Useful Tips For Women Traveling Alone

There has been an increase in the number of Americans traveling abroad - especially women traveling alone either for business or pleasure.

Each country and culture has their own views of what is appropriate behavior for women.

Although you may not agree with these views, it is wise to abide by the local laws and customs to avoid problems.

Please become familiar with the laws and customs of the places where you wish to go.

Here are two examples of situations you may encounter:

It is illegal in Laos to invite Lao nationals of the opposite sex to one's hotel room.

Foreigners in Saudi Arabia have been arrested in the past for "improper dress."

Women traveling alone can be more vulnerable to problems in certain cultures. Keeping in mind the following information can help make your trip as safe and rewarding as possible.

PREPARING FOR YOUR TRIP

Passports & Visas:

Make sure your passport is still valid or apply for a new one long before you plan to travel. Make sure you have the right travel documents and visas for your destinations. For information on individual countries' entry and exit requirements, refer to our publication Foreign Entry Requirements.

Your Destinations:

Make an effort to learn about the locations you plan to visit, their culture, and any problems that might be occurring there.

Many exciting and exotic destinations may have very conservative views about women. Being a foreigner makes you stand out; a woman traveling alone can be even more of an oddity in some places.

What to Leave Behind:

Leave a detailed itinerary and a copy of your passport's identification page with a friend or relative at home. Include names, addresses and telephone numbers where you will be staying. Leave a copy of your flight and ticket information with them as well.

You may wish to establish certain check in dates when you will either call, e-mail, fax, etc. to let someone know that you are all right. But remember that if you happen to miss a check-in, your loved ones may assume that you are having a problem or are in trouble.

Leave any valuables, extra credit cards and jewelry - even fake jewelry - at home. Thieves often won't know the real from the fake until after they take it, so why risk your personal safety?

Health:

Make sure you have adequate health insurance coverage while abroad and that your coverage includes medical evacuations. Your policy might not cover you overseas and you may need to purchase traveler's insurance.
See our publication Medical Information for Americans Traveling Abroad.

If you have any condition that might develop complications- especially if you are pregnant, check with your doctor before you go abroad. If you experience complications, a medical evacuation might still take several precious hours to arrange.

If you take prescription medication, make sure you have enough to last the duration of the trip, including extra medication in case you are delayed. Always carry your prescriptions in their labeled containers as many countries have strict narco-trafficking laws and might be suspicious of pills in unlabeled bottles. Bring your prescription information and the names of their generic equivalents with you just in case.

OFF YOU GO

Safety and Security:

Use common sense and be alert and aware of your surroundings. If you are unsure in general about the local situation, feel free to check with the American Citizens Services section of the local U.S. Embassy or Consulate for the latest security information.

Don't announce that you are traveling alone! Some guides for women even advise wearing a wedding ring if you're single. If you feel like you're being followed, step into a store or other safe place and wait to see if the person you think is following has passed. Do not be afraid or embarrassed to ask for someone to double check for you to see if all is safe. Display confidence. By looking and acting as if you know where you're going, you may be able to ward off some potential danger.

Ask for directions before you set out. No matter how modest your lodgings are, your hotel concierge or other hotel staff should be able to help. If you find yourself lost, do not be afraid to ask for directions. Generally, the safest people to ask are families or women with children. Getting the right information may save you from ending up in a potentially unsafe area.

Hotels:

Choose a hotel where security is good and transportation is readily available and nearby. Check that all the doors and windows in your room have locks and that they work. If you feel uncomfortable, ask hotel security to escort you to and from parking lots or your room at night. Always use your peephole and common sense about letting strangers into your room.

Clothing:

There is no doubt that fashion makes a statement. Unfortunately, not everyone will interpret how you dress the same way you would. What you consider casual clothing might be seen as provocative or inappropriate in other cultures. Thieves might choose you over another potential target based on your style of dress or the amount of makeup or jewelry you are wearing. Other might single you out for harassment or even physical violence because they find your clothing offensive, based on their cultural norms. By taking your cues from local women, or at least by dressing conservatively, you could save yourself a great deal of trouble.

~ REMINDERS ~

1. Make sure you have a signed, valid passport and visas, if required. Also, before you go, fill in the emergency information page of your passport!

2. Read the Consular Information Sheets (and Public Announcements or Travel Warnings, if applicable) for countries you plan to visit.

3. Leave copies of your itinerary, passport data page and visas with family and friends at home, so you can be contacted in case of an emergency.

