Fly Solo: The 50 Best Places on Earth for a Girl to Travel Alone addresses the particular concerns of women who travel alone from safety (the most important consideration) to climate, with packing suggestions for both comfort and the ability to not look like a tourist.

The countries are broken down into sections with ratings of one through five on considerations of culture, activity, weather and social. There is even a quick and painless quiz to help you pinpoint possible destinations that match your personal interests. As someone who could spend days in museums and roaming ancient ruins, I was intrigued to see that, apart from the usual suspects of Paris, Rome and London, I would learn just as much if I were to visit St. Petersburg, Hong Kong and Bali.

Another very helpful feature are the “Top 10 Extraordinary Experiences,” which include suggestions to visit “Nessie” in Edinburgh, a sumo stable in Tokyo, and Voltaire’s library in St. Petersburg. There are also tips on where and how to save money seeing the sights with museum and/or bus passes. The obligatory admonition “don’t drink the water” is included, of course; however, the additional nudge of using bottled water to brush your teeth is an oft-overlooked yet nonetheless invaluable piece of advice.

Fly Solo is an easy, enjoyable read with fascinating tidbits sprinkled throughout the practical and humorous advice. Teresa Rodriguez Williamson obviously did a tremendous amount of research and has saved the lone traveling woman a lot of time, annoyance and possible danger by doing so.

This is a great book to give to recent graduates, divorcees, or any woman who has the courage to venture out on her own but would like a little preparation so that her trip will be fun and safe. Before you pack your bags for parts unknown, buy this book!