In Part I of our “Conversation with Teresa Williamson,” Teresa tells us about what inspired her to start Tango Diva, a travel website which inspired women to travel alone. You can find it in Career and Money: Work: Dream Jobs. Here, she reveals some of her favorite travel stories and shares some traveling tips.
Q: What do you love about another culture that you don’t have here?
A: Oh my goodness! I love food! I love going to another culture and trying new things, although I have to admit I’m never going to eat pickled herrings ever or
Q: Chocolate crickets?
A: No, no that either, but there’s something so exciting about ordering pad thai off a long boat, on a beach, in Thailand. I’m careful, I’m not ordering food in strange huts, at least not all the time, (make sure it’s cooked), but I love that experience of having a flavor in my mouth that I would never get at home, it’s a true authentic essence of the culture I’m in. It’s a taste, a real taste of where I’m at.
Q: Where have you traveled?
A: Most of Europe, Asia, I lived in Australia for five years, South America. I think I’ve been to every continent except Antarctica. And I haven’t been to Greenland or the Arctic Circle. But I’ve been up to the Arctic Circle, in Iceland, and that was beautiful, that was a very special trip.
Q: And when you go do you stay anywhere, hostels, guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, hotels?
A: My preferred mode of stay is three-stars and above. Mainly because I know that it’s going to be safe, safer than two-stars or a hostel. I know that people are going to be looking out for me. I always try to stay where there’s a front desk, so they know who’s coming and going. I like to stay in places that are centrally located. In my book, Fly Solo, I list the top ten traits a destination has to have before I consider them for the book, and good places to stay, good transportation and a good city center are all important things for me.
