Hi Reader,
How are you doing?
After a wonderful week in Georgia (join us in 2026!) with many new and old friends, I am now in Armenia, discovering a new destination and finalising the itinerary for the trip that we will offer in 2026.
As always, get on the waitlist if you'd like to be notified when the new tour is live. Pst! Our Armenia and Georgia tours will be consecutive so you can explore more of the Caucasus.
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๐ฉ On this week's email:
- The power of a thoughtful gift
- The world's worst tourist destinations
The power of a thoughtful gift
Have you ever thought about bringing a gift for a guide, your BnB host or a person you will meet on your travels?
This morning, I took my coffee with milk on my sunrise beach walk. I have two travel cups, both gifted to me. One was a gift from our local partner in Ecuador and the other from a guest (thanks Dawn!) who personalised the cup and gifted it to me with the hashtag of our Croatia and Montenegro trip, my name and a pretty plane drawing.
Walking on the beach, with the waves crashing against my legs, I enjoyed my warm coffee and the reminder of what a great trips those two were. I also remembered the guest and the owner of the Ecuadorian company with whom I had dinner in Quito, and the thoughtfulness of their gifts. They thought about me and gifted me something useful and thoughtful that I could continue to use after the trip ended.
We have sometimes been asked for branded Solo Female Travelers gifts, but we have never managed to come up with anything that everyone would like and that is is not a logistical nightmare or a wastage (imagine having to ship branded water bottles or tshirts to every country we offer tours in...).
On some trips, we offer small gifts to guests; the home made marmalade prepared by the grandma we have dinner with in Greece, a traditional sarong in Bali, a postcard in Croatia, etc.
We hope that these serve as both a souvenir and a small token of our appreciation. And that they keep the trip in guests' memories long after they are over.
However, the most valuable gift we give our guests are the memories created, the friendships that flourish and the new perspective on life. On trips that have photographers, the beautiful candid photos and videos from the trip are also something they can treasure and keep.
On their part, our local hosts and guides generously share their most precious gift: their time, their passion, their knowledge, their culture, and a little bit of something more in many cases.
The small home made liquor our local guide in Vienna makes and brings on our Xmas markets tour, the xuixu pastry our local guide in Girona take guests to try, the extra wines we get to taste in Georgia from the winemaker's personal collection, the handmade origami from the guide in Japan, and the childhood stories shared in the long bus drives.
As a guest on someone else's "home" (aka a destination), I have often brought a gift for my local guide or host.
In Japan, during my scouting, I brought a gift of pretty cookies to every person who I met with, that was 12 pretty boxes of cookies with their corresponding personal notes. I received beautiful gifts from many of them too. A hand made drawing, a box of local delicacies, a bottle of sake.
If I am checking in a bag, I often bring a bottle of my dad's wine, or I buy local chocolates from Barcelona in the shape of the street tiles or chocolate covered almonds. I have also brought Iberian ham or gifts for the guide's children.
Travel is all about the cultural exchange, and bringing a gift is a thoughtful way to leave a little bit of you with the people who made your trip special. Just make sure it is respectful of the local culture and suitable (eg. I would never bring ham to Morocco because it is made of pork).
Or better yet, bring with you the gift of respect, open mindedness and tolerance. Be the best ambassador for your country you can be and leave knowing that a bit of your culture has also found its way to the place you visited.
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Do you bring gifts for your hosts or guides? What have you brought in the past? What have you been gifted on your travels?
The world's worst tourist destinations
An analysis of Google reviews from 100 cities showed the ones with the worst reviews and personal experiences as shared on Google.
Here are the worst tourist destination:
- Cancun
- Antalya
- Punta Cana
- Beijing
- Orlando
- Mumbai
- Honolulu
- Johor Bahru
- Kyoto
- Playa del carmen
I have to say that this list is a bit surprising. I get some of them but, Kyoto?
I blame this on the reviewer for not preparing or researching enough. Sure, some parts can be crowded, but you can plan to avoid the crowds. Yes, local can come across as unfriendly, but a lot of it has to do with how non-Japanese perceive Japanese culture and with the locals being fed up with how many tourists behave (eg. chasing Geishas in the street for photos when they clearly stated they didn't want any.)
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What do you think? What have been the most underwhelming destinations for you? And why?
Last chance to travel with us in 2025!
We are closing bookings for this year's tours, so if you are keen to travel with us, book your spot now:
- ๐ 3 SPOTS left on our Oaxaca 12 to 18 October tour (๐ธ photographer onboard) and 3 SPOTS left on our 9 to 15 November tour => BOOK OAXACAโโ
- ๐ 2 SPOTS left on our Xmas markets tour 22 to 29 November => BOOK XMAS MARKETSโ
- ๐ 4 SPOTS left on our Cuba tour for New Year's Eve, the celebration you needed! => BOOK CUBA
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=> You can also see the FULL CALENDAR of tours.
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Photo of the week
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Last week's photo
This famous Egyptian temple is a fitting choice for last's weeks photo because it is the burial temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the only female Pharaoh buried in the Valley of the Kings. She is an icon in Ancient Egyptian history.
Many of you guessed this one, congrats to Julia, Noemi, Laila, Christine T, Veronika P, Meg N!
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Can you guess this week's photo?
In case you missed it
Travel news, community discussions and other important things to know:
- Switzerland's cheese trails. Read here.
- Countries with the most and last time off. See list.
- Shoes off policy ended last month at US airports. More here.
- Why your hair feels greasy after a long flight. See here.
- Best parks in the US to explore with your dog. Read here.
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Have a lovely rest of the week!
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Solo Female Travelers Co-Founders
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