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Travel Books

Travelers' Tales: Gutsy Women, Travel Tips and Wisdom for the Road by Marybeth Bond

BEFORE WE DO ANYTHING IN LIFE, even the most impulsive of us do some preparation. We educate ourselves to prepare for careers, plan strategies for important meetings, make menus for simple or extravagant meals. Preparation helps us reduce fears by giving us knowledge and builds confidence by increasing our comfort with the unknown.

Preparing yourself mentally and emotionally for traveling overseas is just as important as getting your visas and shots. Give yourself time to work through fears you may have about safety, traveling alone, or fitting into a different culture. To convert your apprehension into excitement, begin your mental preparation weeks or even months prior to departure. Contact women who have gone before you. They will be your role models. You may connect with them by phone, via e-mail, or by reading their stories in travel books.

We discover the world as we physically move around the planet; we discover ourselves on the inner journey that accompanies our travels. The rewards are many: we try on new identities as more independent, self-sufficient women; we explore new behaviors; and we develop a greater awareness of our potential. Remind yourself that the minimal risk of traveling is far outweighed by the rewards.

Tips

Put travel anthologies on your reading list, including books by and about women and books that focus on the countries you want to visit.

Seek out people who have traveled or lived in the country you'll be visiting and ask them lots of questions, especially about good reading material and if they know citizens from there who are living in the U.S.

Contact your local university to see if there are foreign students from the country you will be visiting who would be willing to meet with you.

Get on the Internet and browse through the travel chatrooms and especially the news groups. You may make interesting contacts with people from the country where you plan to travel. Often when you arrive you'll have a name and phone number of someone to look up.

The local embassy or consulate can provide answers to general questions and will provide reading material upon request.

Consider doing some volunteer work as part of your travels. Getting involved in volunteer organizations offers a great opportunity to deepen your experience and helps you get beneath the surface of a culture.

Learn a few words in the local language-hello, good-bye, please, thank you, beautiful. If you have the time, take a language course.

Get to know a good travel agent. You will never regret it, no matter how adept you become at your own trip planning.

Eat out at a local restaurant that serves authentic food from the country you plan to visit. Chances are that the owners or staff are expatriates, and can provide valuable information.

Plan your trip around a special interest such as art, history, gardening, cooking classes, biking, sailing, etc. Local organizations may be able to provide helpful information about these activities at your destination.

Copyright © 1999 Travelers' Tales Inc.,O'Reilly & Associates