A Lady's Guide to Traveling Solo

Hey there! So, a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to do a segment on a local talk show called Let's Talk Live! to discuss traveling solo. I was so excited! And it prompted me to write this post for women in particular who want to travel solo, but are maybe a little unsure about just going for it.

If you're interested, here's the link! 

Know that this is not a comprehensive guide. These are just some tips and tricks I’ve learned as a Southern lady traveling solo, safely and happily seeing the world!

Do:

1. Be self-aware. The world is a wonderful place, but be smart and keep your guard up. Use your common sense and keep your visible valuables to a minimum when you travel. Use a purse that zips completely closed. Leave your nice jewelry at home. Basically act like a lady but think like a thief!

2. Dress Conservatively.  Do a little research on what’s acceptable for women to wear in the country you're visiting. This is not an opportunity to exercise your women’s rights unless that country is exceptionally accepting of women. Many European countries are very progressive where women are concerned, but many Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries are less so. You can never go wrong with conservative clothes and even a scarf for extra coverage when necessary--like entering a religious site such as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul or the Taj Mahal in India.

This is what I had to wear in the Islamic Center in DC. Most Islamic houses of worship that I've been to provide coverings for women, but it's always wise to bring your own. (The green scarf is mine!)

3. Remember that you’re a visitor. It is someone else’s beautiful country that you’ll be staying in for a few days or weeks. Learn some of their customs before you go, and that will go a long way toward endearing yourself to the locals. People in most countries are delighted to hear someone attempting to speak their language. “Thank you” is the word I use most, no matter what language I’m trying to speak, and that’s the one word I try to learn no matter what! Be respectful of the people in the country you’re visiting and of their historic landmarks.

4. Remember that many people in most popular tourist countries understand English, especially in big cities or touristy areas. So never EVER say something bad about a country or its people assuming the native people can’t understand you. They probably can. 

This is my friend Bianca. She is Swiss. She fluently speaks more languages than there are continents, and she understands more languages than she speaks fluently. 

5. Learn to read a map! Just Google how to read a map if you seriously don't know the basics. No one else has to know! It's better to learn it before you go than stand in the middle of a sidewalk trying to figure it out on the spot. 

Don’t:

1. Don't drink. This is a hard and fast rule with me. Even if you like to have a drink back home, and even if you know your limit, it’s much better to err on the side of caution with this one. You do not want to be traveling alone, think you can have one more, and then get lost going back to where you’re staying. I’ve heard lots of bad travel stories that started with, “Well I was just having a cocktail…,” but I’ve never heard a bad story that started, “Well, I had water with my supper and then went back to my hotel to put my pictures online.”

I went on a free walking tour in Warsaw, Poland, and we stopped into a bar to learn about Polish culture. The bar was open just for this afternoon tour; their real business hours started later in the day. The guide told us it was incredibly rude to say no when someone offers you a drink. The only exceptions are if you're pregnant, or you don't drink for religious reasons. So what did I do when it came to my turn? I said no because I don't drink for religious reasons. Honestly, I don't like to offend people, and my faith does not actually prevent me from ever having a drink, but I was not going to be having my first drink in a strange bar in a new country with people I'd known less than an hour! I was never going to see those people again, so I didn't worry about it, even though the others gave me strange looks! 

And even though I didn't have a drink, I still got to see Poland's Little Mermaid!

2. Don't ignore your gut. Women, we have intuition if we are willing to listen to it! If something just doesn’t seem right, it’s probably not. You are always better safe than sorry, literally every time. 

3. Don't look like a tourist. Sometimes you can't help it--when I travel to Asia or the middle east, my skin color and eyes just give me away! But if you try to blend yourself into the culture in other ways, you could be mistaken for a transplanted local. Act like you know where you're going, dress like the locals, learn a few words in the local language, and please, keep your map and guidebook in your bag! Before you leave your hostel or hotel, study your guide book, figure out how to get to your first couple of sites, and then you can look at your guidebook when you go to the bath room or safely inside a restaurant. Unless you are truly lost, looking at your guidebook on the sidewalk will make you a target to any pickpockets within sight.

