Planes, Trains, Automobiles

Planes, trains, automobiles - and boats.  Each mode of transport has its merits, and its own unique character.  After driving just shy of 6,000 miles, the Great American Road Trip - or its counterparts, the Great Canadian Road Trip and Great European Road Trip - is something every Road Warrioress really needs to experience at least once in her life.

I have a friend who hates to drive.  Oh, yes, she's perfectly capable, licensed, clean driving record, and all that.  She just hates doing it!  Won't even drive to the supermarket, but has hubby take her instead.  Long-distance road trips - at least one US and one European annually - she meticulously plans, maps, organizes.  And hubby does all the driving.  Obviously, she's not a Road Warrioress, despite being a very avid traveler.  Guess it's a good thing opposites attract since hubby is decidedly a Road Warrior who loves to drive, even winding little one-laners along Italy's plunging coastlines.

My friend's perspective is totally lost on me.  Just don't get it.  More akin to her husband (except for driving on the "wrong" side of the road, which he handles with aplomb), I love to get in the car and go. 

Doesn't much matter where.  I've been known to take a left turn on the freeway - abrupt decision, no accident - and end up hundreds of miles from the originally intended destination.  Or decide "I just want to get out of here" at the Laundromat Saturday morning, then pack laundry and kitties and take off, arriving home just in time to get back to work Monday morning.  I simply love to drive.  Love going places.  Even when I don't know where I'm going, but just "follow my nose" to see what there is to see.

Love to fly.  Love boats, even for a speedy trip on a lake or Long Island Sound.  Love trains - one of my greatest adventures was riding the rails through China for a few months. 

But driving a car is a completely different experience.  Answering to no one, adjusting my route on a whim, stopping whenever I'm hungry or just to shoot a few photographs because something caught my eye.  There's nothing like driving across Nebraska at 80 miles an hour, glad you can race past cow-stench, or sorry you had no idea there was such a spectacular bridge to photograph and could find no place to pull over fast enough to capture it.

Definitely, Road Warrioresses, take that road trip!

May your road rise to meet you - wherever you go!
Ann

More Uses for Zip-close Plastic Bags - Gallon-size

Most people aren't too surprised by all the uses for zip-close plastic bags.  The array of uses are bound to include something someone hadn't thought of.  But gallon-size baggies?  Yes!  These are definitely worth taking along, especially for the Road Warrioress on business. 

1.   Collecting “bumpf” at a trade show?  Assembling material for a project or report?  Are you a writer who needs to sort materials by magazine article?  Headed for multiple cities, states, countries?  Put each set in a separate gallon-size bag and label it!  Bags weigh less than stacks of file folders.  Zipping prevents loss of business cards, notes, or paper scraps, as often happens with file folders.

2.   Taking a sweater, shawl, pashmina, or something special you want to keep clean, snag-free, and separate?  Bag it, squeeze it, pack it.

3.   Swimsuit or undies still damp when it’s time to depart?  Bag, squeeze, zip.  Take it out to complete drying upon arrival.

 

4.  Substitute these for the smaller sizes of travel space bags.  Saves a lot of money.  They're probably right in the kitchen drawer - no special trip to the store.  They're reusable, recyclable, disposable.  Partially zip, roll, squeeze, and seal up.  No, they don't squeeze out as much air as the "real thing."  But they're quick, handy, cheap, and work.  Nice for silk or other dress shirts and blouses - roll them up in the bag and pack rolls.

5.  Maps in the car!  There's never enough space in glove compartment or map pocket.  Organize a series of maps, say New York to Florida, state by state southward, and put the used one at the back of the stack as you head southward.  Organize by region, divide east and west of the Mississippi, whatever system works best for you.  Those AAA maps fit perfectly in a gallon-size bag, stack about eight or so per bag, fold over and zip.

Take spares for each size of your zip-bags!  Take them out of the box, roll them up, and tuck into your suitcase along the side or rear.  I keep finding more and more uses for them as I go.  You probably will, too.  And don't forget to share your findings with everyone here!

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

Uses for Sandwich/Quart-size Zip-close Plastic Bags

Zip-close bags - those inexpensive kitchen necessities - are incredibly useful for the Road Warrioress!  To continue our previous post, let's move on to the sandwich/quart size. These two are so very close in size, either one generally does the trick.  No real need to buy both. 

Note that TSA “officially” requires quart-size bag for carry-on toiletries.

1.   Carry-on toiletries: travel sizes of deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, facial cleanser, shower gel, hand sanitizer, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer.

2.   Still-wet pouf, hose, bikini, etc, need to go in the suitcase?  Bag it!  Press out the air, tuck it in, and on arrival, set it back out to finish drying.

3.   Keep about 3-4 pairs of hose sorted by color/shade, up to ten pairs of nylon knee-highs, per bag.  Squeeze the bag as you finish sealing to reduce bulk, then tuck away.  If you pack a purse or spare handbag, or your "good" bag, your purse will hold its shape better if you stuff it with these bags full of hosiery.

4.   Stuffing toes of your shoes?  Good idea to put each pair of hose in a bag, squeeze-seal, tuck into toes.  No hosiery snagging, no mismatches.

