-
TSA Troubles with Women
Yes a 53 year old man in San Francisco Airport’s security area was a fake TSA staff member. He dressed like a TSA employee but had not emblem or official badge. However, he managed to take two female passengers into a private room for a search. He was caught because a female TSA officer remembered that only women can search women in private areas.
So what is the lesson to learn here? If unsure of someone’s official capacity, first look for writing on their uniform or badge.…
-
When is a Place Scary or Just Exotic?
Just had a call from a new traveler who is interested in Morocco for Thanksgiving. Her question: is it scary? There is a broad line between scary and exotic and here are some of the guidelines for that frontier.
Scary is being alone is a crowded market where the language and writing are foreign. Exotic is wandering with our guide in a Moroccan souk knowing she is watching out for you.
Scary is finding you are in a political demonstration. Exotic is being in a country when eventful things are happening, like our group in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the anniversary of Evita’s death.…
-
Five Travel Habits to Erase Today!
We all have some irritating habits and there are 5 travelers must get rid of in order to have the best trip.
1- Second guessing the guide: guides take travelers all the time, truly they know best when it comes to doing their job.2-Overpacking and asking others to help: if you must bring your rock collection…. do not expect others in our group to help you carry it
3-Always being late: we are a pretty punctual group of women, but from time to time we need to chase someone up.…
-
Single Rooms vs. Shares?
The good, the bad and the ugly. We offer shared accommodations on almost all our trips. And we also offer insurance so that if your share cancels, you are covered for the single supplement.
The good: you save a bunch of money! You can chat at night and have someone else in the room if you are a novice traveler.
The bad: you have to be polite and considerate in the room, but we find our travelers are terrific that way.…
-
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.…
-
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.…
-
Top Five Hotel Complaints from Women
Cool Sicilian Gelato. Join us to Sicily for Christmas Markets, Archaeology, Farm Food and More.
Joe Sharkey wrote about Hotel Peeves the other day. He mentioned two top hotel complaints: bulky internet or expensive internet service and hard to reach power outlets. Well if you get to women’s complaints. We agree that paying egregiously for internet is annoying and definitely we are tired of moving furniture to recharge our phones.
Here is my list as a rep of The Women’s Travel Group of hotel horrors:
Dirty floors: many women either stretch or do yoga in the morning.…
-
Checklist: Can Travel with a Friend?
At Ixtapan Spa last week, were talking about a screening process for traveling with a friend. A woman stated: I never travel with anyone before I spend a day with them shopping. What a terrific idea.
Shopping will determine decisiveness and focus. Anyone who covets something but cannot make up their mind to either buy or move on, can be a time waster. And what are you paying for the most on a tour? Time!
Shopping will tell you something about independence.…
-
5 Hotel Rip Off's Paid for by Women Guests
1—Hotel laundry is still more expensive for women’s than for men’s clothes.
2—Women feel uncomfortable at the hotel bar so we use the mini bar for refreshment.
3—Forced pre-paid breakfast buffets in some hotel chains, rarely have food that most women eat: like sugarless yogurt and cereals. And usually have waffles, fruit loops, donuts and other fattening foods business women are trying to avoid.4—Unattended fitness rooms in corners of the hotel are not comfortable for solo women to work out in.…
-
Souvenirs Tips: Trash Them or Treasure Them
With our 22 years of women’s trips from The Women’s Travel Club and Group, all of us have loads of souvenirs brought back with love and memories from our travels. Some have true artistic value, some are true horrors. Here are some clean out/ hang up tips for your detritus.
Make piles of small cheap items, arrange by color/shape or materials. If you cannot see an evolving collection, toss.
Move flat items onto a sheet of paper and see if they might look better hanging on the wall.…