Travel Tips Blog and Statistics
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Women's Holiday Travel Dreams
I too am visiting family over Christmas and yes, I too have a holiday travel fantasy. By the way, the photo was sent in some time ago by one of the groups who went to Oman.
I get upgraded to a seat next to NO ONE.
The airplane smells like lavender.
The overhead rack is not overhead.
The pilot is a woman who narrates shopping experiences as we pass Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. She has low blood pressure and keeps the cabin warm.…
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Staying Healthy while You Travel
Our Travel Insurer, Travel Insured Corp. sends out a newsletter which The Women’s Travel Group Office finds useful in a practical way. After all, they pay when practical things go wrong!
Here are some good tips:
—–Carry disinfecting wipes to clean items like airplane trays, hotel TV remotes, and your and public phones.
—-Get enough sleep to help your body stay healthy. Try to have a somewhat regular sleep schedule, if there are time zone changes. Use a white noise app if you have a hard time falling asleep.… -
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Travel Shopping: Is it a Waste?
The women who travel with The Women’s Travel Group want to bring home something tangible. Our tours are full of experiences, sights, talks, and walks; however if there is a shopping experience truly unusual, we include it. We just added the high-quality Sabato Crafts Market to our Mexico City tour.
What are our favorite ‘worth the time’ recent stops?
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul November 2015
Handmade jewelry or fabrics spread on animal skin in Southern Ethiopia! March 2016) One spot left
Florence Central Food Market April 2016 (one room left for 1-2)
Dilli Haat in Delhi Annual India tour December 2016,
Balaaro Market in Sicily December 2014
Cashmere Markets in Mongolia ( Mongolia is part of our upcoming China trip).…
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Laughing Through a Travel Woe
Laughter should be packed in your suitcase and easy to reach. Laughter overlaid a jet-lagged face will open doors, create friendly helpful strangers and probably speed up whatever request you are aiming for.
Studies suggest that laughter causes blood vessels to dilate and thus increase blood flow and then inflammation. There are stressful moments in travel that can be assuaged with laughter.
Bargaining: in some cultures, bargaining can become aggressive if the vendor thinks you are dissing his merchandise. This happened in Turkey a year ago when I questioned the fabric of a scarf.…
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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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Dip in Tourism is Brief after Terrorism
I just returned from Istanbul with The Women’s Travel Group 19 women, and then London for a wedding. In both places, the tenor of life is very different from that in the States. First of all, people are not scared of their shadows, as they are veterans of both world wars in their backyards. Europeans do not stop traveling with each headline.
European newspapers reported in Paris, of course. However, front pages still included domestic politics, arts features, climate, etc. TV news was the same: balanced and matter of fact- not hysterical and frenzied.…
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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.…