5.   Ditch those boxes!  Nose strips, make-up remover pads, nail polish remover pads, Q-tips, quilted squares, make-up sponges, and more usually pack more flexibly if you repack them in bags. 

6.   Make-up kit: if you only need one set of make-up, or for a day-pack to refresh, snack-size bags do the trick.  For a more extensive array, sandwich/quart-size will hold it.  By the way, bagging these helps prevent spills or leakage, too.

I find it so much easier to keep track of things, especially small things, when I bag them.  Bet you will, too.  And be sure to share your tips and tricks with the rest of us!  Looking forward to hearing from you. . .

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann

Quick Takes: News You Can Use

Here's just a few short clips from recent news.  I think you might make good use of them.

Chile appears set to join those countries on the US Visa Waiver Program effective in 2014.  This allows visa-free entry to US for up to 90 days - just register online through ESTA.  This could be helpful to those considering Chilean citizenship, now that Chile has streamlined some new routes to immigration and possible citizenship.  For American citizens looking to Chilean citizenship with an eye to possible renunciation of their US citizenship, it means visa-free entry for those quick visits back to the US to visit friends and family, or wrap up business interests.  Chile seems more and more appealing as a place to live, work, launch a business, explore as a PT through South America, even immigrate.  Land of 21st Century opportunities.

Complaints about TSA employees' unethical conduct and worse are up 26%.  More and more travelers are seeking routings which avoid the US.  For example, one American man with lots of international business interests hops from Mexico City to Vancouver when heading from Latin America to Asia.  He heads from Latin America to Europe through Brazil to Portugal and onward.  He claims it's worth a bit of extra expense to avoid transiting any US airport - even though he's a US citizen.  Consider planning your travels to avoid transiting the US, too.  What woman wants to be groped in public?

Still need help securing your personal info against PRISM and other malfeasance, invasions of privacy, risks to your safety and security?  Check out this "Black Paper" on digital privacy by Simon Black, privacy maven, inveterate PT, international business expert.  Loaded with excellent tips to protect yourself, your identity, your communications, especially while traveling. 

May your road rise to meet you, fellow Road Warrioress!
Ann

Encryption Is the Way to Travel

It's called Road Warrior.  Well, it's definitely suited for the Road Warrioress, too.  It's an encryption service from Cryptohippie, and considered the top of the line for encrypting the long-haul traveler's computer, email, communications, etc.

It's not cheap.  What do you expect for military-grade technology in easy-to-use form?  But Cryptohippie gives you a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with their encryption and secure email account included in the Road Warrior package. 

Cryptohippie says: It creates a strongly encrypted connection from your computer to the Cryptohippie anonymity network. From there, your traffic passes through at least two national jurisdictions, loses all association with your identifiers and emerges from our network at a distant location. But, even with all of this going on, you can surf, check your email, use Skype, and everything else exactly as you have been. Unless you reveal it yourself, no one can see who you are or what your data may be.

Features of Road Warrior include, according to Cryptohippie:

Easy to install and use software

Available for Windows, MacOS X, Linux

Works in almost any environment

High speed (3.5Mbit/s median)

All protection methods enabled

Protects websurfing, email, VoIP

Closed group network access

Includes secure email account

Includes secure network disk

Includes secure instant messaging

Install on multiple computers allowed

25 GB of monthly traffic included

Telephone and email support

And the cost is USD275 per year. 

I'm no techie.  Don't ask me to explain all the technology.  While I've had and used my own computers for three decades now, and consider myself fairly proficient, I still use my 'puter like a toaster: I put in my "bread" and expect to get out "toast."  You're better off researching this one yourself to get whatever details you need.

But you certainly want to take a look at this.

And if you have any suggestions for other top-notch encryption services, pass them along here so we can all take advantage.  After all, most of us Road Warrioresses are working, running computer-based businesses while we play Perpetual Traveler, and need to protect ourselves and our data.  Certainly everyone deserves to be able to say "I love you" to Pop, Hubby, Darling Daughter or Whoever without half the rest of the world listening in.

May your road rise to meet you (without spies stalking you!)
Ann

If You Want More Privacy. . .

Since the explosive revelations last month regarding PRISM, NSA's monumental worldwide invasion of communications privacy, people are changing a lot of computer habits.  Goodbye google, hello StartPage.  The number of queries on the DuckDuckGo search engine doubled in less than three weeks.  Cryptocat's volume doubled within that time.

Steven Spielberg's Minority Report is alive and well and living in the White House, in NSA, and in their inconceivably voluminous facility under construction in Utah.  It's worse than Orwellian.  1984 might have been the wrong date, but certainly the right prescient track.

Here are some changes you can make to your internet habits:

DuckDuckGo does not store personally identifiable information about search queries on its servers. You can see exactly how your Google search information is saved and sold, thanks to DuckDuckGo's simple diagram found on its website: http://donttrack.us/.  Check out duckduckgo.com.

