Travel alone or with your girlfriends ... just make sure you travel with MARYBETH BOND, the Gutsy Traveler!

I love to travel. I just got back from being in Indianapolis, Chicago and Minneapolis for the past week. I'd still be on the road if it wasn't for having to work to afford more travel!

While on the road, I arranged an interview with the #1 Women's Travel Expert in the World - MARYBETH BOND, the "Gutsy Traveler." Marybeth is the author of nine books (and more coming!) including: 50 Best Girlfriend Getaways in North America, A Woman's World and Gutsy Women. She's been on Oprah, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. and has won awards for her travel writing.

In our podcast interview Marybeth shared great tips for traveling alone or with your girlfriends. She shared wonderful ideas from her most recent book (50 Best Girlfriend Getaways, published this year by National Geographic) - like the best cities to visit for girlfriend trips to shop, what destinations are best for bonding with your female friends or where to go to heal (from a relationship, from losing a job, etc.). Great info for women travelers!

Take your own girl's night out to listen to Marybeth's podcast or read one of her helpful, insightful books. Then email us at Girlfriendology with any questions, comments or podcast interviewee recommendations. Or just tell us about a special trip you've taken with your girlfriends.

Enjoy time and travels with your girlfriends! Have wonderful adventures - all over the world! And, thanks Marybeth!

Girlfriendology Contest - Can you beat this????

The only way I could publish this, was by not using the writer's name! Join our Girlfriendology Contest so you can share hilarious, heart-warming or just happy stories about your favorite gal pals!

From "T" - The 60 Pound Friendship

My girlfriend-in-crime Robin has a SERIOUS rubber stamp collection. While visiting her, she let me go through her garage and pick out whatever stamps I wanted as she needed to get rid of some of her collection to a good home. I had flown in from out of town and my suitcase only weighed 20 pounds on the flight there, so I thought I had some room.

Needless to say, I had too much fun in Robin's garage. My suitcase overfloweth! We laughed so hard at how I could fill up a suitcase with rubber stamps. When I finally had to leave I could barely lift my suitcase up to be weighed in at the airport. Oh no! It was 80 pounds! I about died! What had Robin given me – lead stamps?!

I was lucky enough to be in first class and I only had one bag – so my weight limit was 70 pounds. I had to get rid of 10 pounds of stamps in that bag and quick. I started stuffing them in my purse and my carry-on. I put it back up on the scale – 72 pounds! FAA regulations only allow 70. I had to get rid of two pounds or call Robin and have her come get me. The thought of throwing away a stamp or having to send them home – GASP! So, I put them in my pockets. That still left me about three more. I had one choice and I took it! Yes! In the middle of one of the busiest airports in the world, I stuffed rubber stamps down my shirt being held by my "God given" shelf until I could get through security.

To this day, Robin and I laugh so hard over that fun time together. She wanted her rubber stamps to go to a good home, she gave them to me. My job was to get them home – ALL OF THEM - and I did!

Creative girlfriends can get, well, creative. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Anyone for a 65 or 70 pound female friendship story?! Do you have a bigger, better girlfriend story than "T"? (hidden to protect an obsessed stamper!) Join the Girlfriendology Contest and we'll see!

Sisters, neighbors, coworkers, moms, yoga/running friends ... all kinds of Girlfriends

Here's the girlie-girl way of looking at it ... You have pumps, tennis/walking shoes, platforms, boots, sandals, flip flops, Crocks(tm!), etc. in your closet, right? Guys may look at is as just a room full of shoes and think that they are silly and unnecessary. Women see it as the basics of getting dressed and feeling good about your personal style.

In the girlfriend world, there are close friends you've known since school or new neighbors on the street. Women you work with to friends of friends you've met and run into at the grocery store. Coworkers who become friends outside of work and women you see at yoga or book club. Look around and you'll most likely see a variety of girlfriends at different stages of friendship, with unique qualities and a variety of things in common. It's a wonderful world of girlfriends! Kinda like having a selection of shoes - you have lots of options for women with whom to share your life.

Still in Minnesota visiting friends, I had dinner with my girlfriend Amy last night. Amy is dating, I'm married. Amy has a corporate job, I'm entrepreneurial. Amy lives in the cold north(!), I live in the mid-west. She's a world traveler, I dream of being (and have had some very fun international adventures with her!). But get us together and we have so much in common and so much fun.

What type 'shoe' is her friendship??? Last night after dinner I thought about that. Our conversation ranged from her recent dating adventures to my entrepreneurial dreams. From common friends to philosophies on perspectives of life. I very much respect her opinion, welcome her advice and appreciate her friendship.

Our interaction reflected what I feel is so important about girlfriends and why I started Girlfriendology. I think if we girlfriends 'put our heads together' and help each other through life, that we all learn and benefit from each other. After talking with Amy, I felt stronger for having her support and friendship. Not that we focused on any negative issues but life can be stressful. Together I felt we each contributed problem-solving ideas or creative solutions to hopefully benefit each of us in reaching our dreams. And, thinking like shoes, (and I hope she sees this as a compliment!) to me our interaction was kind of like workboots. Very functional and productive, the "git-r done" type interaction that I love and benefit so much from.

