Oh, Divas. When you reach a certain age, you begin to know yourself, and your travel self is no exception. Over time, I have developed a certain way of traveling, and at no time has this been more under threat than with the looming trip to the Silver Poplar

I called there today to find out if they have Wi-Fi. I want to keep up with y’all! The phone rang and then a woman of indeterminate age picked up.

"Hello?" She said.

"Uh, is this the Silver Poplar?" Said I.

"Yes it is."

"Okay, well do you have Wi-Fi? High speed Internet?"

"Why are you calling?"

"Um, to find out if you have Wi-Fi. Do you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Had I rung Fort Knox by mistake? Had I hacked into a CIA hotline?

"Does that mean that you don’t have Wi-Fi?"

She chuckled. "My husband takes care of that. I don’t think we have high speed Internet. I know some folks go into town for that sort of thing."

"Okay, well how about air conditioning? Do you have air conditioning?"

"Why are you calling? Why do you want to know?" 

I took a deep breath. "This is how the travel industry works," I informed her. "You offer a place to stay and I call to ask you questions about it." 

They tell me that northern Wisconsin is supposed to be beautiful, and I’m excited to see Door County. A very close friend of mine is getting married next week, and her hotel recommendations included the Silver Poplar.

Now, my friend is not a mean person. But when I found out that the hotel makes you provide your own sheets and towels, that’s when the anxiety attacks started.

SHEETS? A hotel with a bring-your-own-sheets policy?? Now I’ve heard everything!

It’s supposed to be some sort of artist’s retreat with Russian themes, an art gallery, converted old barn…other horrors like spiders, I’m assuming. Lots of spiders. I have no idea what goes on at this outpost. What I do know is, to quote that famous sketch on In Living Color, "Homey don’t play that."

Help! I arrive next week and will fill you in… oh yeah, no Wi-Fi. Do people know Morse Code?

Travel Body Maintenance

Ahhhh…I just had time this week for a massage with my girl, Gina Tibbs, masseuse and Reiki master. She is awesome. Now she is not your basic fluff masseuse (though if you’re not up for the healing pain of her mighty elbows and knuckles, she will dish out the fluff). She joked that for Halloween she was thinking of wearing a dominatrix outfit cuz her clients would get a kick out of it. Yeah, she’d finally be dressing properly!

Seriously, though, with a deep knowledge of anatomy and well-trained hands seeking out and destroying your knots, Gina brought me back to life after just 90 amazing minutes with her. Stay tuned for my interview with her next month!

I did not have time for a facial with my girl Pearl, your Beauty Diva. Which is a shame. Because being on the road is exhausting and terrible on your body. Lugging luggage, lack of sleep, dehydration, irregular eating, different climates and time zones, plus the hassle and stress of planes, trains and automobiles means that if you are traveling, YOU MUST TAKE EXTRA GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF! I have no idea how I’m still going strong with a total of about ten days home so far this summer. Wow!

Let’s outline my story:

Spain, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Romania in one fail-swoop. Then Montana and Chicago for the YearlyKos Convention (with a Presidential Leadership Forum featuring seven of eight Democratic candidates including Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Dodd, Kucinich, Richardson and Gravel! You can check out my impressions of this world-changing Convention here).

Now the Dakotas and Door County. Then Oklahoma for Jewish New Year and off to Africa for a Spark delegation trip to visit one of our grassroots women’s grantees.

Whew! Gina, Pearl, I will be back soon and needing you!! (If I survive the silver poplars…)