According to Jennifer Pemberton at Adventure Travel News the era of the female traveler is here. In fact, over 66% of US women polled by Booking.com have vacationed without her partner.  Planning and working with reliable tour operators and travel agents makes a huge difference in how successful a trip is.

My family of origin took summer road trips East and West. In those days, the air conditioner was “Sixty by four.” Sixty miles an hour with four windows open. New sights made me appreciate the history, geology, and mountains of this country. Glacier National Park was the most beautiful place my 11-year-old self-had ever seen.
I had moved several times, by myself since leaving High School, finally landing in San Francisco. We met on a dive boat in the Channel Islands and one of the reasons I married Owen is he was a seasoned traveler. Owen his two sons and I went on several extended road trips in a 1990 Ford Taurus Station Wagon. My gift to them was the Grand Canyon, Taos, Mesa Verde and up to Buena Vista. They had a tent, we had a tent, and we could set up in 10 minutes. As adults, they are both accomplished travelers.
I’ve ridden a 2002 Dyna Glide Low Rider motorcycle, also known as my little red Harley, from Walnut Creek to Sturgis twice. Driving alone from home to Wendover NV, was satisfying and soul expanding. Reliable equipment is vital to an enjoyable trip.
My husband gets first rights of refusal. If he doesn’t want to go, I go without him. I’ve been all over the western United States alone and to Curacao Netherland Antilles, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China.
The last trip we took was to Mexico’s Yucatan in April 2014. The most adventuring thing about it was transportation. Cars, taxis, buses, ferry and tour bus. The most challenging, by far, was cars and taxis. Check out the “lessons learned” blog category for that story.

The good, the bad and the ugly

“If you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” The Dali Lama

I promise to share my mistakes, and tiresome experiences followed with how I will proceed differently next time. With that information, I hope you can go to a higher level of lessons you need to learn. Then come back to this site and share what you’ve learned.