SmarterTravel: Best & Worst Travel Destinations for Women

by Adrienne Wilson on

As a woman, traveler, and the type that tends to like parachuting into off-the-beaten track destinations, I long for articles that point out where women should go and where they should exercise extra caution when going. Well, USA Today features a fine piece for the solo women journeying this big bad world on her own with the best and worst places for women to travel. The list, compiled by Jessica Labrencis and RaeJean Stokes of SmarterTravel, doesn’t suggest women should free up and lose all inhibitions in so-called safe places or completely avoid named worst destinations. Instead of rambling on about what the list does suggest let’s take a look at their best and worst and share some of our experiences. (You’ll want to go to their site for all the specifics.)

Best travel destinations for women:

  • Amsterdam
  • Ireland
  • Costa Rica
  • India
  • Vietnam

Worst travel destinations for women:

  • Middle East & Northern Africa
  • The Mediterranean Coast
  • The United States
  • Latin America & the Caribbean
  • States of the former U.S.S.R.

If you ask me the worst place destination list looks to include a heavy number of places. Considering the U.S. has 50 states (some worse than others) and the former U.S.S.R. has some 14 states (including my next destination -Tajikistan) it’s safe to say women have to watch their backs almost everywhere. What’s your take? Ladies?

Ten Destinations Under $1,000

by Erik Olsen on

I don’t know if we can call these “cash-strapped times”. I suppose it depends on your station in life and whether you are a CEO of a major corporation who just got a $250 million bonus even though your company’s stock is down. But for most of us, the idea of taking a trip and not having to take out a second mortgage is rather savory.

I have been doing some shopping around for plane tickets to Europe this summer and — whoa — it is hard to find ANYTHING for under $1,000. And that’s JUST FOR AIRFARE! So what are we middle-class folks to do? Well, you’ll have to get your own fact-checkers on board to look into the deals here, but its coming from good ol USA Today, so you can probably be sure the stuff is accurate.

Here in this article they offer a solid list of rather impressive adventures for under $1000. Per person that is. What kind of stuff do they suggest? A road trip to the next state? Nope. Better than that. There are trips here to Chile and the Torres del Paine (a favorite of mine), Utah (for biking), Belize (for diving) and Tuscany (for eating and shooting photos). Could you really imagine that you could get to for under a grand? Me neither. That’s why it’s important to note that many of these trips don’t include airfare. And more, many of them (like the excursion) are timed for winter, which right now seems way too far off, especially for those of us trying to make up our razadooks what to do this summer.

Red Corner: Parisian Cafe in Communist Vietnam

by Neil Woodburn on

Long before Vietnam turned communist and even before the Americans arrived to try and change their minds, the South East Asian country was run by the French.

In 1901, the luxurious Metropole Hotel was built in Hanoi to cater to the local French contingent as well as the many other expats frequenting the country at the time. In the last century, it has played host to Charlie Chaplin, Mick Jagger, Graham Greene and many other luminaries.

The famous sidewalk café which once graced this “little Paris of the tropics,” however, was shut down in 1911. Today, it has finally reopened. “La Terrasse du Metropole” re-injects a bit of the old country back into a Vietnam that still enjoys berets, baguettes, and now French pastries, French coffee and perhaps even rude French waiters.

Word for the Travel Wise (05/16/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

After traveling the states these last few weeks and with several more to head through I’m amazed at how many places have gone completely non-smoking. There are more places than one might expect like the Argosy Casino in Lawrenceberg, IN which has an all non-smoking area. I wish something like this could be put into effect all over, but I’m sure this would make for just as many unhappy campers as it would for the happy group. I’ve never been to Vietnam or much of anywhere in Asia, but it’s one of those places that leaves me with the feeling that smoking goes just about anywhere. I could be wrong and in the event you’re there looking for a clean, smoke-free, air zone this one is for you.

Today’s phrase is a Vietnamese phrase used in Vietnam:

cam hut thuoc – no smoking

To continue learning Vietnamese online start with phrase list found at the NY Public Library. This Wanna Learn / Geocities page has some free words and phrases listed. It was one of few I could find online for free though you won’t get far. Rosetta Stone offers audio and web courses for a fee and there’s always the opportunity to take a Vietnamese language class in Hanoi, Vietnam with CIEE. For those flying through the country for just a few short days pick up the phrasebook.

Past Vietnamese words: Xe Ðap, xinh xinh

Red Corner: Tracking Vietnam Lovers

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s always a great thing when travel and literature intersect. I’ve often sought out locations from books I enjoy while traveling through the cities in which they take place. After reading the amazing Master and Margarita, for example, it was a great joy to visit Patriarch’s Pond in Moscow where the beginning of the book occurs.

It was therefore with great interest that I came across an article in The New York Times in which journalist Matt Gross “retraces the narrative” of one of his favorite books; The Lover, by Marguerite Duras.

Duras was a French woman who grew up in the first half of the 20th century in Vietnam while it was under French control. As a teenager she fell in love with a wealthy Chinese businessman who was nearly twice her age. The Lover is a story of their illicit romance.

I’ve never read the book, in fact I’ve never even heard of it before, but Gross’s adventure tracking the storyline with the help of an old 1953 map book featuring original French street names is rather compelling. Surprisingly, he finds that not much has changed since the lovers first met in 1929; the romance of Indochina apparently lives on.