StartPage is a non-US based third-party search engine. When you search with StartPage, they remove all the identifying information from your online query and then submit it anonymously to Google themselves. They get the results and give them to you, keeping your information completely private. Your IP address is never stored… your visit is not logged and they don’t place any tracking cookies on your browser.  They make it clear on their website that anyone seeking to subpoena data on users can forget it - there is no data!  Set StartPage as your homepage!  Simply go to startpage.com.

You can keep your intranet chats private by using Cryptocat. This site encrypts all of its users’ messages so that notes between you and family, friends, colleagues or employees stay off the radar.  It might not be available for all browsers, but check out https://crypto.cat/

Besides governments which copy your inbox, hackers, identity thieves, advertisers, and others are after your personal information.  An offshore email account is not free, though the fees are generally reasonable.  Here are some reputable, relatively inexpensive options to consider.

http://www.SwissMail.org/ Based in Switzerland.

http://www.neomailbox.net/ Based in Switzerland.

https://secure.runbox.com/ Based in Norway, which has strong privacy laws. Runbox is generally considered a cheap and quality option.

https://www.jumpshipservices.co/ Parent company is incorporated in Hong Kong with servers located in Switzerland. JumpShip Services - Jumpmail - www.jumpshipservices.co/jumpmail
 

Instead of a US-based cloud storage or data storage company such as DropBox or Google, consider free alternatives based in a friendlier jurisdiction.  Perhaps the best offshore data storage option is Switzerland-based Wuala. Wuala encrypts and stores your files on servers in Switzerland and offers 5 GB of free storage space.

More to come on some easy-to-access, easy-to-use alternatives for the Road Warrioress!

May your road rise to meet you (without spies)!
Ann

L'Audace, L'Audace, Toujours L'Audace!

I was just talking with a fellow attendee at a workshop about business travel.  Yes, loads of women managers and execs at his large company travel.  "They only travel in packs," he says.  Not one of them travels solo - unlike us Road Warrioresses.  Company conferences, training, even sales calls on customers - everything is done as a team.  Same flight, same hotel, same car or shuttle.  And heaven help one if dinner is not scheduled en masse.  They'll order room service before they'll venture into a hotel coffee shop alone.

Lousy way to travel if you ask me.  Yes, I've done it for corporate quarterly sales meetings and such.  It's nice to have company at dinner, develop coworker relationships.  It can be rather comfy, or a severe trial of overload and no privacy.  Yes, I always managed to strike out on my own somewhere along the schedule of events.

But practically all of my travels from the moment I set off to college barely days after I turned 18 (not even a week after my birthday!) have been solo.  And while I have needed or wanted room service on occasion, it becomes very dreary very fast.  Waits can be long, food often arrives cold, the menu is very limited to start with.  And the costs are frightful - one dinner can consume an entire per diem allowance.  Neither riding with the herd some 16 hours a day nor hiding in my hotel room are much fun.

Remember George C. Scott as Patton?  "L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace," was General George's advice, as memorably quoted by Actor George.  Where's your audacity?  Guts, gumption, or simple - and elementary - modicum of confidence?  Criminy, you hardly need much brains, talent, hutzpah, experience, or anything else to walk into a restaurant, sit down, order something, and eat it.  You've been eating something or other since the day you were born.

Most larger hotels have more than one restaurant.  Pick the snack bar or coffee shop rather than the exclusive and formal restaurant.  Who knows?  You might strike up an interesting conversation with a fellow traveler, even make connections for a better job!  It's easy.  It's a lot more fun.  And you will get better food selected from a wider variety of options.

Surprise!  You'll probably find out you are not the only person dining alone.  You might even run into me.  Even though I really am quite shy, we'll strike up an interesting conversation.

Oh, by the way.  This guy clued me in on something, if you're ambitious.  Those women hit the glass ceiling because they can't - or won't - travel solo.  Top executives don't travel in packs.  They only have a peon trailing behind if anyone at all accompanies them.

May your road rise to meet you - and may you meet it with audacity!
Ann

Hotel Security Is a Major Concern for the Road Warrioress

In Taipei, I stayed in a newly renovated hotel – until I learned renovations were due to a major hotel fire in which a number of guests were killed.  The sprinkler system did not look particularly trustworthy, and the smoke detector had no little light, which had me concerned that it might not work or even be hooked up!  In Houston, some man followed me to my room.  Fortunately, with key already in hand, I was able to slip in and, throwing my full body weight against the door, slammed it on my stalker's hand.

For the solo woman traveler, it pays handsomely to pay attention!  Your security is your first responsibility to yourself.  And all too often, you cannot wait to be bailed out.  Here are some tips for your safety in hotels:

1.   Never open your door!  First, check through your peephole (if you’re tall enough to see through it – they are often set to man- or tall-person-height).  If you are not expecting anyone, call the front desk or housekeeping to ensure they really have sent [name] with more towels or whatever.  Verify Name – ask who’s there!

2.   Beware posting your breakfast menu on your doorknob before retiring.  It can alert Bad Guys to a lone traveler unless you disguise that fact by ordering two cups with a pot of coffee, or two juices, or something.