4. Make sure you have insurance that will cover your medical needs while you are overseas.

5. Familiarize yourself with local laws and customs, especially when it comes to dressing and socializing.

6. Do not leave your luggage unattended in public areas and never accept packages from strangers.

7. Do not announce that you are traveling alone!

8. Do not wear conspicuous clothing and expensive jewelry and do not carry excessive amounts of cash or unnecessary credit cards.

9. Before leaving your hotel ask for directions.

10. Ensure that the hotel you plan on staying at has good security and easy access to transportation.

Source: Federal Citizen Information Center

Traveling and Playing Golf Today

Taking the family out for a holiday and you play golf! If you're a golf enthusiast, you will know that golf is all about who you play golf with and where you play golf. It makes a world of difference! In fact, it's a good idea for you to take your family on an outing or a holiday in a golf course. Although not all your family members will like to play golf with you but you get to kill two birds with one stone. You get to play your golf and your family gets to enjoy the luxurious hotel and resort setting and visit from travel destinations.

The golf courses will keep changing to give golfers a fresh layout Before you start looking for a golf resort to play golf in, check whether the golf course is actually a public one, a private one or a semi-private one. The classifications determine whether you'll get to play golf there or not. A private golf course is reserved and is not open to the public. The semi-private golf courses are a membership-based golf course that allows certain public to play on their golf courses, for instance, hotel customers. Bear in mind that re-design and renovation of golf courses is an extremely common thing. Hotels and golf course owners usually renovate their golf courses consistently because people get bored playing in the same golf course over a certain period of time. So, to make it more attractive for golf enthusiasts, they will renovate or improve on the layout of the golf courses. It'll also be more challenging for return golf enthusiasts.

Keen on improving your golf? Enroll in a golf school, of course! And if you're keen on improving your golf, you can even enroll yourself into a golf school. A one-on-one golf course is probably going to cost you an arm and a leg - especially if you're talking about engaging the services of a professional golf instructor. Budget and time may become an obstacle to a golf enthusiast. So, what is the next best thing to do? To enroll yourself in an affordable golf school, of course. You'll get to play and have fun at the same time - and if it's a crash course, it won't take up too much of your time because the syllabus is cramped into a certain period of time. And because these golf schools give golf lessons in small groups and not on a one-on-one basis, the cost of enrolling in the schools is much more affordable. The newer and broader types of packages offered from some of these golf schools can accommodate golf enthusiasts with all kinds of abilities - from amateurs, beginners to expert golfers.

Savings for Business Travellers

With hotel prices soaring and London losing its affordable hotels to demolition and refurbishment as parts of big hotel chains, business travellers are often forced to pay premium prices for a hotel room. Many companies have found a simple and more affordable solution to their housing dilemma - a serviced apartment. Serviced apartments are available for rent through Executive Roomspace. They are cheaper than regular hotel suites and offer the feeling of home to a business traveller who may be weary of yet another standard hotel room in yet another city. Such apartments can be rented from one month and discounts are available for long-term stays.

Charlie McCrow, Managing Director at Executive Roomspace, said that foreigners coming to the UK, for the first time stay in a hotel first of all, but those who have been to the city before, opt for serviced apartments. "Many spend their first two nights in a hotel and later move to an apartment. Renting a short-let for a short term as opposed to staying at a hotel makes a lot of sense because they can be a budget option for business travellers, especially in the face of a looming 30 percent increase in hotel room prices and 100 percent occupancy at the hotels".

Help is at hand through apartment booking companies such as The Apartment Service, where the benefits of their advice will outweigh any perceived savings of self-booking on-line an apartment and negotiating direct.

The serviced apartment market has emerged as a most cost-effective alternative to hotel accommodation and, at times the only option to consider. High in comfort, low in cost with complete consistency. Three C's that provide a good benchmark for anyone needing to stay, for whatever length of time, away from home.

Executive Roomspace was founded in 1997 as the first UK-based, branded apartment product. It quickly established itself as the largest UK brand of medium priced corporate apartment accommodation, with over 250 units in 30 locations throughout London and the South.

