photo courtesy Kelly Lewis
Kelly Lewis loves traveling. Travel guidebooks, well, these she finds lacking, especially for women on their own.
So the UA journalism grad wrote one: “Go! Girl Guides: A Woman’s Guide to Traveling in Thailand,” which sees a release party Sept. 17 at La Cocina. The result of much planning and saving — the project is completely self-funded — as well as two months spent in Thailand with photographer Krissy Sauter, the guidebook speaks to the specific concerns of female tourists.
One of the 15 sections in the book, for example, focuses on health and includes information on where to find tampons, “because they are really hard to find in Thailand,” says Lewis, a 25-year-old writer who is also a freelancer for Zocalo. “They’re only carried in maybe two or three chains.” Good luck finding that in Fodor’s.
At its core, Go! Girl is meant to empower the woman traveler, to give her tools to take on a potentially intimidating country with confidence — and not a lot of money.
“I have talked to so many women who say to me constantly, ‘I want to travel, but I don’t know how. I don’t have anyone to go with and I’m scared.’”
Go! Girl Thailand’s framework is built upon safety and budget, then, but with Lewis as the template traveler, it’s also infused with ways to experience the country as an energetic woman.
“I really thought to myself, ‘Okay, what do I want to know, visiting here?’ I want to know where the cool markets are; I want to know where I can get really awesome, cheap, cool clothes.”
Of course those clothes don’t amount to a thing if they get ripped off, so while Lewis privileges inexpensive accommodations, security is just as important.
“That’s what differentiates us from other guidebooks. We really looked for clean, safe places to stay in safe areas of town,” she says. “I really wanted to make sure that our girls, because they’re traveling alone, are in a safe place.”
Readers benefit from the Lewis’ hits and misses, from the basics (what to pack, how to order food) on through experiencing the country on a deeper level via quality volunteer opportunities. Q&As with female travelers occur throughout, as do helpful anecdotes such as when Lewis and Sauter encountered what turned out to be a common scam: a thief dressed as a monk. And, much like its author, the paperback guide is active, presenting Thailand via a conversational tone and plenty of color photographs.
Anyone can explore a country solo, Lewis notes, offering herself as proof. After finishing her undergraduate work in 2008, the virgin traveler went to New Zealand for a year. She cried. She got homesick. But she also made lifelong friends, she says, and started a blog that helped her connect with other females with wanderlust.
Three years on, GoGirlGuides.com pools the experiences of women bloggers from San Francisco to South Korea. And Lewis plans the next print guide to inspire women to Go! to Argentina.
The free book release party begins at 6 p.m. on Sept. 17 at La Cocina, 201 N. Court Ave., and includes live music and Thai cuisine. “Go! Girl Guides to Thailand” will be available at Barnes and Noble and on GoGirlGuides.com and Amazon.com (and for its Kindle).