Have a problem? Talk to a girlfriend. Want to do something fun? Call up a girlfriend. Need to laugh or share a great story? Go see a girlfriend. Stressed over life? Have dinner with a girlfriend. Together we make a great pair (or lots of pairs, like that shoe analogy!). After all, aren't girlfriends the perfect accessory?! Thanks Amy for being such a great girlfriend and for sharing life (and solutions/ideas!) with me! Big hugs!!!


p.s. If you're into the above shoes, you might be a "Desperate Housewives" fan. They're on Seenon.com.

Why a Blog? And why Girlfriendology???

Research indicates that women NEED female friendships - and that having girlfriends reduces stress and even makes us live longer*. The goal of Girlfriendology is to inspire, appreciate and celebrate girlfriends across the globe. In fact, I believe that having friendships with women in different areas of our city or the world makes us care more about them and be more compassionate, caring, peace-minded and involved. (And what better way to connect long distance than the world wide web?!)

Research also shows that women are catching up with men on internet usage and that we communicate online differently than men. (Dah!) We tend to share more of our lives with each other through email and blogs. Women's friendships are growing through the previously male-dominated internet. Combine all these facts and a blog is the perfect way to share stories, inspiration and ideas for female friendships.

Personally, this Girlfriendology blog has raised my awareness and appreciation of my girlfriends. Updates are inspired by the wonderful women who influence, interact with and care about me. (And I have more inspiring women than even time to blog about you all!) Only a blog can capture the on-going lessons of life and special moments with girlfriends which caused me to start Girlfriendology in the first place!

So, THANKS GIRLFRIENDS for inspiring me and for reminding me why it is so important to make sure we give attention, time, love and support to our great girlfriends.

Do you have female friends who have impacted your life? From giving thoughtful gifts, to cheering you up, to being a fun friend to hang out with - girlfriends make our lives special, happier and even healthier. Call up your girlfriends and get together. Then come back to Girlfriendology and share stories! Celebrate the amazing girlfriends in your life!

* Read more about this: The Tending Instinct, by Shelley Taylor

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If you're creative or 'crafty,' stop by GirlfriendologyToo for the creative side of girlfriends! I'm just growing this site of 'the creative side of inspiration, appreciation and celebration of girlfriends' and I welcome your creative comments!

Guaranteed Stress Reliever - seriously!

It has been a stressful week. Employee/boss issues (not fun!), having too much to do and not enough time to do what I really want to do (build Girlfriendology!), and family challenges combined for an elevated stress level.

UCLA researcher Shelley Taylor (author of The Tending Instinct) and her team studied stress in women. (Previous studies were only on men!) They found that oxytocin is released with stress. For men, the response is 'fight or flight.' For women it is much different. Women react to stress with a need to 'tend and befriend.' We want to tend to our young and be with our girlfriends. (My oxytocin level was HUGE this past week!)

Thursday night was our monthly women-only book club. We shared appetizers, desserts, sangria and some (albeit minimal!) discussion of the book. Mostly we 'befriend' each other. Our conversations cover new restaurants nearby, houses bought/sold on the street, funny stories of kids, helpful things like a good handyman or special event in the neighborhood. If the windows are open, our laughter is heard several houses away. We even share sad, difficult news - because life is that way too sometimes.

At the end of an always fun evening, we return to our homes with tales of neighbors and community updates. 'Magically' my mind had left the stressful work worries and other challenges. I was renewed in my passion for creating Girlfriendology and hoping to help women build community with each other - as a priority and a fabulous biological characteristic of women.

I didn't get The Tending Instinct on the book list for next month, however I did experience the stress relief that comes only from being with my girlfriends. Thanks wonderful women of East Hyde Park for reducing my oxytocin level and for being the kind of girlfriends who really make this community home.

Girlfriends ... the umbrella of bad stuff?

I was completely honest with my girlfriends in our weekly get-together last night. (Yes, weekly - we are a priority and it is definitely worth it! THANKS Paula's (2!), Becky, Melody, Ruth Sara, Tina and Judy.)

It has been a tough week. Work is much more difficult than it should be and I'm desperately trying to get Girlfriendology (coming soon!) up and running - ASAP! My girlfriends are so supportive and loving. They are my cheerleaders and inspiration.

Right in line with our discussion on dealing with challenges and going through 'stormy' times, the clouds rolled in and the sky got really dark. As I drove home under a HUGE gray cloud, I could see clear sky in the distance. I just happened to be under the clouds at that moment but, like with my tough times, that would be temporary. And they helped me remember that.

Do you have a friend who you need be their 'umbrella' from the storms that life sometimes brings? Or, are you under a cloud yourself? Reach out to your girlfriends. Even if it rains on you or them, it is much more fun to be under an umbrella with a girlfriend who loves you.