For further press information, please contact Natalie Wakefield, Marketing Executive at Executive Roomspace, 01934 519 518 or e-mail: nataliew@apartment.co.uk

EXECUTIVE ROOMSPACE 5-6 FRANCIS GROVE WIMBLEDON SW19 4DT

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes to Editors: About Executive Roomspace: Since 1997 Executive Roomspace has been the first brand named apartment product amongst regular corporate housing bookers. Aimed at the medium budget with a minimum stay of a month, the ease and flexibility of booking has pushed apartment accommodation as the favoured spacious alternative to the standard hotel.

www.roomspace.com

About Apartment Service: The Apartment Service founded in 1981 as the first UK company to offer a global apartment reservations network for serviced accommodation. Now the largest serviced apartment booking company in Europe, with over seven hundred locations worldwide. For business or leisure.

For stays of a day, a week, a month or a year, serviced apartments offer a spacious, flexible and cost effective alternative to restrictive hotel rooms. With an average saving of 15 - 30% on an equivalent standard hotel. Stays in an apartment can be tailored to suit your location, budget and departure requirements. Although you will receive an extremely professional service, The Apartment Service endeavours to meet all personal requirements.

www.apartmentservice.com

Travelling in the Arabian Peninsula

It may seem in the days of mass tourism and cheap worldwide flights that no stone has been left unturned in our pursuit of the unexplored. However, Arabia still offers much in the way of mystery and exoticism.

If you are brave enough to venture into this unknown, a feast of surprises await the senses. The scenery is the first to strike. The picture-postcard desert is home to an astonishing array of mountain landscapes, deep and rich forests, bursting and colourful coral reefs, endless date plantations and lush green wadis, plus of course miles and miles of undiscovered, untouched and truly breathtaking beaches.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of this fascinating region is its ascension from a 3rd world barren landscape to a series of prosperous, emerging nations in a little under 30 years.

The Peninsula is far from a large plateau of sand and sun. The cultural legacy of the great civilisations can be seen and felt everywhere in the ancient cities, temples and fortifications such as the Beit Sheikh Isa bin Ali on Bahrain's Muharraq Island, or the Madain Saleh embedded in a rock face deep in the heart of the Saudi Arabian desert.

So what activities might one engage in? Truly world-class golf resorts such as the Montgomery in Dubai, thrilling 'dune-bashing' (4x4s driven expertly over dunes at high-speed), wildlife safaris such as watching green turtles invade a beach at dawn to lay their eggs, snorkelling and scuba diving some of the planets most breathtaking and undisturbed coral reefs, or perhaps mountain trekking or desert safaris, meeting the indigenous Bedouin people for a cup of steaming arabic coffee with dates along the way.

What to Pack for Travel: The Essentials of Business Travel Packing

Knowing what to pack for travel can make for a smooth transition from one work location to the next. The essentials of business travel packing take into consideration all of the possible events that you may need to attend while also realizing that 'free' nights may not always mean that you can sit in your hotel room in your pajamas.

The influence of professional appearance is something that can not be denied in the work setting. You will be taken more seriously if you take the time to consider what to pack for travel for your business. You may want to ask your boss what the appropriate attire is. This will only show that you are interested in making the right impression.

For women, business travel packing can present a bit more of a dilemma. In the case of a more formal dinner meeting, a woman will need to have a dress available, along with shoes and accessories. A man will normally have already brought a suit, so an additional shirt and tie are all that is needed. Even if the evening seems to be more casual, it never hurts to consider the influence of professional appearance and overdress for the occasion.

So, let's start off with the basics of what to pack for travel. Depending on the days that you will be gone at this meeting or conference, you will need to have appropriate outfits for each event. For meetings, you will want to bring something that is comfortable to sit in, but also appropriate for business. A trick to lighten your suitcase is to bring only a few pairs of slacks or skirts, but multiple shirts that will match. This trick in business travel packing will allow you to have many different combinations that will appear to be different outfits all together.

Keeping your clothes looking as though they didn't come out of a suitcase is also an essential part in the lesson of what to pack for travel. Clothes can be come wrinkled, so you may want to bring a clothes steamer, or in an emergency a bottle of something that will lessen the wrinkles (Wrinkle Away). These sprays are great for cotton shirts that never seem to stay flat. You just spray this on the night before and smooth away the wrinkles as it hangs on a hanger. By the time that its dry the next day, you will have a freshly 'pressed' shirt.

