Last year, Susan and I (Becky) launched Ciao Bella, a Travel Club for Women. Over the years, she and I had ongoing conversations about women we knew who had these amazing Wander Lists, but no one with whom to share the experiences. We spoke to single women, divorced, widowed and even married women and the topic was the same–they were in need of a girl gang to share certain travel experiences with–and Ciao Bella was born.
As a backpacker wandering through the cobblestoned streets of Italy in the 90s, we often heard, Ciao Bella called out to us–Hello Beautiful. Now as a 20 year old traveler, it was sometimes annoying–like a catcall or a whistle, but I really loved the sentiment of Hello Beautiful. Now at age 50+, I wouldn’t mind a Ciao Bella here and there just to support my aging ego….
Sometimes now, when I see a beautiful view, a stunning whale breaching, a horse running through the pasture at full speed, or even a perfect glass of Barolo, I often say: Hello Beautiful. For me, it’s the engaging with something that stirs your soul–that takes your breath away. A memory burned in my mind of the time I stood on the hilltop castle overlooking the spice trade route in Jordan, saw the crystal clear blue waves with white caps in Positano, my first giraffe sighting in the wild…. Ciao Bella…Hello Beautiful!
The purpose of our Women’s Travel Club is two-fold: (1) to have local events for our ladies to get to know each other and (2) offer small group trips to women to visit a new destination, or to engage in a familiar destination in a new way. We’ve integrated elements like book club discussions, get-to-know-you happy hours, wine tastings, retro dance parties, food tours, and more to our trips to create lasting friendships within our groups and to try new things. We aren’t here to sell cookie cutter trips for women–we want to have fun, to learn something new, and have some great laughs while doing it.
As we get older, making new friends isn’t always plug and play like it was when we were in school, had young kids, or had kid sports to see people on a consistent basis. Susan and I discovered that many women needed another outlet to get to know people who love the same things they do–to love experiential, adventuresome travel like they do. And here we are: Ciao Bella Travel Club for Women–the perfect platform to get to know other women who want to learn something new, savor a glass of wine, and even visit a Tiki Bar here and there.
Take a look at our Ciao Bella website here, sign up for our newsletter, join our club ($50 per year), and have some fun with the best travel girl gang around.
