Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide

By Marybeth Bond

Women’s travel is a thriving niche, as our first book by travel expert Marybeth Bond amply showed. To continue serving that eager market of traveling women, National Geographic presents Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide.

Each chapter takes off with stories of women who traveled with girlfriends to celebrate, grow, challenge themselves, or simply enjoy every moment to its fullest. They ran marathons to support favorite causes, cycled through Ireland, volunteered in Montana, overnighted at a French chateau. One woman recounts how she broke through her culinary comfort zone, telling behind-the-scenes stories of a weeklong cooking class in Tuscany. An altruistic adventurer describes her life-affirming volunteer vacation with a close friend, delivering books to schools in rural Nepal. The information-packed chapters suggest once-in-a-lifetime exotic escapes, trips to the world’s best cities, cultural hot spots, places to learn and stretch your mind, canal and river trips, and great culinary getaways. Each concludes with a targeted how-to section featuring websites and contact information to help readers set off on their own adventures.

Female baby boomers are not going quietly over the hill—they are roaring along the roads, waterways, and paths with style and humor. This is the book to guide them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 18, 2008
• ISBN: 9781426202674

Reviews for Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide

[thekoolaidmom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An exceptionally inspiring travel book, Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide opened my eyes to the possibilities of world travel. Throughout my reading I felt as though I was already on vacation, and with the help of Google, I even have the memories!Bond opens up BGGW with the answer to why a travel book specifically for women, "Women travel differently from men.... We laugh, we're silly, and we're blissfully free of our responsibilities to anyone but ourselves. we return home rejuvenated, recharged, and recommitted to our families and work. Best of all, we encourage each other and get out of our own shells." Throughout the book, Bond sprinkles personal stories of her own and of her contributors.I normally detest travel guides, as they are as dry and boring as reading the list of services at your insurance agent's office. However, with the way the book is organized and Bond's experiential writing, I felt as though I were there on the zip line in Ecuador or riding on an elephant in India next to her. This description of a spa getaway in Costa Rica says it all: "Close your eyes and think about immersing your body in rainwater-fed natural hot springs, with views of waterfalls, lush tropical plants, and, at night, gushing red-orange lava."Doesn't that just make you wanna hop the next flight out?

[valleymom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was expecting a book that described more "girly" sorts of activities, that is, spas and shopping. My, have I been pleasantly surprised! There's lots of information that address shopping and so much more. It will appeal to both the energetic sightseer as well as the laid-back traveller. This book is quite informative. There's information about lodging, activities, shopping, even providing tips for dressing appropriately in other countries. Ms. Bond's writing style is entertaining as well, which adds to the pleasurable reading experience. It's making me yearn to renew my passport and starting planning an overseas adventure with my girlfriends!I've enjoyed this book quite a lot! I've even been moved to read some of the passages aloud to some of my travelling friends. They're now interested in reading it as well. I especially enjoyed reading about travelling in Paris with a child and may even try the experience myself. Fun, informative and entertaining. What's not to like?

[loritori · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book had a good layout that remains consistent and as previous stated not for the budget traveler. It was informative if a little tedious in the writing. It did make you want to book a trip.

[debs4jc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

You will be dreaming of new ways to get away from it all after flipping through this book. The author, an experienced traveller, has arranged it by topics of interest such as "walking" "volunteering" and "cooking" (some of my favorites). Each topic includes several locals abroad where these interests can be indulged with your best girlfriends. Often there are real life stories from women who have been there, and sidebars with helpful travel tips. Contact information for the destinations mentioned are included as well. An index and a list of helpful resources in the back round out the usefulness of this little guide. It's so much fun to browse through it and imagine the trips you could plan--time and money permitting. Definitely pick this one up if you are in the planning stages of a getaway--it will give you some great ideas.

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bond, Marybeth. Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide. Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2008.I am thrilled I got this book to review. Not because I plan to jet off to Africa next week (because I'm not), and not because I even remotely consider myself a worldly traveler (definitely not), but because this book allowed me to imagine the possibilities. Written in such a style that seem to say go for it! Written in such a way that I started imagining some of my best female friends on such adventures with me. All of the information zeros in on what women would find interesting and worthwhile without making it seem too Sex in the City and cliche.If I were to complain about any one aspect of Best Girlfriends it would be the organization of information. While I loved having such chapters as "Cosmopolitan Cities" (p 39) and "Floating Fantasies" (p 191) I would have loved all things France in one chapter, all things Spain in another. It's one of those chicken-egg questions. Which comes first when it comes to travel, the location or the activity? I don't know many people who chose their garden walk (p 211) before the country they would travel to.Probably the best feature to Best Girlfriends is the wealth of information. Each chapter is organized into where to eat, where to stay, how to get there, points of interest, how to prepare for the trip, even events to fly in for. So much information on every page and not just about the destination, either. Tips on what to pack, how to stay safe, different aromatherapy oils, best luggage options, to name a few.In addition to having interesting chapters Bond includes great first hand accounts of other women and their travels. Those stories were what really got me thinking about a trip with my mother, my oldest friend. The only information I would not heed is prices. What Bond quotes today might be completely different tomorrow. It is in her best interest to leave that information out and let the travelers research that when it's time to get away.

[picardyrose · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Now, if I only had friends with money. And if I only had money.

[kelleykl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unlike a Fodor's or Frommer's travel guide, this girl-friendly book is as much about imagination as it is about planning a trip. Meant for browsing, Bond organizes her book by type of trip--exotic escapes, spectacular spas, and glorious gardens are a few of the chapters. An index, a resource section and helpful websites will be at least as useful to the traveler with a specific destination in mind as the semi-detailed chapters. However, if the high price of gas is keeping you home this summer, Bond's descriptions of all things luxurious in the wide world might be a good substitute for an expensive vacation!

[jemsw_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First things first: Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide is not for broke girlfriends. In nearly all cases, the author guides you towards the most luxurious options possible for your foreign travel. The kinds of trips described tend to be safe, organized, and geared towards a particular idea of what women like to do (there are lots of little asides about how wonderful it is not to have impatient husbands waiting outside while you shop).What's lovely about this book, though, is its organization. I tend to think that I don't much like to travel because I hate sightseeing. Sections about educational trips, cooking trips, and volunteering trips, however, demonstrated the many different ways there are to approach travel abroad. There are also, of course, trips geared more towards tourist-type luxury (spa trips, boating trips, visits to gardens and so forth), but I found the breadth of kinds of trips interesting.The writing overall isn't terribly inspiring—it didn't particularly make me want to jump on a plane and go anywhere, so there are better books for daydreaming with. I think this book would be good, though, for people who have an idea of what area they want to visit and want to get ideas for what they can do while there or specifics that will make their trip more enjoyable.