Travel is . . .

. . .Meeting yourself coming and going

About 15 years ago I interviewed a woman who, at the time, lived here in South Florida. She had created the Women's Travel Club a few years earlier. It is a travel group for women of all ages who for a variety of reasons don't want to travel alone and/or don't have a companion to accompany them.

The Club was made up of women of all ages -- women with husbands who couldn't or wouldn't travel, and single women who wanted to see the world. The just didn't want to travel alone. I remember writing about the differences in lives of the women who traveled with the Club, the very different parts of the world they visited and the serendipity of meeting a need.

The founder, Phyllis Stoller, loved to travel. Her husband wasn't quite as enthralled with the traveling life. Phyllis and I kept in touch for years. After my husband passed away three years ago I developed even more respect for the concept of arranging travel experiences for women.
I had lost contact with Phyllis and couldn't find a way of reaching her.

While my work had empowered me to travel alone - I have been doing so for many years - I suddenly understood what a single women faced and how daunting it must be to someone who had never booked a cruise, made airline reservations or traveled alone.

Last week I received an e-mail from Women's Travel Club and, by phone, suddenly reconnected with Phyllis.

She had moved to the northeast, sold the Club to Club ABC Tours and was only recently back working with Women's Travel Club. After catching up on our personal lives, she told me about a few of the current offerings including a pair exciting cruises on Voyages of Antiquities next spring and summer; a trip to India in January; offerings to Ecuador and the Galapagos; Egypt, and Ixtapan Resort and Spa and Mexico.

The group is still successful and she says the all-inclusive prices are popular. For example, several cruises offer single supplements without the high cost usually associated with these accommodations. Among the many women who have traveled with the Club over the years are a 13-year-old girl and women in their 80s.

For more information on traveling with other women, go to www.womenstravelclub.com or call 800-400-4448.