3.   Check room security when checking in.  Is there a good deadbolt lock with a long throw (part that goes into the door jamb)?  Smoke detectors?  Sprinkler system?  Annunciator system for emergencies?  Is your door hidden from traffic through the hall?  That’s not a good thing as Bad Guys are out of both camera range and sight of people walking through hallways.

4.   Never prop your door open, even if you are expecting housekeeping or room service.  Either shower before you call, or hold off on the shower until they’re finished.

5.   If there’s an adjoining room, ensure there’s a deadbolt lock and safety chain or security bar YOU lock from your side!

6.   Poolside or patio room?  Be especially careful about security for those sliding glass doors!  In fact, poolside rooms are often noisy, so why pay any premium rate for an insecure room with less privacy?

May your road rise to meet you – and may your road be safe!

Ann

Room Disservice Is a Major Gripe for the Road Warrioress

The last time I experienced excellent room service was when I lived in the “Back of Beyond” – Balikpapan, in the jungles of Borneo.  I’d fill out my card before I went to bed and hang it on my doorknob, ordering breakfast for 6:15 a.m. delivery.  No later than 6:16, room service knocked.  And the eggs were hot, the toast was hot, the coffee was hot, and the orange juice refreshingly frigid.

I’ve pretty much abandoned room service ever since.  The price is atrocious, taxes and gratuities ferocious, and heaven help you if you do not tip the delivery person.  Burger buns are doughy puddles, eggs unrecognizable, and the temperature of everything on the plate is stone cold.

No, I loved my dual-voltage travel hot pot – until it died.  I could always manage to slip in instant noodles or soups, coffee and tea.  Nothing to brag about, only to stave off starvation in wee hours.  And unfortunately, better quality than room service indigestibles.

Now I rely on things on like packets of Ritz Big Cheese or granola bars.  I always hope for an in-room coffeemaker, and at least Stateside, am rarely disappointed.

For long-haul travelers, weird arrival times, crazy meeting schedules, and assorted headaches can make room service urgently needed.  For the Road Warrioress, many hate (even fear) eating alone in a hotel restaurant, thus prefer room service.  But I never count on it anymore.  All too often, you’re better off if you’re self-sufficient.  Or head for McDonald’s.  They seem to land on every street corner around the world, and you can get there faster than room service can find you on the 35^th floor in Building D.

When you check in, how long does it take you to walk from the front desk to find your room?  Count on room service to take at least that long - once they finish preparing your order, fixing your tray, and finding a spare room service waiter.

TIP:  Ask which is the best Chinese, Thai or pizza restaurant that delivers to the hotel.  Have the front desk call in your order while you check in since they have name and number.  Somehow restaurant delivery will find your room faster than room service ever could, and arrive with hot, delicious food minutes after you arrive! 

Got any Room Service Gems?  Dish, dish!  Share the good news!  Got any horror stories?  Share them, too.  Forewarned is forearmed – with Ritz crackers.

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

While I’ve Been Grounded. . .

So, I’ve been on assignment recently, and “grounded” of late.  If I can’t roam the world for the moment, I can do it vicariously!  I’ve been reading my favorite type of non-fiction, travelogues.

The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman (NY: Bantam, 2011) is, alas, a Coming of Age story.  Yes, Rachel roams Ireland, Australia, and South America – mostly in the company of an Australian friend.  We end up knowing all about Rachel and Carly, snippets about their backpacker adventures, and little about the countries they roam.  As a coming-of-age story about turning 21 – 22, it’s fun and fascinating.  As a real travelogue, a real feel for these countries is a wee bit sparse.

Rita Golden Gelman, writer of children’s books turned Road Warrioress, presents a far more interesting tale of her travels.  Suddenly faced with divorce in middle age, she flees first to Mexico, then onward around the world.  Tales of a Female Nomad (NY: Three Rivers Press, 2001) is much more than a Coming of Middle Age story, however.

A true Perpetual Traveler, she often has no home at all.  Sometimes she couch surfs or finds homestays with people she meets on the road.  Others, she rents temporary accommodations, albeit for longer stays. 

But Rita gives you a more satisfying insight into countries, cultures, and the humans living within them.

Don’t expect the same from Rita Golden Gelman’s sequel, Female Nomad and Friends, however (NY: Three Rivers Press, 2010).  Here she shares brief tales written by other Road Warrioresses, along with a few recipes picked up around the world.  The recipes are really juicy.  Some of the tales are more about World Improvers out to save the world than about countries and cultures as they are.

Got any good airplane-reading or while-grounded reading to share?

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

Taxaholic Countries for Expats to Avoid

As if taxaholic France wasn't already in the news for the departure of Gerard Depardieu for more welcoming Russia, now comes a whopper!  More than 8,000 French households got tax bills for 2012 - dunned for taxes which exceed their income for the entire year.  Expect more departures from the no-longer-so-belle France.

We've mentioned countries with no personal income taxes.  Here's some horrible news about the EU: very few countries in the world tax like the EU.  Only Aruba, US, and Japan can rival Euro-kleptocrats. 

