Free Book Friday: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo

Wanderlust and Lipstick‘s Beth Whitman wants you to travel. In this second edition of the aptly named, The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo, she takes the reader through the basics like: Why Travel Solo, Getting Beyond the Excuse, Let’s Get Booking, Pack it Up, and Responsible Travel.  The advice is solid, the writing is clear and pleasant to read.  If you harbored a desire to travel but had never done it, then this book would answer nearly every concern.  But there’s something about explaining travel to this level of detail that reminded me of a how to book for sex.  If you need, you’re probably not doing it.

That being said, this is the perfect book for a lot of people.  If you know someone who has never traveled, doesn’t know how to book a flight or what to pack, (i.e. someone who doesn’t go far even for one week vacations) or is nervous about doing all of that alone (your best girlfriend post-big break up) this is an extremely well written and well-informed book.

Single Ladies, Give Your Mom This Book

While I was reading this, I kept thinking of how useful it could have been as an explanation to certain women in my life before I took my trip.  “Are you nervous about traveling alone?”  Nope, here, read this.  It would have been great.  “What about safety?”  Read Chapter 13.  Even after traveling so much, Beth has found a way to break it down for the beginner– never condescending, but rather like a good friend over coffee.  Personally, I’ve lost the knack for answering the “But you’ll be murdered!”  response with more than deep breathing and murmuring something like, “Yeah, probably.”

Want a Free Copy?

Leave a comment below and tell me why you’d like to travel solo (or why you’d like to leave this book tucked under a certain someone’s pillow).  I’ll choose the winner on next week’s Free Book Friday.

Announcing Last Week’s Winner of Imagine – A Vagabond Story

Derek who wrote about his best drunk story, “We tell these guys to leave politely and they respond with fists. We suddenly have a five on five brawl going down.  We’re in the middle of battling these guys and trying to push them all out the door when this really big girl starts yelling at us to stop.

My friend looks over and says, “Get out of here you fat b*tch.”

One of the random dudes we were fighting stops for a second and says, “That’s not cool man, she’s pregnant.”

That was the end of the fight. Everyone dispersed.”  Ah, I love a happy ending.