For the broads abroad

I recently wrote a letter for my friend Vanessa to read during her plane ride to London, where she is studying this semester. I provided lots of silly tips and tricks, most of which probably won't be useful but hopefully made my friend smile. Some of the advice I gave her was inspired by my own experience in Copenhagen last year and the rest by Roman Holiday and a recently re-released little novel by Elaine Dundy called The Dud Avocado. I hope Vanessa doesn't mind too much, but I'd like to re-print one section of my missive for my other friends who are traveling now.

There is a passage in The Dud Avocado in which one of the characters divides female travelers into four categories. I think it is embarrassingly comprehensive. I have made a table of them for you here:

I am no expert on traveling (or anything, my mother reminds me), but in my opinion, no woman should take on just one of these roles. There is a time and a place for each. You might begin as the Eager Beaver, spend a few nights braying like a Wild Cat, become the Sly One on slow Sunday afternoons, then step out as a full-blown Sophisticate just before you’re ready to come home.

When, on a given day, you feel stuck in one of these roles (or worse, you just want to go home and be your old self again)—try something new.