4. Don't be scared! For one thing, thieves, like animals, can sense fear. Don't give them anything to work with. For another thing, fear will stop you from doing fun things! When I lived in Japan teaching English, I took a train up to Nagoya (Japan's fourth largest city) on a day off. But I was so scared of getting lost and not finding my way back to the train station, I just stayed inside all day! There was a mall down there with miles and miles of stores and restaurants, but I don't like shopping, so that was kind of a bust for me. But the next time I worked up the guts to go up to Nagoya, I decided I was going to explore. And it was awesome! I ate at some great places, walked to the Nagoya Jo (Nagoya Castle), and learned a lot about imperial Japan at a museum there. I could do it--and you can, too!

A rainy walk in Nagoya took me to the beautiful Nagoya Jo! 

5. Don't forget to keep in touch. Your family, spouse, or friends back home will probably be a little (or a lot) worried about you traveling alone in a foreign country. So just make sure you stay in contact, at least once a day. E-mail, Facebook, and other social media are just about everywhere today, so make sure you take a few minutes to send off an "I'm having a great time!" sort of message.

What are some of your concerns about traveling alone as a woman? Or concerns you may have for your wife, mother, or daughter? 

What Happened in Vegas... Revealed!

They say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Well, that doesn't count if you're a travel blogger!

So, Steve had a week-long business trip to go to in Denver the week before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and head out to Las Vegas! No, we didn't hit up the casinos or bars--did you know you can still smoke inside in Vegas? It was a shock to the system after so many years of clean air inside everywhere else in the country!

We did, however, have an amazing time! And according to Steve's new Fit Bit he got for Christmas, we walked close to 35,000 steps the first day! And that day started early for us in chilly Highlands Ranch, CO. Fortunately, our flight went off without a hitch despite the cold and we were able to check into our hotel before 10:00am. Time to head out and see the sights! Steve had gone to Las Vegas several times before for work, but I'd never been before.

And this was my first impression of Vegas:

Why yes, that is a carousel made entirely of flowers! So exciting! 

Our hotel was just a couple of blocks off the Strip (Las Vegas Boulevard), which was really nice because it was less noisy and not a casino. Kind of like an oasis in a smokey casino desert... literally! We walked down the Strip for a while, then I quickly learned that there are a ton of pedestrian walkways up and over the roads instead of making you have to cross the streets. Probably very handy if you're a bit tipsy walking around.

Anyway, we went up and over the Strip and directly into the Wynn Hotel. It was like a huge garden inside! There were also a lot of high-end stores inside not just the Wynn, but most of the hotels. Many of which I'd never even heard of! We mostly looked in the windows and passed by. ;)

We made our way from hotel to hotel, gawking at the decor (well, I was gawking; Steve is not a gawker). Many of them were decorated for the upcoming Chinese New Year on February 8, so red and yellow were the color theme! As were monkeys, because this will be the Year of the Monkey!

Mr. Peabody Pembroke made friends with one of them. Is anyone surprised? 

Before too long, we started to get hungry. The main thing I hear about Vegas (besides the gambling and such) is about the amazing food they have. We didn't have anything that was just out of this world, but there was quite a variety to choose from! Steve got Nashville Hot Chicken and pancakes, and I got a shrimp and veggie rice bowl. Steve's was impressive!

Look how wide Mr. Peabody Pembroke's eyes are!

After a totally filling lunch, we set out again in search of more adventures! We zig-zagged all the way down the Strip to Mandalay Bay at the end. All the hotel-casinos have a theme, and Steve knew the ones I'd like--Venice, Paris, Mandalay, etc. From outside, I liked the Paris one the most:

From the inside, probably the Venetian:

Gondolas and gondoliers!

I am holding out for a gondola ride in the real Venice, but it sure was fun to watch and hear them singing!