EU's worst:
Hungary - 59.4%
Belgium - 58.5
France - 56.4 (except for some, income taxes exceed 100% of income)
Germany - 54.6
Austria - 52.2
Netherlands - 50.2
Sweden - 49.4
Romania - 48.6
Italy - 46.0
Denmark - 45.7
Slovakia - 45.5
Lithuania - 45.4
Finland - 45.2

Only Cyprus (19.4%) and Malta (26.8%) have tax rates below 30%.  As we've all heard and read, Cyprus is broke, so it simply confiscated people's bank accounts.  That's Tax with a Capital T-plus!

What to do if your employer transfers you to one of these on an expat contract?  Try to find an alternative!  What if you're a citizen?  Do you want to be a milk cow for taxaholics?  Or do you want to enjoy the PT life?  You have a very potent incentive to be a non-resident citizen if you're from an EU country.

Think the grass is greener on the US side of the border?  People tend to think it "looks good" because charts like these only consider federal income taxes.  For the US, you have to add Social Security (FICA) and Medicare, which take another 7.65% from the first dollar you earn.  There's the new Medicare surcharge on top of that for those with higher-level incomes.  Don't forget state income taxes, which vary considerably.  Add it all up, and the US can turn out to the be the Ultimate Taxaholic for a lot of taxpayers.

If you are a US person (which includes more than citizens and legal permanent residents and workers on visas), non-resident status is no cure.  There's the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, a small help to some.

Planning your travels, planning your expat-life, planning retirement relocation?  Whatever you do and wherever you go, tax planning must be a major consideration in the decision-making process for every Road Warrioress.

So, where are you headed?  What works well for you?  Share your thoughts.  We'd all love to hear them.

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann

Beware the Too-Friendly Local

Police call them Hugger-Muggers.  Very friendly - pat on the back, even a big hug, and "Hey Mate! How's it going?"  Just as you depart a pub, coffeehouse, or bar late evening.  Meanwhile, the accomplice picks your purse or pocket, empties your wallet, and drops it on the sidewalk behind you.

Coordinated thievery, without the slightest signal between hugger and accompanying mugger.

Attention Road Warrioress!  Women are prime targets!  Top items sought: cash and credit cards from purse or wallet, cell phones, and small electronics.

Primary venues:  London - especially Camden and Westminster; Stockholm.  Most commonly late evening or night.  Don't expect this type of crime to be limited to these two cities or this time of day for long.  Just because there's a sharp rise in police reports from these two cities in particular does not mean this is simply a "local phenomenon."  It can happen anywhere anytime.

Safety Tips & Prevention: 
*  Don't let strangers "hug" or touch you.  Stop them!  They'll try to lead a merry dance around you.  Evade and speak loudly enough for passersby to hear: "No!  Get away from me!"  or "Don't touch me!  I don't know you!"

*  Wear your shoulder bag strapped diagonally around your neck and under your arm, then slide the bag toward the front of your body.  Keep your forearm along the top of the bag with your hand gripping the strap.

*  Use a security-cabled bag.  Use tiny luggage locks.  Secure the phone - don't keep it in an open pocket without Velcro or zipper close.  Anything to slow them down!  Make things more troublesome for the pickpocket, Hugger-Mugger, or other assorted villain.

*  Keep ID, credit cards, and other valuables in a hidden body belt or bra bag which attaches securely to clothing.  Use the interior pocket of your jacket, then zip up both pocket and jacket to prevent a hand sneaking in.  Stitch up an extra interior pocket inside your jeans.

May your road rise to meet you - and may you remain safe along the road!
Ann

JD Powers Research Shows US Hotel Ratings Decline

Forbes magazine recently published an article on the latest JD Power research survey of customer satisfaction with US hotels.  Satisfaction with check-in/check-out; food and beverage; hotel services; and hotel facilities are at new lows since the 2006 study. 

Primary beef?  Charging a fee for internet access.  Internet usage by hotel guests is up to 55%.  Fees, especially since free wifi is readily available at so many restaurants and other outlets, is one really big gripe.  If McDonald's can provide free wifi, so can luxury hotels.  Ironically, free wifi is more likely to be available at the more modest hotel and motel chains.  The priciest resorts which include wifi in a "resort fee" get the loudest screams from their customers.  Slow connect speeds are another common complaint. 

Poor maintenance, like drippy faucets or dead batteries in the TV remote control, come in for some of the most scathing comments I run into when talking to hotel guests.  Such issues are a major cause of dissatisfied customers in the JD Power survey, too.  Most of these issues should be readily apparent to maid service when rooms are cleaned every day.  There's no excuse for such stupidity and neglect among housekeeping staff.

Here's a summary of top scoring chains in the 7 classifications JD Power uses:

Luxury: The Ritz-Carlton (for a third consecutive year)

Upper Upscale: Omni Hotels & Resorts

Upscale: Hilton Garden Inn and SpringHill Suites (in a tie)

Mid-Scale Full Service: Holiday Inn (for a second consecutive year)

Mid-Scale Limited Service: Drury Hotels (for a seventh consecutive year)

Economy/Budget: Jameson Inn

Extended Stay: Homewood Suites (for a third consecutive year)

Got a problem?  Complain immediately.  Don't let it slide.  Hotels need to know what irks and what distresses their guests. 

