Featured Smart Woman Traveler: Beth Blair
Why are you on the road and how often do you travel?
In my previous life I worked as a flight attendant and was obviously on the go three to six days a week. After having my first child I opted for a career transition. Today I’m a full-time freelance travel/aviation writer and co-owner of TheVacationGals.com where I blog about my travels (my handle on the site is TwinCitiesGal). I now have the best of both worlds. I travel at least monthly – by air or car.
Where else do you like to visit and do you use any travel websites to help you?
I live for tropical islands (I’ve been to Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Turks and Caicos in the last two years) but I adore any adventure that includes new sights, sounds and people. I’m pretty versatile when it comes to travel sites, as there are so many fantastic choices out there, it depends what I’m looking for. For example, I love Fodors.com for insight on destinations and SeatGuru.com for choosing my seats when flying.
What are some of your travel challenges you would like to reduce?
I think the cost of travel is hard on everyone these days. When it comes to traveling for pleasure, I’m constantly seeking out good deals on hotels, meals and attractions. I spend a lot of time price comparing. When it comes to lodging, I ask questions such as: Where is it located? Do they offer guest perks? Is renting a car necessary? Is it in a safe area?
I do believe everyone can make leisure travel affordable if they take the time to plan it out.
What are some Pearls of Travel Wisdom you would like to share with other women travelers?
Never let your guard down – especially on the internet. I’ve observed women feeling too comfortable on social media sites and revealing personal travel details. Women at conferences or large events seems to be especially lax, frequently announcing information like hotel room numbers. If women need to tell a friend where to meet them, I highly recommend writing it in a private message. You never know who is following your online stream.
Any other info you’d like to share (marital status, kids, hobbies, etc.)
I am married to my favorite travel companion Jeff and am mom to the fun and curious Jeb (age 5) and Maddie (age 4) and I have two fantastic teenage step-sons Robert and William who live in Arizona. Our family dog is appropriately named Jet.
-Beth Blair
Twin Cities, Minnesota
Twitter: @BethBlair
Fun to see you here, Beth! Great profile. And super tip on watching what you Tweet.
Look! I found a new website and it happens to feature one of my online travel heros, Beth Blair!
By the way, I found Smart Women Travelers via Twitter.
FYI, I’m @Nancydbrown on Twitter
A fellow Smart Woman Traveler.
If you ever need smart horseback riding tips for women travelers, give me a buzz.
Remote access on the iPhone is another “must have” for smart women travelers who want to connect to their office or home PCs. And it’s free, secure and easy to get and use:NTRconnect for iPhone and iPod touch is available from NTRglobal at http://www.ntrconnect.com. PCWorld and InfoWorld just rated it as one of the great 10 best business apps for iPhone…Recently I used the application to recover a presentation that I had sent from my office to a recipient at a major event at which I was presenting 2009 results. The preso got stuck in my outbox file…but I did not know it until I was in Spain…only 6,000 miles away. Although a bit of a surprise…it was no problem because I simply accessed the preso on my remote office PC with my iPhone, transferred the file in less than two minutes and minutes later, I was on stage recounting this success story…phew! what a life saver.