Tag Archives: Wanderlust and Lipstick

The Ultimate Travel Book for India

Destination: India

Book: Wanderlust and Lipstick: For Women Traveling to India by Beth Whitman

Let me start right off by saying that I think Beth Whitman is a gift to women who want adventurous travel in all those places that good little girls are not supposed to go–particularly by themselves, or with only the protection of (gasp!) other women.

Her books (for women traveling Solo, for women traveling with kids, for women traveling to India) and her web site give inspiration and travel tips to women who travel.

So I was delighted when she joined the cabal of people (they are not really organized, and they don’t know they are a cabal, that’s just the way I think of them) trying to persuade me to go to India. Her persuasion came in the form of a copy of her book,Wanderlust and Lipstick for Women Traveling to India.. This link leads to the Kindle edition, for the print edition, see Beth’s web site. You can read some glowing reviews and one totally ridiculous one that obviously didn’t get the book at all.

If I were to decide to go to India, this is the book I would pack. Beth does not pull any punches in describing the problems that women may encounter, but she shares solutions for every problem you had questions about and some that you had not yet thought of.  The help comes in the form of inspiring anecdotes from her own extensive travels in India and from other women who have made that journey.

Many of the helpful hints here would help inexperienced travelers in any country. Other discussions aim straight at unique characteristics of India. And by the way, most of the tips in this book would apply to men as well as women. (except maybe page 153 in the first edition.)

Am I persuaded to travel to India? Well perhaps it has made it on to the list, but it still occupies the bottom rung of that list.  Well, dear reader, whose side are you on here? Do you think I’m ridiculous, or are you another one of those who has forever delayed going to India?

Other articles about India: Use the search box on the right. My discussion of the movie Slumdog Millionaire elicited more comment than any other post, and Monica Bhide’s responses–Mumbai I and Mumbai II are very popular.