Once we got to Mandalay Bay, we looked for the big aquarium inside. The hotels make navigating them a little confusing if you're not used to them, and we kept getting a bit turned around in this one, so we never did find it. Next time! So then we weaved around on our way back to our hotel. It was a bit chilly for us, so we mostly tried to be inside the hotels on the way back! Some of the hotel-casinos were really cheesy, like Excalibur, New York, Treasure Island, Flamingo, etc. When I walked into those, I felt like I was walking into a video game! But the classy ones like the Bellagio, Venetian, Paris, Wynn, and Encore were very lovely! Clean floors, high-end stores, and well-kept indoor gardens really do a lot for a place!

We stopped into the New York casino and hotel to find a spot to watch some football playoff games, so that was a nice hour or so off our feet! We regained our energy and hoofed it back to the hotel around 6:00.

Suppertime! We were fairly pooped by the time we got back, but I had brought a dress for a nice dinner out in Vegas, and I wanted to wear it! So Steve humored me. We cleaned up, dressed up, and ate at the hotel restaurant down next to the lobby.

This is my convertible dress that can be worn a hundred different ways. And it never wrinkles. Perfect for traveling! 

So after supper it was time for bed. Yes, we went to bed at 8:00 in Las Vegas. You only live once, right? ;)

Sunday morning we woke up fairly early. Which was good, since there was a lot to do on our last day! We went to the gym for a while, showered, and called into church on the East Coast at 7:30. We had picked up grape juice and crackers at CVS the day before, and our congregation has a call-in system so you can still participate in the worship service even if you're traveling! There was also a Catholic church just down the street, so we got to go to mass for Steve, too!

And we're off! Our goal was to get to Serendipity 3 at Caesar's Palace for brunch, but there were lots of things to see along the way!

...like the butterflies at the Encore Hotel and Casino! 

I really had no expectations of Vegas before I went, since I'd never been, but I have to say walking through the hotels was the part I liked most. The decor and exhibits almost made up for the indoor smoking!

So we continued to mosey down the Strip, ducking into hotels as we liked, and eventually we made it down to Serendipity 3 just before noon. We were very hungry by then, but we were happily willing to wait 30-40 minutes for a table once we read the menu!

Mr. Peabody Pembroke was excited, too! 

We opted for the French Toast Log (with accessories) and a Cookie Sundae! Dessert came first... WOW! It was Steve's idea to really treat ourselves, and we sure did!

Woohoo!

Best breakfast... probably ever!

So after that gustatorial event, we needed to do some walking! Next up, Caesar's Palace! So, this one was a little bit classy and a little bit cheesy. But it was fun for walking around as if we were in ancient Rome! After exploring the streets and shops, we went on the prowl... and looked for the Siegfried and Roy White Lion and Tiger Exhibit! First up, we stopped to watch the dolphins:

My duck made a friend. Is anyone surprised? 

And then it was time or the big cats!

Beautiful! 

There were babies, too. See the link to the pictures below for more! 

Afterward we went to a sports bar to watch the end of the Steelers-Broncos game. We were still so pooped from all the walking the day before, it was nice to sit for a couple of hours! Then it was time to walk back to the hotel and pick up sushi along the way. One of our favorite things to do when we travel is pick up take-out and eat it at the hotel. Like a couple of old folks. ;) 

And that was our day. Early to bed, early to rise for us. Our flight out of Vegas left at 5:50am, so we had to wake up at 3:30 so we could leave at 4:00. Our flights were full, but smooth! We only had to be de-iced once! 

Thanks for joining us on our weekend in Vegas! We have another trip planned to an undisclosed location for Valentine's Day weekend. Stay tuned! 

For more picture, click HERE! 