If you need wifi (what Road Warrioress doesn't?  LOL!), make sure it's included before you book the room.  Let hotels, especially the higher-priced ones, know that you did not make a reservation simply because they lack free wifi!  If you can get free wifi service in a backpacker hostel in the back of beyond, there's no excuse for lack of free wifi at every hotel and motel in the US.

Watch those ads.  Check out their services.  The Road Warrioress is a busy woman and she needs safety, security, cleanliness, functional facilities, and reliable services.  In any price range anywhere.

May your road rise to meet you - and may your hotel meet your standards!
Ann

Ai-yah! My Handbag Is Dying!

Another trusty on-the-road survival tool is dying - alas!  The handles of my trusty shoulder bag have worn out.  The microfiber fabric covering steel safety cables has worn through, exposing the metal cabling.

Unlike my poor wheeled computer bag which so recently bit the dust, this bag has served me for about four years.  I think four years of rough handling is pretty close to a record for long-term service for a handbag for me.  I really cannot complain about a shoulder bag which has done constant harsh duty for four years.  Especially since it only cost around USD80 to start with.  After all, a friend's USD1600 leather bling bag from some famous designer (which one, I've forgotten) died in half as much time.

I love a well-organized handbag.  Useless - and downright annoying - to me are "dump bucket" bags where everything goes in one compartment.  I prefer a bag with pockets for my cell phone, a safe space for my passport, and easy access to my ChapStick!  If I lose my keys in the bottom of a bag, I can go ballistic when I'm in a rush or under the gun (which seems like most of the time).

This bag has been the best organized of any handbag I've ever owned or designed myself and had made.  I had one many years ago which came pretty close, and never found another like it.  Until I discovered DayMakers. 

This is the large DayMakers travel bag with an excellent variety of pockets.  It holds my wallet (I might tell you about it sometime, as it has proven particularly well organized for the traveler), cell phone, phone recharger, digital camera (the point & shoot, not a DSLR with lenses), critical documents, and more.

What's really special about my DayMakers bag is the security features.  The handle and around through the bottom is stainless steel cable to protect against bag-slashers, pickpockets, and baggage thieves.  Other features help me feel more secure carrying it around.  And the microfiber fabric bag shows little wear - except for the handle where steel cable wore right through it.

Now they have a new model, quite similar in design to what I've been using for the past four years.  But Billy Norris, owner/designer for this Santa Barbara firm, has added RFID blocker technology to some of his travel handbags and other accessories.

So, I'm aiming to get some of these products and test them out.  I sure am happy with this firm to start with.  I wonder if they can make me - and you! - even happier?

May your road rise to meet you - and your bags rise to your expectations!
Ann

TravelTellers Changes Our Look Again!

I've changed the design template and look of this blog again.  Hope you like it, and find it easier to read.

One of these days, I'm going to take the time from everything else going on (including writing some travel guidebooks for you Road Warrioresses) to tinker with the set-up and layout of this blog.  Just trying to make it more serviceable, more useful, more readable.

Now that I've had a couple things "go bad" on me, I think more product reviews could help my fellow Road Warrioresses, too.  So that's another thing to look out for.

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann

Bags, Bags & More Bags!

Writing about bags - in the luggage and carry-on sense - set me thinking about other kinds of bags.  Grocery bags, for one.  I save all my plastic handled Walmart bags, grocery bags, and Whosits Department Store bags.  Reuse before you recycle has been my watchword for a l-o-n-g time.  But my homebase town passed a local ordinance, oh, a couple of years ago, banning plastic bags.
 
Most of Europe either never got into the habit or abolished those plastic bags long ago.  They use string bags, canvas totes, and whatever for their marketing and other assorted shopping.
 
What's something you really need to tote along with you wherever you go?  A shopping bag or tote bag.  It has nearly endless uses for the Road Warrioress.
 
First, of course, long haul travel demands stops to shop somewhere along your route.  The toothpaste runs out, shoes wear out, and hose just plain runs.  Especially - but hardly exclusively! - in Europe, you need to bring your own shopping bag.
 
Here are few of the multiple duties of a shopping bag:
* shopping bag, of course
* beach tote
* shoe carrier
* office overflow tote (my computer bag often runs out of space for "stuff of the moment")
* book bag/library bag
* laundry bag
* day-pack (when I didn't want to haul a real handbag)
* "organizer" bag or project management "file"
* airplane "deplaning dump" to haul all the stuff I unpacked off the plane until I can repack it!
 
Mostly, it holds overflow of every description.  It's a little workhorse that gets pulled out constantly for one usage or another.
 
Yes, I carry those plastic bags from Walmart and Whosits.  Great when you have to do something with muddy shoes until you can properly clean them, or hastily pack a wet washcloth or swim suit.  I use them instead of tissue where I need a bit of protection for something, or keep an item tidily tucked away until I need it, like three weeks into a trip.  I use & discard them liberally throughout a trip.
 
