NextTribe: Sleeping Better When You Travel

Hi NextTriber,

I had to get up earlier than usual this morning and after the alarm went off, I was singing the Beatles song “I’m Only Sleeping” in my head.

“Please don’t spoil my day/I’m miles away/I’m only sleeping.”

It was an appropriate start to the day because right away two articles about sleep caught my eye.

One says that on average Americans are getting more sleep per day than in 2019, partly due to remote work. A pandemic silver lining?

The other article is about the boom in what’s called “sleep tourism.” Hotels are offering technology and special eating plans to help their guests sleep better. This is such good news because I—and many other NextTribe travelers—have issues adjusting to a new environment when on the road. We’re already sensitive to this, and maybe soon we can be booking our trips at sleep happy hotels. What do you think?

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To Tip or Not to Tip?

Yesterday, at a NextTribe meeting, we had an interesting discussion about tipping. We all agreed that tipping culture has gone too far—adding a significant extra layer of cost for travelers.

But we differed on whether and how much to tip maids in our hotels. One staff member, who lives in Europe, didn’t see the need to tip—especially with how steeply the price of hotel rooms have gone up. She thinks tipping is more of an American thing, and I believe that’s true.

On the other side, one of our crew expressed great compassion for the maids—mostly women, often immigrants, almost always paid low wages. “Can you imagine what it’s like to clean strangers’ rooms for a living,” she said. “Bending over to pick up wet towels, scrubbing toilets, jamming pillows into pillowcases, and everything else they do, with a daily quota of rooms set by hotel management, and supervisors breathing down their necks to get rooms ready as more guests want early check-ins.”

What sparked the conversation was a recent survey by the Vacationer that showed only 39% of hotel guests actually leave a tip for their hotel maids, and, surprise, surprise, most of those who do are women.

Because we are all about women supporting women, we encourage tipping your maid something (leaving a little each day to make sure the maid doing the work is getting what she deserves). On average in the U.S., $5-$10 a day in a nice hotel would be the norm—double that in a 5-star hotel.

In hotels outside the U.S., it’s a different story. Inform yourself of local customs and, if you’re on a NextTribe trip, you can ask our trip leader. We generally leave $2-$4 a day per room in local currency. Local currency is important. Even though the US dollar is a stable currency, changing money at a bank always involves a transaction fee. It’s nice to help lift other women up when we have the chance.

Do you agree?

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Flying Just Got a Little Better: Automatic Airline Refunds

Here’s a bit of good news that should make your travels a little less stressful. In an effort to crack down on junk fees and other airline hijinks, the Biden Administration just issued a regulation that any traveler experiencing a lengthy delay or cancellation is eligible for an automatic refund, regardless of the reason. Passengers facing any significant changes to their itinerary can also receive a refund. Yahooo!

See you down the road!

Jeannie Edmunds, Chief Operating Officer

Don’t Hesitate: Upcoming Trips with Limited Openings

Many of our 2024 trips are sold out, here are some that still have a few openings:

• Only 1 spot left for our Scottish Highlands Trip, where our guide, the “Whisky Lassie,” will introduce us to the local culture and other fabulous women (June 12-20).

• 6 spots on our Santa Fe Like You’ve Never Seen It trip—focusing on bad-ass Georgia O’Keeffe and her world (Sept. 24-27).

• 2 spots left on our Deluxe Day of the Dead trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where we get a new perspective on death, and have a lot of fun (October 28-Nov 4).