Swarming Saigon

Yes, SWARMING! That is the best word I can think of to describe the traffic in downtown Ho Chi Minh City most hours of the day. After a bit of pool time on Wednesday afternoon, Steve and I decided to venture out to the Museum of Ho Chi Minh City Museum and the Independence Palace (also called the Reunification Palace), both just a few blocks from our hotel. But getting there proved to be the challenge of the day…

So, first stop, Museum of Ho Chi Minh City. It was in a beautiful building—truly a palace at one time. Unfortunately, it’s been very poorly maintained, which made me a little bit sad. One day, someone’s going to be very upset that no one preserved such a beautiful, ornate building! But back to the matter at hand. There were several types of artifacts and glimpses of the city in the museum. Before it was dubbed Ho Chi Minh City in the 1970’s, it was Saigon, and before that, it was a French Colony. Even before that, it was just a village on the river. There were several items from the Vietnam War, as well as maps of Vietnam through its history (I love maps!). They even had old fishing boats on display that divers have found in the river over the years, as well as furniture from the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, some with ivory or mother of pearl inlays.

All that stuff is cool, but the thing that intrigued me most was the money.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in America and our money has stayed largely the same throughout my life, but seeing other countries’ money is really fascinating to me! It’s usually colorful or different sizes, and they usually have lots more coins than the US does. Since the Vietnamese dong is so weak, we only saw and used the bills in our cash transactions, but like most other countries, they used to have lots of coins. I like bills because they’re lighter and easier to fold and put away discreetly, but to each country its own money! Oh, and just as a matter of interest, the cost to get into this museum was just 70 US cents. Yes, CENTS.

Next up, the Independence/Reunification Palace. This is quite the tourist attraction. It seems like the more I try to understand the Vietnam War, the more questions I have. It was a very complicated thing politically, economically, internationally, etc. But this one was pretty straightforward. The “puppet government” was overthrown by the North Vietnamese, and this palace is where that all went down in April 1975. Sorry I didn’t get a picture (I was trying to cross the street with my body parts still intact, so I guess you could say I was distracted!), but if you’ve ever seen the famous picture of the Fall of Saigon with a tank plowing down a lovely white gate, you’ve seen the situation I’m writing about. It was a pretty violent reunification.

Anyway, the rooms were all set up as they would have been the last time they were used for their intended purposes, for large formal dinners, meetings, etc. The space is still used for weddings and ceremonies sometimes, which I think is pretty cool (kind of like getting married at the Capitol or the White House, perhaps).

By the time we got through, we were just that—through! We decided to get an early supper (around 4:30) and call it a night. So we tried our luck walking through town and crossing the streets again! I’m glad we were in an area where there were several tourists and Vietnamese pedestrians. It was hard to avoid the motorbikes on the sidewalk, and even more challenging on the roads! But we found that when you walk in a larger group, you’re more likely to avoid getting hit. Or at least you’re increasing the likeliness that motorists will slow down and go around you! We scurried here and there, and finally made it back to the shops and restaurants around our hotel. And we found a place that served sushi! 

Yes indeed folks, I can do sushi for breakfast, sushi for supper, and if permitted, I could have done sushi for lunch as well! I realize sushi is a Japanese dish, but the Vietnamese do it very well, too! Steve got a sandwich, and we both got chilled drinks as well—a frozen latte of sorts for Steve, and a “beauty juice” for me!

Complete with green orange garnish!

So then it was sleepy time for Steve and Whit. We got a couple of refreshing showers and hit the hay!

…And we were up at 2:00am! That’s actually the best part of traveling to Asia is that waking up early is easy! We tried to stay in bed longer, but we wound up getting up and going to the gym around 3:30. Another benefit of getting up early is that there was no one else at the gym!

After showers and a stop into the best breakfast buffet ever, we set out with big plans—walking over a mile to the War Remnants Museum! Yes, we were taking our lives into our own hands, but traveling is about getting outside your comfort zone. And sometimes risking your life!

Yes, they're using the sidewalk ramp as an "on ramp."

Slowly and carefully, we made it! It was not easy, especially the part where we had to dodge motorbikes on the sidewalks! We stopped by a Pagoda on the way, seeing as we were in Asia:

We couldn’t go in because Steve was wearing shorts, and I didn’t want to take off my shoes (I know, lazy), but it was a pretty open pagoda, and we could see the Buddha from the outside.