But my "best" shopping bag is my Staples tote.  Staples occasionally holds its Bag Sale: get a free Staples tote with one coupon, and get discount on everything you can fit in that bag at checkout.  Great deal.  Do so love to save money.  But that bag is proving to be my best deal even though so many shopping bags like Staples' bag sell for a mere 99 cents!
 
This bag is brown - hides scuffs and dirt.  The bottom is a perfect fit for a great many hardback and trade paperback books.  If I load the books and bumpf for my research in the bottom of the bag, it sits quite nicely on a wheeled computer bag and the handles are just the right length to fit both bags' handles together.  Those handles are just long enough to carry over my shoulder, too.  It folds up neatly and flat, or rolls up.  I can tuck it in so many places without it seeming to take up space.
 
I have bags from at least half a dozen stores and supermarkets.  Each one is slightly different in base size, depth, handle length, and re-fold-ability.  I have a supermarket bag which simply refuses to refold - obstinate thing - but its plasticized and waterproof or I would ditch the darn thing.  It's that one particular bag, which I got at Staples, which just seems to fit best for the most uses.
 
A European string bag crunches up tinier than just about anything.  But one did not survive a week with me - too many things fall through the holes!  Worse, once one section of string breaks, that bag is finito.  No, non, nein, nyet!  I get far more use out of my Staples bag.  Enough increased usefulness to warrant taking up that much space and weight (which are pretty negligible anyway).

Carry whichever type of shopping or tote bag works best for you.  But certainly take a look at that Staples bag and compare it to other stores' bags.

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann

More Bumpf About Bags

This seems as good a time as any to chat a bit more about bags.  Who can survive without them?  Nobody nowhere.  But for the Road Warrioress, toting your life and livelihood around the planet, your luggage is just about your - and your "stuff's" - most crucial survival tool.

Your luggage has to fit your needs.  And a primary need for a Road Warrioress is durability.  Well, my Western Pack brand wheeled computer bag did not pass my most modest test.

Another bag passes with flying colors!  I have a Hartmann bag that I love and have been using extensively for months.  Ironically, it's my only bag without wheels.  Still, it has proven amazingly useful.

I have no idea how old this Hartmann bag is - decades, probably.  I'm sure I've had it at least a decade now myself.  A friend, cleaning out the attic when they moved, gave it to me as they had new sets of luggage and no longer wanted their old Hartmann bag.  You'd never know by looking at it that it must have lasted at least a couple of decades by now!

It's plain-old Hartmann classic tan ballistic nylon with tan belting leather handles and trim.  No clue to its age there.  This stuff seemingly lasts longer than the Ice Age.

What I love about it is its organization.  There are three zippered compartments, and you can open each compartment flat, one at a time, to pack and unpack.  One compartment I reserve for things I need, but do not use daily.  Here goes a dress with matching jacket, a pantsuit with a more formally styled blazer, slips, hose, dress shoes.  The "good" clothes, business clothes, dinner dress sort of attire all fit in here.  I only open this section when needed.

The middle section holds my daily wear, which for me is casual slacks and shirts.  Most of the time, I hardly need anything very "fancy," just plain and durable cotton knits.  My travel wardrobe happens to be exceptionally casual, for the most part.  Still, this compartmentalization would work well for anyone.

Nightie, light cotton robe or duster, and undies go in the third compartment.  As I use up clothing during the week, these go into the main compartment, and this section becomes my laundry bag.

On one side of the bag is a gusseted flap pocket with latch.  Here go a shawl and sarong, clear plastic TSA-required toiletries bag with its little bottles of everything. 

On the other side is a large open slash-pocket which can hold a magazine or paperback book (my "airplane reading), a legal pad or two, and a pair of flip-flops or ballerina slippers wrapped in a plastic shopping bag.  Accumulated "mish-mash" seems to get stuffed in there while traveling, too.  Then there's a small zippered pocket which holds a travel sewing kit, travel first aid kit, manicure set, and such like.

It easily holds a week's worth of clothing and whatsits.  It's easy to keep things neat and organized.  It's easy to pull together an outfit to dress quickly and pack up in a rush.

Despite the lack of wheels, it's easy to carry - and I have a miserable wreck of a back.  I do admit to not carrying it any great distance, however!  But it certainly has been hauled up and down numerous staircases - where wheeled bags dare not go.

With this, a handbag and "office on wheels" - the wheeled computer bag, now deceased - I can keep going for months at a time.  And I have been doing exactly that!

Hartmann has a long-standing reputation for durability.  I can attest to that!  My Hartmann bag is about the best luggage I've ever had in my life.  Even though it was a used bag when it came to me.  Even though it lacks wheels, which I consider among the most essential features of any travel bag.  It's extraordinarily useful and far more convenient than I ever imagined it could be.

May your road rise to meet you - and may your luggage live long!
Ann

Check Out Local Libraries While Traveling!

I love libraries, always have.  Now I'm finding they are increasingly useful for the Road Warrioress.  Local libraries can be a big help to the solo woman traveler in numerous ways.

