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Travels of a

Married Woman

by Kym Wolfe Ilove my husband dearly, but the sad fact is I have a bad case of wanderlust, and he's happy to stick close to home. Recently a friend invited me to go to Phoenix, for a stay-ina-friend's-condo, pay-no-hotel-bill jaunt. The proposal was all the sweeter because the loonie was hovering on par with the American dollar, and with a Delta airlines deal, we could fly out of Detroit for under $300 return. I jumped at the chance to dust off my suitcase. See the Grand Canyon, experience the beauty of the Arizona landscape, and play tourist for a week - how could a girl resist? A few people arched their eyebrows when they heard about my plans to travel minus hubby, asking indirectly whether I was testing my wings before flying the marital coop. Others assured me that married women traveling with the girlfriends is more common than I would have thought. Cathy Shaw, a travel specialist who has worked with Travel by Design - Ruse Travel for more than twenty-five years, confirms that this is a growing trend. Shaw has noticed more forty-plus women travelling without their spouse, and speculates they have reached an age where they have more disposable income available, and their children have reached an age where there are fewer demands at home. Women are a lot more independent these days, she says, and many are traveling with girlfriends, sisters and daughters. "When women get together, there are a lot of stories, a lot of laughter, and a sense of shared adventure. It's a different experience traveling without men," says Shaw. Some tours that cater to women have a theme, like shopping in Beijing or cooking in Italy. Others are simply destinations with interesting culture, entertainment and sights to take in. Shaw finds most women plan their trips around shared interests, and advises, "Make sure that is a destination you want to travel to, not just because your friends are going." Or, I think to myself, because it's such a great deal. I have to admit, my first impulse to go to Phoenix was driven by the financial picture. But it was also because my friend and I have similar interests, and I knew she would be an interesting travel companion. We are both get-up-and-go people, curious to explore opportunities that present themselves, and we laugh easily together. There was some give-and-take negotiating, but we managed to cover a lot of ground during our whirlwind week, including a visit to Old Tucson (where a number of Western movies were filmed), a Phoenix Suns basketball game, a Wild West train north from Williams, and a day at the Grand Canyon. We got our kicks on Route 66, drove the scenic route south, and spent the better part of a day drinking in the red-rock beauty of the Sedona area. We meandered through Sedona's Tlaquepaque Village, Scottsdale's Old Town and Tucson's funky Fourth Avenue. Our timing coincided with National Parks week, so we took advantage of free admissions to visit Montezuma's Castle and hike a mile down Walnut Canyon to see the deserted cliff dwellings. We visited Frank Lloyd Wright's desert home in Scottsdale, explored a ghost town, and negotiated the hairpin turns along the Apache Trail. We drove out as far as Canyon Lake, enjoying the rugged beauty of the Superstition Wilderness area. We were overwhelmed at times by the visual feast that we experienced. Arizona keeps serving up different courses of it, each breathtaking and totally different, depending on where you travel. There were times when we did our own thing. I helicoptered over the Grand Canyon while my friend kept both feet planted firmly on the ground. We split up at the one shopping centre we visited, happily sussing out bargains in different stores. Our six days of fun were sandwiched between two very long travel days. Security is high when you are flying, and we had to arrive at the airport two to three hours before departure time. Luckily we both enjoy word games, so on both days we played Quiddler while waiting for our flight. (Quiddling is akin to playing Scrabble with a deck of cards.) I travelled a lot with friends before I got married, but that was twenty-six years ago. Since tying the knot, aside from girls' weekends away, travel for work, or tacking a day or two onto a business trip, I have spent my annual vacation time with family. Then came Phoenix, an amazing eight days, and definitely something I would do again. At the end of the journey, though - like my ever-loving husband - I was happy to be home, to snuggle in with him, and to fall asleep in my own bed. the traveler kYM WOLFe is a London freelance writer and happy traveler. She can be reached at: dk.wolfe@sympatico.ca 54 | CITYWOMAN ISSUE ELEVEN: JULY/AUGUST 2010 www.citywoman.ca Photo Credit the National Parks Service, USA

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