So, on to the War Remnants Museum! It is also sometimes called the Propaganda Museum. It’s true what they say that the winners write the history! There are several well-organized sections of this museum. It wasn’t exactly a light-hearted experience, and we didn’t look through every exhibit. Many of the pictures were disturbing, as you could imagine.

When we finished up there, we thought it might be nice to go to the pool for a little sunshine and light-hearted fun. The heat and intense walking through traffic situation was exhausting! And we had to catch the sun through the skyscrapers while we could!

Pool time was nice—we rarely get to relax on these quick trips, so when the opportunity arose, we took it! The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. In the afternoon we went shopping (well, as much as two people who don’t like to shop can stand to shop!). I got some post cards and Steve got a t-shirt for his brother Jeff, the two things we always get when we travel.

After our shopping spree, we found a restaurant for some authentic Vietnamese food—hooray! It was too hot for the traditional Pho (hot soup with noodles and bean sprouts and lemongrass and protein like chicken, beef, or tripe), so Steve got a seafood soup with rice and I got pork Bun (vermicelli noodles, pork, spring roll, veggies, and some delicious sauce that I love). I usually get Bun when I go to Vietnamese places in the States, and as it turns out, the American version is very similar to the authentic stuff! Sorry I didn’t get a picture of our food this time around. We were too hungry to think about pausing for a picture!

The rest of the trip was pretty dull—back to the room, took another shower, slept till 2:00am, went to the airport, and spent all of New Year’s Day flying home! It was the longest New Year’s Day on record for us—36 hours!

Please join us on our next trip. Who know where we’ll go next!

For pictures from our trip, click here! 

Vibrant Vietnam!

Greetings, my readers! After a brief Christmas break, I’m back to blogging. This time our fun and adventure takes us to a country neither Steve nor I had ever visited before—warm and exotic Vietnam! Please join us!

It was quite the journey just to get there, actually. Our original flight reservation was to take us from DC to Chicago to Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. But when we awoke at 4:30 Monday morning, we discovered our flight to Chicago had been cancelled. After an hour on hold, getting new boarding passes with some missing information, talking to three airline representatives, and bumping a couple of people off of our first flight of the day, we ended up flying from DC to Newark to Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh. We made it!

Our preacher had strongly suggested that we have someone meet us at the airport to take us to our hotel, especially since we knew we’d be getting in late at night (around midnight). It was well worth arranging a car from the hotel to come get us. A smiling gentleman in a purple suit was waiting for us, holding a sign so we’d know he was there for us. And when the car came around, what a delight! Not only was it air conditioned, there were also two ice cold bottles of water and two cold, moist, essential oil-infused towels there for us to wipe down with. Even at midnight, the heat and humidity was quite overwhelming, but our hosts were prepared for us! And the ride to the hotel was lovely. They decorated and lit the streets just for us! (Well, for Christmas anyway!)

After a bit of a battle with the light situation (the key card to activate the lights needed to go in at a 45-degree angle) and a couple of quick showers, we tucked ourselves into bed and were out for the count.

Wednesday’s morning sun rose before we did, but not by much! And this is the view we enjoyed first thing that morning:

We were both in need of some physical activity after almost 24 hours of flights and layovers, so we hit the gym (with a great view of the pool, I might add) and got ourselves all woken up and energized for a day of sightseeing! But before stepping out into the wintertime heat, we needed to get some breakfast. The breakfast buffet was included with our room, and it was probably the best I’ve ever enjoyed—including sushi, congee (Chinese rice porridge), made-to-order omelets, French toast, cereal, coconut juice (still in the coconut), salad, baked beans for the Brits, and much more than I can possibly remember! We tried to pace ourselves, but holy smokes, there were just so many things to try!

Oh, and there was a gingerbread extravaganza going on, too!

