Climbing trips for solo women

All this talk of climbing has prompted me to make some climbing goals of my own. I mean, I have been watching the sport for the last eight years. I would like to see what all the fun is about. Now I am still climbing with the CCM ladies and having a good time. But I promised Brendan that I would be lead-belay certified by the time he graduates from college. LOL!

So lately I have been running into a lot of women's climbing tour companies on Instagram and I decided to look into them. I love our son, but climbing with him is intimidating for me and my husband has no interest in propelling himself up a wall. I was pleasantly surprised to find several tour groups that cater to the solo female traveler who wants to hike or climb or both.

Here are some of the groups I found. I really like She Moves Mountains. If I go on a trip with them, I will come back here and post an update. They have a lot of great-looking trips both for beginners and experienced climbers. And they have domestic and international trips, (France is calling me...)

Stay tuned and...

        CLIMB ON!

Into the woods Ak

She Moves Mountains

Ladies Climbing Coalition

American Alpine Institute 

On Instagram:

East Outdoors

Travel Insurance

As you can see from my Tripit homepage, (see my post on must-have travel apps), we have a lot of trips coming up as well as in the past. I would be remiss if I didn't comment on travel insurance.

Now, everyone knows about the insurance offers you get bugged about every time you buy a plane ticket or rent a car. But here's a better idea: skip all those and get year-long travel insurance covering everything. There are a couple of companies that offer long-term travel insurance, so do your homework and figure out what you can afford. Why do you need travel insurance? Because things happen and your plans change. The weather can ruin flights, you could get sick or injured far from home, travel delays can leave you stranded or you may need help right away.

I was contemplating this last January since I figured the first of the new year would be a good time to open a policy. I was glad I did because our next trip to Portland got canceled due to a bad storm on the West Coast. I had booked a non-refundable hotel through Alaska Airlines that I could not cancel. I was able to open a claim on my new insurance and they paid me back. I also had baggage damage on another trip that I was able to get reimbursed for (that story will be for another post after I have fully recovered from the experience...)

I chose to go with Allianz. They have several levels of year-long coverage and I picked the one I could afford that gave us the most coverage. It has trip cancellation and interruption, emergency medical, baggage loss or delay, rental car coverage, emergency transport, and more. As I said, I have already used it twice. It has definitely paid for itself. Allianz has a great resource on their site. Here is an article on how travel insurance works and how it does not. I cannot recommend insurance enough, especially if your climber is doing a lot of traveling. Safe travels!

    CLIMB ON!

Photo credit: @permafrostpictures.photography

 

Rental cars

 Needless to say that with all these trips, I have finally figured out how to not screw up the rental car process. Now, I have developed my own system. You will figure out yours. First, I am determined to not pay full price for a rental car, so I always go through some sort of agency to book them. I used to use Expedia-AARP, (yes, we are old parents, so I take whatever bonus from that I can find.) 

But now, I use the Alaska Airlines car booking agency. I also book all of our hotels through Alaska and rack up as many miles as possible. While I am on the topic, Alaska also has a rewards shopping mall, where you can go to your favorite store, buy an item and get miles for it on Alaska. But I digress...

Alaska Airlines is partnered with Budget and Avis, so you log in with your mileage number, you automatically get the deal prices. I have to say, Avis is a bit more expensive than Budget but nicer in a few ways. Our last trip was on Avis, and I was pleasantly surprised to open the Avis app on my phone and see the spot number of our car that was ready. That was awesome! Keys were in it and off we went. Return is the same way, no hassle.

Budget on the other hand has something called Fastbreak. Trust me: sign up for this ahead of time AND remember you signed up/what your membership number is. We got to Philadelphia and the line to check in for a car was 1.5 hours long! And all the while, I had Fastbreak and could have skipped that line. (*smacks forehead*) Sometimes, when you get to the Budget drop-off, usually from a shuttle, or in the lobby, there is usually a line designated as Fastbreak. GET IN THAT LINE. Or pay attention during the shuttle ride. Sometimes FastBreak is its own stop before the bus gets to the main building. Yell loudly you have a fast Break and need to get off! 🤣😜 The line will be super short, or your name is on a board with a lot number.  Your car will either be waiting for you or you can pick the car you want. Now I have had bad experiences with Budget in some cities. It just depends on the local ownership.

Enterprise tends to be more expensive than Avis or Budget, but they do a great job with the whole experience. They have a motto where they say they will pick you up for your rental. I have used this several times for car problems but not at the airport. Sometimes I get an enterprise car but not that often.

I have included Payless because they too come up on the Alaska choices. They do have something called Pay Now on their direct site which allows you to pay at the time of the booking and save 20% off normal rental rates. I haven't used this company but it is an interesting concept. But again, I always go through Alaska Airlines.

The nice thing about Alaska reservations for cars is that you do not pay at the time of booking. This is great because if plans change, I can cancel with no fees. I usually pick up 1,500 to 2,500 miles for booking a car through the Alaska Airlines car program. Even up to 4,000 miles for a hotel. Every little bit helps!

As to what cars to get, that is a personal choice but have you noticed that they always seem to give you cars low to the ground? Brendan is 5’10 so I try not to get compact cars but we still end up climbing into cars to sit on the ground. If a minivan pops up as an option, I try to grab that. We bring a lot of stuff for comps so it’s nice to have the room. My favorite is the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. Great on gas! But I could never figure out when the car was on…🤔. UPDATE: there is a light on the ignition button that says RUN and OFF. Never saw it before…

When you do get to your car, be sure to do a thorough walk around the vehicle. Take a picture of any dings or problems that are already there. Get in it and make sure everything works. When you drive out of the lot, be sure to tell get gate agent what you found so you are not accused of any damage. The last question you should ask (and I always forget) is if there are any tolls in the area and if your car comes with an electronic pass such as EZpass. Rental car companies can charge up to $20 a day for toll coverage, so if you need it, get it, but if not, avoid all tolls. When you set your Apple Maps (sorry Google), be sure to hit the button that says 'avoid tolls' and you will be fine. Just leave extra time if there is traffic.

I just have to make sure whatever car I get has CarPlay and the right plug for my phone (I always bring adapters just in case). I was in heaven when one car had WIRELESS Car Play...Again, Apple Maps is a must or I go crazy...

UPDATE: and NEVER get a pickup truck as a rental in Seattle!!! OMG, NEVER AGAIN!

UPDATE: I am renting a Tesla for the first time next year...we will see...I watched a bunch of videos to prepare because the learning curve is steep! 😱

    CLIMB ON!

Photo credit: @permafrostpictures.photography