26-year-old Kristina Wegscheider is an avid traveler and the founder of travel website for young women, Do It While You’re Young, which strives to break down the barrier stopping most young women from traveling abroad. She spoke to website Crushable about her own experiences — having traveled to nearly 50 countries and trying to blend in as a 6-foot tall blonde — and gave them some ideas for tips and tricks to use along the way.

Headings include:

• Do your research
• Arrange for transportation from the airport when you get there
• Keep your passport on you at all times
• Bring cash
• Research local customs and dress conservatively
• Lose the jewelry
• Arrange taxis through your hotel
• When in doubt, take a tour
• Just make smart decisions

Full article here at Crushable

Karen Cooper’s Blog – Karen is  60 years and still riding

This Feb I will be 60 years old. I wanted to celebrate it with an unforgettable experience. As MJ would say “This is it” After 30 years of considering a long cycling trip, I signed up for a 2 month tour starting Mar 4 in San Diego and arriving in St Augustine, Florida on April 30.

This is a women’s tour with most of us being 50-60 years old. I will go as a Sag Driver and be able to ride 3 days and drive 1 day…..so I have a built in rest schedule. We ride 60 miles a day 6 days a week with 1 day off each week. It looks like I will have an extra day not riding each week and that is just fine with me, plus I received a 40% discount by working part time. 
Read more of Karen’s adventures

Buy the Book here: The Cuban Chronicles: A True Tale of Rascals, Rogues, and Romance

Some girls have all the fun. Calgarian writer Wanda St.Hilaire has taken her passion for travel, especially to Spanish speaking countries, and has given readers an opportunity to experience Cuba from an original and spirited perspective

In the infancy of Cuba’s tourism, Wanda St.Hilaire takes a trip to the tiny island. In spite of her love of all things Latin, she puts herself on a travel ban to Castro’s Cuba, one that lasts twenty years.

When she is forced to cancel a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico at the last minute, she finds herself in Cuba twice, on back-to-back trips. Walking into the backstreets of Havana, eyes wide open, she is pulled into a dalliance with a charismatic cubano.

In The Cuban Chronicles, St.Hilaire’s travelogue/memoir, she describes that underneath the façade of Cuba’s tourism lies the desperation of a society living mostly in abject poverty. When tourists mingle with locals, we get a glimpse of what underlies the frivolity of Cuban entanglements. St.Hilaire speaks with an authentic voice and doesn’t mince words; she recounts her own activities, emotions and opinions with refreshing honesty. The author is a natural storyteller and her vivid descriptions of people and her surroundings make Cuba come alive for the reader. Being an epistolary composition (the book is based on a series of letters to a friend in Paris), the author’s tone is warm and confidential, and peppered with touches of humor.

Think Eat, Pray, Love meets Bridget Jones’s Diary
with a dash of cayenne!

Wanda St.Hilaire supports her travel and writing habit by working as a reluctant sales and marketing representative. She spent four blissful winters away from the frozen landscape of Canada living in the barrios of Vallarta, Mexico, and she has traveled throughout the world. She lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Simple Rules for…The Road Warrior Princess: “Thee” Women’s Inspirational Guide To Embracing The Open Road!!!

“I stumbled upon Simple Rules For The Road Warrior Princess while looking for travel books on Amazon.com, and boy what a treat!

It’s an inspirational guide for women to get them to take a road trip. It motivates you to embark on a journey whether it’s on your own, with some friends, or even family. It gives you the confidence that you’re going to need when driving through unfamiliar areas on your trip. No detail is forgotten in this book either.

It starts out with knowing the ins and outs of your car and how to perform some light maintenance on your vehicle just in case a situation should arise. Some examples are changing the oil, windshield wipers, adding radiator fluid, and filling your tires properly just to name a few. The author lets you know exactly what to pack and where to pack it in case of any emergencies.

If you’re not sure that you can afford to take a road trip, it gives some ideas on how to save money, budget properly, or even how to take one with just the money you have now.

If you have any inhibitions on getting into the car and taking a drive to whatever destination you so choose, this book will erase all of them.

There are also personal stories in the book which is a great addition because you know she’s actually experienced as opposed to some other books by authors that don’t give any proof of their expertise.