Moving on! First up, let’s see the sights! But even before that, let’s cross the street! Many books we read and several things we heard indicated that the traffic in Vietnam is intense. And it certainly is! Most people drive motorbikes, and whole families will fit on them. We tried to make sense of it, but there seemed to be no rules! Even on clearly marked one-way streets, people zoomed in any direction. Traffic lights didn’t seem to matter, and honking horns were so prevalent, we couldn’t tell exactly where they were coming from or to whom they were directed! They even ride the motorbikes on the sidewalks—and pedestrians do not have the right of way! But more on that later.

So what was our first stop after crossing the street? The Saigon Opera House! It was right across from our hotel, and we even had a view of it from our room. We couldn’t go inside, but the building itself was gorgeous. It’s one of the French Colonial buildings left over from the 19^th century. And there was a fishing trap display right outside, I suppose as an advertisement for a show.

Next up, the Old Post Office. Sounds boring, perhaps, but it’s beautiful! It’s another French Colonial building, and it’s still used as a post office (and tourist attraction) today. It’s a huge yellow building, with old telephone booths on either side. One side is still used as phone booths, but the other side is all ATMs, which I think is a pretty cool way to repurpose them! Except that Steve found out that at least three out of the five of them didn’t work. Thankfully the fourth one he tried did work so we could get some Vietnamese Dong. In case you’re curious, the exchange rate is $1 to 22,487 Vietnamese Dong. So everything looked really expensive, but it was actually quite inexpensive!

Back to the post office. There are three or four souvenir shops inside, and I should have gotten some post cards there, if for no other reason than to have an excuse to use their stamps. They’re not adhesive, so instead of peeling and sticking, or even licking and sticking, they have pots of glue to use. Such fun! Next time.

And just across the way from the post office was Ho Chi Minh City’s very own Notre Dame Cathedral. Quite the sight in the midst of the traffic circle!

And to continue our French Colonial day, we moseyed over to another of the public buildings. Again, not one we could go into, as it is still an official government building, but we sure enjoyed gawking at it from the outside!

We stopped into a nearby Starbucks for a couple of mugs for our collection, then decided to take a walk down a long pedestrian walkway to the Saigon River. It was one of the only places where pedestrians have run of the place. Well, for the most part. We did see a couple of motorbikes plow through, but only a couple!

At the end of the walkway there is a road. A very busy road indeed. We waited for the crosswalk sign to light up, but not only did that not stop the motorists, the walk sign didn’t last long. We were barely halfway across when the light for the motorists turned green again! We scurried across, but as it turns out, that’s not the way to do it. A passenger bike driver called to us (as I’m sure he could see the looks of terror on our faces) and said, “Slowly! Slowly! Slowly!” Then he offered us a ride to wherever we were headed. However, we thought it best NOT to be on the road in any sort of vehicle if we could avoid it, so we graciously declined. Except now we needed to get back across the road! Though it was quite the challenge, we survived! Every time we crossed any street during this trip, I felt compelled to exclaim, “We made it!” It was really quite the experience.

So the river was a bit of a bust. It’s an industrial river, for lack of a better term, so it’s brown and kind of smelly, not really a touristy hot spot. Back to the hotel for us! Thankfully, our hotel was quite close to most everything we wanted to see, so no matter where we were, we could see or get to our hotel.

We stayed at the Caravelle Saigon, one of the hotels where Vietnam War journalists stayed while reporting on the War. It was then taken over and used as a government building, and only recently did it become a hotel again.

So all that history is very cool, at least to me, and that’s why Steve chose that hotel for us, but our favorite feature had to be the pool! And that’s where we spent the next couple of hours. We wanted to enjoy the warmth and get some sun while we could still get it between the high-rise buildings all around us. It was beautiful! And Mr. Peabody Pembroke liked it, too. 

To find out what we did that afternoon and the next day (New Year’s Eve), be sure to click the link above to subscribe or check back tomorrow!

And for more pictures, click here!