Trip Tips

This post is a collection of some travel tips I gave out at a recent event* and wanted to share here. Some of these tips are also available on the Travel Tips page of my tour company's website. Read on and enjoy the trip tips (try saying that 3 times fast).
 

What traveling without the benefit of good travel tips is like.



What traveling with the benefit of good travel tips is like.


Money Savers: A simple way to save on airfares is to book flights leaving in the middle of the week (Tuesday or Wednesday) or a Saturday. This is also a good way to avoid more crowded flights and long airport lines, since much of both leisure and business travel occurs at the beginning of the week and start and end of the weekend.

To look for the best or cheapest fares, an easy way is through websites that do the comparing for you. At websites such as Cheap Tickets and Kayak.com, simply put in your destination and preferred travel dates and wait for the site to pull up a listing of all fares. Most of these sites will sort the fares from cheapest to most expensive, and will tell you which go non-stop or which leave and depart from different airports or with different airlines. To save on baggage and other airline fees, go to www.kayak.com/airline-fees, which will let you compare fees between airlines. Less hidden surprises!

Coupon codes are another good way to save on airfares. At sites such as Promotional Codes and Coupon Winner, you can search for codes for specific airlines, hotel, car rental agencies, and many other travel deals. Simply get the code at one of these sites and then plug them into the promotional discount code box on your favorite travel site upon purchase.




If the idea of flying this low over land in a 10-12 seater plane makes you queasy, travel insurance just might be the perfect Dramamine for your soul. Aran Islands, Ireland.


Travel Insurance is a good idea in terms of cancellations and health and safety. Travelex, Travel Guard, and World Nomads are three worth checking out. Always take a copy of your travel insurance with you when you travel. For women, if you are pregnant, be sure to check your insurance plan carefully regarding your health and safety coverage.

Take all precautions with your money, credit cards, and passport while traveling. Otherwise, you'll end up feeling like this guy. Statue in Perth, Australia.

Safety Tips: Keep your cash, credit cards, and passport close to you at all times, preferably in a money belt (not a fanny pack). Make copies of your passport (the inside page with your picture) before you leave on your trip, and leave one copy with your family and take another copy with you. While abroad, keep your photocopy of your passport in a different place from where you’re carrying your real passport, like in the sole of your shoe or a hidden inside pocket. Sounds odd, but better to be safe than sorry!

You may also wish to leave your credit card info with someone you trust at home. Always call your credit and debit card companies before leaving on a trip to tell them you will be traveling outside the country. You will need to tell them which countries and the dates you will be gone. This prevents your credit card company from stopping your card the first time you try to charge something or use an ATM while abroad. It will also keep your credit card company alerted to unusual purchases should your card get lost or stolen overseas.

As an additional money saver, it may also be worthwhile to ask your credit card company if there’s a particular bank in the country you’re traveling to that has an agreement with your own to charge no or less fees. Some banks do, some don’t--it never hurts to ask if it means extra savings.

For women travelers: Use the same sense and street smarts while traveling that you would use in any big city closer to home. It’s a good idea to dress more conservatively while traveling, both for simplicity and safety. Leave your expensive and flashier jewelry at home--wearing/displaying expensive items only makes you a target for pickpockets and con artists.

Ladies, with good common-sense travel tips, you won't have to resort to this...




...Or this.

 For women traveling solo, never tell strangers you are on your own. Never give out the name of your hotel or details of your itinerary (but do leave this info with friends or family back home). Make up a tour group or husband or boyfriend if you have to and say they are meeting you in a few minutes. Some women even wear a cheap gold “wedding” band while traveling to deter local romeos. For help with directions or anything else, look for other women (particularly locals) to ask.

View from window of a nice hotel in Paris.

Choose hotels with a 24-hour front desk and a lobby that guests have to walk through (and thus be seen by hotel staff) to get to the rooms. Avoid hotels where the door to your room is accessible through the parking lot or street.

Ladies, don't stay here.

There are many online resources for women looking for travel advice from other women who've been there, done that. Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Forum is a good place to look up safety advice--you can search for threads about specific destinations. If you have a CouchSurfing account, that site's Independent Women group is another great place to pose questions and get advice from other female travelers. Also check out Journeywoman, a travel website for women that puts out a free tip-packed newsletter every month, and GoNomad, which has a section for women travelers.

General Travel Resources: For road trips in the U.S., AAA is still the best source out there. Their local offices can give you maps and guides, and the AAA website has a great route planner.

The open road is the most beautiful thing there is.

For foreign travel, the U.S. State Department’s website is the place to go to check travel and safety advisories and find out about passport or visa requirements.

If you’re a nervous flier or get seasick, check out Turbulence Forecast! At this site you can check the turbulence levels for any flight up to 48 hours in advance, and you can also check wave heights for upcoming cruises. This way you may prepare yourself a little better if predictions of a bumpy flight or ride are in the forecast.

There are tons more great resources out there for planning a trip. I still swear by Lonely Planet guide books. My parents and a good friend of mine love Rick Steves’ travel shows. One of my sisters uses Trip Advisor for hotel reviews almost religiously.

But the best travel tip of all is this: Go there!

*A couple days ago Wayfaring Women Tours hosted a fundraiser at Vino 100 wine store in Mt. Prospect, Illinois for a local charity called PJs & Mumus. PJs & Mumus is a non-profit that collects new pajamas, nightgowns, and robes for women's shelters in the Chicagoland area. The fundraiser was a great success. In 3 hours, we raised over $800 for PJs & Mumus! That's not just a great boost for PJs & Mumus, but great support for the women they reach out to in shelters and great support for a cause (domestic violence awareness) that too many people still prefer to look away from. As part of the evening, Vino 100 offered hors d'oevres and 10 wine tastings for $10 (!) and Wayfaring Women Tours compiled and handed out some travel tips. These are the tips that were given out that evening.



The all-female fundraising force to be reckoned with from the Sip Wine & Support Women's Shelters event.