rural hospital, but hire a nurse and stay in their hotel room. They called their insurer (not the one we recommend); hold time was very long on a US cell phone. They followed the doctor’s advice.…
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First day of First Grade vs. First Solo Trip
My mother walked me across the street to the facade of Public School 9. A stranger directed first graders to a classroom, full of mysterious things. We sat in wooden seats with an attached pull up desk top. I was 5 and terrified and promptly pee’d in my pants.
I recall that moment and the extreme relief at going home for lunch. Day two in First Grade was different and wonderful; we learned our first ABC’s.
This was my first ‘solo trip’.…
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Who says Too old to Travel?
Today we had another telephone call : Am I too old to travel? We live in a young society where internet celebrates youth: movie stars to humans called ‘influencers’. Travel brochures display handsome, fit, groomed, ‘seniors’. In our best days we will never look like these fake brochure passengers.
To travel you need attitude, mobility, organization, health, diet, overall strength. Most importantly– resistance to your family.
Attitude: Assess yourself as a person not as a senior.…