Recently in International Travel Category

I'm a stickler for manners. Maybe it was the 24-hour thank you note "rule" my mother imposed on me as a young child (which I still strictly abide by). Or maybe it was my years in the service industry where I saw the good, bad and the ugly of human behavior on a daily basis. The bottom line is that I try to practice kindness, tolerance and patience every day, and especially when I'm traveling.

Over the past few years, I've encountered very diverse populations during my volunteer travels. I've crossed paths with people of different races, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, levels of intelligence, and those faced with unimaginable hardships. Despite our differences, I feel a responsibility as a global ambassador of the United States to put my best face - and manners - forward.

985,242. That's the number staring back at me from my frequent flyer account page.  Quickly scrolling through emails this morning, I noticed the airline's monthly update, which I always check against my records. The monthly statement showed the standard information, an upgrade on my next flight to Atlanta, and the breakdown of my monthly, annual and total miles. I almost closed the email before moving on to the next task. As it happens, I scrolled down too fast and the bottom line, big number suddenly jumped out at me.  985,242! Close to 1 million. I almost couldn't believe it. Almost.

Voluntourism doesn't have to be all about hardship.  The world has an endless supply of opportunities to help starving orphans or respond to natural disasters, but in between these worthy causes, I discovered a four star/feel good voluntourism experience - teaching English with Pueblo Inglés in Spain.

The linguistic immersion program came highly recommended by several writer friends, but I had trouble wrapping my language-learning challenged brain around an 8-day program that was actually effective.

There are very few requirements for Pueblo Inglés participants - you must get yourself to Madrid, and once there, you must never utter a word of Spanish.  Seems simple, right? Pueblo Inglés coordinates ground transportation, provides four star accommodations, three gourmet meals daily, plus as much wine during meals as one's liver can handle. (Wine consumption is encouraged as the liquid courage magically makes conversation flow. Go figure.)

The City of Light is nothing if not romantic, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy some alone time. Paris has it all: fashion, food, glamour and grace. But none of it means anything if you can't embrace all that Paris offers. On a recent business trip to Paris, I opted to spend a few extra days in one of my favorite cities - a "personal vacation", which I had come to forget even existed. Many heads turned when they would hear I'd be in Paris by myself. "Alone? In Paris? What are you going to do?!" Anything I wanted to do!

The first rule of solo travel: don't rule anything out. While Paris does exude romance, the city does have many other qualities that are perfect for seeding a single woman's soul.