Now, if you’re one of those people who like to say I’d like to but I can’t because I have no money, I have kids, I’m married, I have pets, or I’m JUST TOO SCARED!, she has an answer for every excuse you can think of.

By the end of this book you’ll feel empowered. You’ll want to stand on top of a mountain and say “I am woman here me roar!”. You’ll feel unstoppable. You’ll be motivated to not only take a trip, but have the feeling that you can accomplish anything and that anything IS possible!”

Buy the book from Amazon Now

Emele and Mihae

According to our dictionary widget, an adventure is an exciting, typically hazardous experience or activity. That said, it seemed fitting to call our world travels something of an adventure, to say the least, and so begins The Missadventures.

Traveling, it enables one to escape from the day-to-day, but more importantly, to see the world from a different perspective and if you are lucky, you might just learn to love something you never imagined existed.

From climbing the Pyramids of Giza by moonlight to off road mopeding in Cappodocia, we’ve been fortunate to do and see things that many have only dreamed and the best part is that we experienced it together.  We hope our travels will inspire you to create your own adventures.

About a year ago Mihae and good friend Emele went on a trip to Africa and started a blog to keep friends and family posted while they were away, it’s grown to include the other trips we’ve taken as well as something of inspiration for women to travel.

Emele’s dream was to set foot on all 7 continents, she has just two more to go: South America and Antarctica.

Mihae’s most memorable meal: Hands down, Cuy…it’s considered a species of rodent, but honestly tastes just like chicken.

Follow their Adventures at MissAdventures

It was when I was at a travel gear store stocking up for my big Southeast Asia trip, and the informative (and slightly annoying) sales rep was trying to give me travel tips, that I noticed a problem. You don’t even need to take shampoo or conditioner! He exclaimed, as he held up the itsy bitsy holdall that he was sure could cater to all my toiletry needs. You can just use a body detergent to cleanse your hair, and you’re good to go, he explained. I stared at his shiny astro-turf-like hair, and imagined mine after washing it with body detergent, sans conditioner or blow dryer. There are just some things boys don’t understand.

Kaila discovered that women make up nearly half the visitors to the Southeast Asian region, yet it seems like most of the guidebooks are aimed at a much more “general” (ie. male) audience. In all the travel guides I’ve read, there is just a two or three paragraph section at the end with advice for women travellers. Yet, the information we girls need can be very different from the “general” reader.

So in comes the Blonde Traveller - a blog giving information especially for women travelling in South East Asia.

This is a site for the girl who doesn’t mind getting her feet wet (or muddy or sandy or what have you…) on her travels to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the rest, but who also guiltily wonders if she can cram her Jimmy Choos into her backpack (you can’t).

Go girl….

Wanderlust and lipstick

Beth Whitman of Wanderlust and Lipstick has written another travel guide for women – this time for women travelling to India. Beth has shared a lot of her special knowledge of travel on the Indian continent, and the two comments on Amazon say this book is a must for anyone travelling to India. Wanderlust and Lipstick have some great tours to India for women, and Beth’s blog contains lots of gems. Wanderlust and Lipstick: For Women Traveling to India

Also found another women’s guide to India on Amazon too – also good reviews A girls’ guide to India – a survivor’s handbook

lindsay clark

nomadderwhere - is the name of lindsay clark’s blog – pretty cool name I think.

“I’m a recent graduate, an amateur traveler, and a nanny who lives in their parents’ basement…it can’t get much better than that. Oh, I certainly hope so, which is why I want to be the STA World Traveler Intern and transport the youth travel audience around the world via all forms of media. Why do I want to do this? Because education is everything.

Follow lindsay’s blog here

Foreword Magazine (May/June, 2007)
Media images of vacations tend to depict happy couples hiking, swimming or biking with a scenic vista in the background. Some scenes sport children looking blissful or a rugged man tackling a mountain or hitting the ski slopes. Rarely are there images of women alone, navigating unfamiliar streets or eating solo at a sidewalk cafe. And that’s a shame, believes this author. More reviews of her book

Beth has heaps of tips for solo women travellers, and l blogs about her own travels around the world, often leading small groups. I notice she has led a recent trip to China with tea enthusiasts – one thing I never really got to do in China was the Tea Thing, I am sorry to have missed that.

Heather Hapeta: Freelance Kiwi Travel Writer New Zealand