Trip Coach: June 13, 2006

Pam Grout: Hi everybody--Thanks for joining me to talk about girlfriend getaways, one of my favorite topics of conversation.

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Miami, FL: Can you give your suggestions for cooking school vacations in Italy?

Pam Grout: There's a great website with all sorts of Italian cooking schools. It's cookitaly.com. What a great way to spend a vacation.

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Sacramento, CA: Hi Pam, I am a single woman whose girlfriends are all married or otherwise coupled, and cannot go on getaways due to time or money issues. I have gone on vacation solo before, but I'd really like to travel with some other friends and be with a small group of people with similar interests. How can I find other singles who'd want to travel together to Hawaii who live in my area? Thanks for your assistance. Vanessa

Pam Grout: There are a bunch of websites and outfits that hook singles up to travel together. I'm partial to the ones that team you with girlfriends with similar interests. I have a whole section in the back of my book about these, but here are a couple off the top of my head: womentraveltips.com, journeywoman.com

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Orchard Park, NY: My three college friends and I get together every fall ... this year's trip is scheduled for the weekend of November 3-5. We had settled on NYC, but then they went and changed their minds on me, and now are making me go to Skaneateles, NY to the Mirbeau spa, which is luxurious and decadent, and very expensive. Please, find something positive about this for me ... what is there to do in Skaneateles, NY besides get a facial ... which I can do here in Orchard Park just fine. Help me. I can't back out, it's criminal. Signed, 36 and still meeting annually...

Pam Grout: Well, I really don't care where I travel with my girlfriends just as long as they're with me. I realize money can be an issue (and that's probably not quite fair if one of you doesn't have access to the same resources), but overall, the value of a girlfriends getaway is not the destination, but the journey--the chance to talk and just commune.

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Osan, South Korea: I'm getting ready to move back to the US, specifically Montana. A few of my friends have talked about traveling up there so we can go to a dude ranch. Any suggestions for a group of females on where to get that experience? Marla