First, of course, they have a wealth of local information.  Whether you are a foreign correspondent who needs to find local sources for a story, a business traveler who needs data on local companies and their personnel, a PT trying to find your way around town to settle in for a month or two, or anyone who needs "boots on the ground" quick information, the local public library probably has a lot of what you need.  More likely, everything you need from local telephone directories to contacts for every local organization, flyers on local events, and local history - customs - culture.

Growing numbers of libraries have gone wifi.  Before you hit some high-priced, often noisy, and sometimes too-nosy!, internet cafe, check out local library resources.  Chances are, especially in larger cities, that the library has gone internet-savvy, even providing free or low-cost wifi you can access as a guest with your laptop.  If there are wifi hot spots in town, chances are the library is one of them.

If all else fails, they are still usually conveniently located, and they provide a quiet spot to read, study, work, and find local info.  When the hotel's business service center is crowded - or pricy - or shy on local info, check out the library.

You may be surprised at all you can find there.

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann

My Wheelies Died!

Phooey-ptui!  I need my little "office on wheels" - and the wheels died.  Just gave up the ghost, shredded to bits. 

It has not - to my mind, at least - seen excessively heavy or hazardous duty.  Neither TSA nor baggage handlers have gotten their mischievous mitts on it.  Yes, it gets used daily, but hardly any excessive duty or rough handling.  It goes from car to library, car to home, and has run over nothing rougher than carpet, flooring, concrete sidewalks and asphalt parking lots.  Not all that far for any trip, either.

So I'm very disappointed with this wheeled computer bag.  Granted, it was used when the previous owner gave it to me.  The zipper enclosing the retractable handle had broken, but that was no problem as far as I was concerned.  The bag itself showed little to no wear at all.  The wheels looked fine - and sturdy. 

I love all its little fitted pockets.  The front compartment holds all my "diddlies" - both phone rechargers, pens, recharger for AA batteries and a pack of 4 AA batteries, a small notebook for photo captions when I'm on a photo shoot, a deck of 3" x 5" index cards.  The center section is padded for my 'puter, and I keep a portable CD player, power supply for the laptop, and the computer security cable on the other side of the computer cushioning.  The back compartment holds a couple of slim file folders, a pair of legal pads, and odd papers. 

It just holds the essentials - your basic business equipment on the road or to the office.  It's not some big legal briefcase laden with massive legal briefs and petitions for a court.

But after only six months of daily use, the wheels have absolutely shredded.  I'm dragging it on the metal bearings inside the rubber (or whatever substance they use for wheels).

This is not a durable bag.  This is really unacceptable for any Road Warrioress who needs a traveling office.  It does not compute!  So I'm very unhappy with the makers, Western Pack, and sorely disinclined to choose any sort of bag from this maker.

The Road Warrioress needs bags which are durable and stand up to their heavy travel usage.  A bag which cannot make it to the office or library every day for a few months is not worthy of the long-haul traveler.

May your road rise to meet you - and long may your bags endure!
Ann

Lessons from Sandy

Sandy was a superstorm which affected millions - residents and travelers alike.  Tales of the powerless, whether in airports or homes or storm shelters, reminded me of a crucial travel item every Road Warrioress needs to keep in their suitcase, carry-on, handbag, attache - and on their keyring.  Flashlights!

LED technology, miniaturization, longer battery lives, even battery-less technologies give us an amazing array of lightweight, tiny, endless packable light sources for all kinds of travel (and other) emergencies.  There's no longer any excuse for sitting in the dark when the power is out anywhere in the world.

I have a 3-light LED lightbar.  With sticky-back and magnet, I can put it up almost anywhere for hours of enough light to work by.  That goes in my suitcase for use in hotel rooms and similar places for longer stays.

A tiny penlight goes on a keyring.  Great for finding keyholes and keycard swipes in the dark, even a poorly lit parking lot or dim hotel hallways.  I can see which direction the keycard goes, saving me frustrating swipes and re-swipes.

Another tiny flashlight - not much larger or thicker than my thumb! - fits in a pocket of my purse.  One of these days I may get a carabiner clip to attach it to the D-ring for the handle.  But with a well-organized multi-pocket shoulder bag, I can dig it out in a jiffy.

A chemical light wand is another great invention.  Shake it and you have several minutes of light.  Nothing you can read by, but enough to walk short distances or find what you're hunting for.  No worries about dead batteries, either.  Tuck one in a handbag, computer case, carry-on, car's glove compartment, and it will be handy in an emergency.

I wish I'd had a camper's headlamp while crawling through Batu Caves in Malaysia, outside Kuala Lumpur.  Strap it around your forehead for a small but bright light.  Hands-free use, too!  That one is enough light to illuminate a page properly for reading.  Hey, when the power is out, there's not much to do.  But a book and decent book light can at least banish "the boreds" when everything else seems to be out of commission.

Get a flashlight!  Get more than one.  With such tiny-but-powerful light sources and so little weight or space required, even a backpacker can manage to tote at least two types for various purposes.

Hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, blizzards and other disasters can knock out power for days, even weeks.  But with a little light, you'll survive better than those who are unprepared for disaster.

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann