A Short Tour of Internet Sites That Help Traveling Women See the Sights

Among online information seekers, almost 50 million are women. Still, when it comes to women’s travel, it isn’t easy to find the perfect Internet site. All-purpose Internet travel agencies such as Expedia (https://www.expedia.msn.com), Preview Travel (https://www.previewtravel.com) and Travelocity (https://www.travelocity.com) provide information and booking. But for answers to specific questions about women’s travel, take a look at these sites:

* Journeywoman (https://www.journeywoman.com) is my favorite because it’s so practical, fresh and real. Then, too, I enjoy its Toronto-based editor, Evelyn Hannon, who started traveling after getting divorced at 42 and laid the groundwork for the site with a chain letter requesting travel tips from 100 women all over the world. Each of them passed Hannon’s letter on to five more, resulting in Journeywoman’s apparently inexhaustible supply of information for women travelers (first published as a 20-page newsletter in 1994, followed three years later by the launch of the Internet site).

“My mandate is to inspire women to travel safely and well,” Hannon says. “Journeywoman was never about making money,” which explains why there’s no display advertising or booking agency on the site, though there are links to sponsors, such as travel insurance suppliers and bookstores.

The Journeywoman site does include classified ads (with vacation rentals, tours for women travelers and relocation assistance), plus information on destinations from women who have recently been there, health and packing advice and a plethora of tips (on everything from good women’s restrooms in out-of-the-way places to taking taxis safely in Mexico City). Those who join the Journeywoman network (for free) receive e-mail newsletters, access to HERmail.net., which puts travelers in touch with women who live in cities all over the world, and a 5% discount on classified ads. The site also links to the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (https://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca), which publishes “Her Own Way,” a useful compendium of advice for women travelers.

* iVillage.com, one of the most popular general Internet sites for women (along with https://www.women.com), is like a women’s magazine, with information on beauty, careers, health, relationships and--of most interest to me--travel. You can book flights, hotels and rental cars in its travel section, e-mail postcards, use a currency converter, check the weather in faraway places and even consult a travel astrologer. Internet site: https://www.ivillage.com

But what makes iVillage.com especially attractive is its travel experts, above all Marybeth Bond, who edited numerous books about women’s travel, has lived abroad and travels intrepidly (alone and with her children).

Whenever I have a question, I call Bond because her positive attitude is infectious, her travel experience is broad and her solutions to problems are ingenious yet sensible. Every Wednesday at 11 p.m. you can chat with her via e-mail at iVillage.com. iVillage also links you to her Internet site (https://www.marybethbond.com), which in turn links you to some of Bond’s favorite Internet sites, like the women’s tour companies Wild Women Adventures (https://www.wildwomenadv.com) and AdventureWomen (https://www.rainbowadventures.com).

* Women on Their Way (https://www.womenbusinesstravelers.com) was started in 1995 when Wyndham Hotels & Resorts ran a contest that asked women to respond to this question: If you were CEO of a travel industry company, what would you do to improve travel for businesswomen? Starting an Internet site for women business travelers was the winning answer and precisely what Wyndham did.

Not surprisingly, at the site you can book a room at a Wyndham hotel (noted for female-friendly features like good lighting in the bathrooms), a flight or a rental car. But the creators of the site also solicit tips from women who travel on subjects such as safety, computer technology, time management and stress. For entertainment, there’s Women on Their Way columnist “Jane Air,” who discusses such topics as tipping, hotel bathrooms, holistic health and the difference between the way men and women travel.

* Christinecolumbus.com is devoted solely to products for women travelers, including purse guards, lingerie, curling irons, evening wear and toiletries, all personally tested by founder Annette Zientek. The site sprang from a club Zientek joined in Portland in 1995 called “Have Bags Will Travel,” whose members were mostly women. At the time, catalog travel outfitters like Magellan’s (https://www.magellans.com) and TravelSmith (https://www.travelsmith.com) were just getting started. But Zientek and fellow club members felt frustrated because the bags and travel gear they offered weren’t made specifically for women. Both Magellan’s and TravelSmith now have sections on their Internet sites that feature women’s travel apparel. For a full range of gear tailored to women’s specific needs, traveling tips and a comprehensive packing checklist, https://www.christinecolumbus.com is the ultimate site.

And a few more:

* Damselfly (https://www.outdoorswomen.com), for women’s outdoor apparel and gear.

* Travel Health Information Service (https://www.travelhealth.com), which includes information for pregnant travelers.

* Women Traveling Together (https://www.women-traveling.com), for women’s tours.