In terms of shoes, you will find that they are the heaviest addition to your suitcase, but also an important part of the influence of professional appearance. To compromise for what to pack for travel, you should bring a pair of work shoes, a pair of dressier shoes, as well as a pair of tennis shoes. By doing this, you will be wearing one of the pairs on the trip to the conference or meeting, so your suitcase will only need to house two pairs. A question that many business men and women ask when trying to decide what to pack for travel is whether or not they need to bring their laptops computers. Either they want to be able to check in at the office, or they want to use the computer for taking notes at the seminars. Not only is it risky to bring your computer along with you because of theft, but it really won't be necessary unless you've been instructed to do so. Most of your time will be taken up with meetings and dinners, so any free time that you do have might be better spent on sleep. Take this trip to 'unplug' and you'll arrive back at your office educated and relaxed.

Grooming and toiletry items are standard on a list of what to pack for travel, but if you should forget any of the essentials, most hotels can provide you with whatever you may be missing. A few minor things to consider: If you are traveling in the winter, you may find that static cling is rampant. For women, you will notice this with dresses and skirts. To combat this, you can bring a fabric softener sheet and rub it on the affected area or a can of static spray (Static Stop). And if you're a fan of black pants and skirts, a lint brush (Carry Along Lint Brush) or some tape can help put the final touches-or rather, take them away-on your outfit for the day or evening.

Travel Tips - Packing the Perfect Suitcase

The thrill of planning a trip will often light you up and consume all of your time. You look through guidebooks, talk to friends about their experiences, and research your itinerary on the internet. Still all this planning and research will not make the task of packing any less daunting.

Who hasn't stood at the foot of their bed with empty suitcases spread on top, the night before a big trip, filled with anxiety because you still haven't packed?!?! You try and try to think about exactly what you should be packed, throwing things in and then taking them out. And you wonder, why didn't any of the guidebooks mention packing? Where are the travel tips for packing?

Well, hopefully this guide will help you, so that you can confidently pack and enjoy the moments leading up to your trip, rather than being stressed over the contents of your bag.

Luggage - I recommend taking one carry-on and one checked suitcase. Shorter trips may allow for a carry-on only, but I would never take more than one checked bag no matter how long you are traveling. Remember, when you get to your destination, you will need to carry your luggage and you don't know how far you'll be lugging it. While we're talking about lugging your luggage... I would recommend selecting a suitcase or pack that had wheels, but that you can also hand carry. There are many varieties of large backpacks with wheels. The reasoning is that if your wheels break off (a common occurrence along cobblestone streets), you will still be able to carry your pack.

Shoes - Bring a pair of sneakers (or boots) for outdoor activities such as hiking, and a dressier pair of closed-toe shoes for museums, dinner's out, or other city activities. If you are traveling to a hot locale, then also bring a pair of sandals that can go from beach to dinner. Resist the urge to bring 10 pairs of shoes!!! As someone who loves shoes, I always want to pack a wide variety... but we must avoid packing too many shoes! They take up space, are heavy, and are an unnecessary addition.

Shorts - When traveling to a hot climate, shorts are often considered a requirement. Still, remember that in many cultures shorts are not considered acceptable. For example, many museums and churches such as the Vatican will not allow you to enter if you are wearing shorts (or have exposed shoulders for that matter). Bring only a pair or two of shorts, and make sure that you have other light weight options for hot weather.

Basics - Bring enough socks and underwear to last for every day of the trip (up to two weeks) so that you will not need to do laundry. For longer trips, understand that you will likely need to do laundry on the road if you do not want to bring ridiculous amounts of luggage. As far as shirts, pants, skirts, and the rest... Bring clothes that could be worn during the day or at night, and as a general rule bring half as many items as you have days. Wearing items twice should be no problem, and you will significantly lighten your load.

Rolling - To avoid wrinkles and use your precious packing area to the max, fold your clothes in half (in the long direction), then roll as smoothly and tightly as possible. When you arrive at your destination, your clothes will unroll wrinkle-free. Stuff socks and underwear into your shoes and carefully place the shoes on top of the rows or rolled clothes.

Toiletries - Bring all of your toiletries in travel size containers. Full size shampoo bottles add unneeded weight to your pack. After selecting your toiletries, place all items into zip-lock bags. If a bottle bursts during travel, you will be much relieved to have the protection. If you are bringing make-up, keep it to the bare necessities, avoid bringing extras like eyelash curlers. Any prescription medication should be accompanied by the actual prescription and if possible, a note from your physician. Keep the medication, as well as your toothbrush and toothpaste in your carry-on, just in case your luggage is lost.

If you follow these basic packing rules, you will find that the process of packing and carrying your luggage will be much easier. Additionally, you will be able to enjoy your travels much easier knowing that you have brought what you need, but can still carry the load.