THE UNACCOMPANIED WOMAN
If you are arriving in a city and expect to be “met,” do not, if you can possibly avoid it, take a train that pulls in at an unearthly hour of the night or early morning. If you must take such a train, tell your hostess she is not to meet you, that you will stay the night at a down-town hotel or at least will take a carriage. An intelligent woman need have no fear of danger in arriving in a strange city alone. She may possibly be annoyed by a bold stare, even by a question, but the chances are that if she be quiet in dress and manner she will not suffer even inconvenience.
Policemen and station officials are always willing to answer the questions of perplexed travelers. A little fee sometimes helps them speak more eloquently. It is not wise to depend upon the chance passer-by for information. The person whose business it is to inform you is not likely to tell you what is untrue. Of him you have a right to expect something. Of others you have a right to expect nothing, and you may come in for less than the value of your expectations.
ON BOARD A BOAT
The general etiquette of steamboat travel does not differ from that on board a train. Boat travel is of a more leisurely sort and begets somewhat less formality as relates to one’s fellow travelers. Otherwise the rules of behavior are the same.
As a parting injunction to the traveler, let me say,—don’t look worried, cross and over-careful even if you feel that way. Courtesy to subordinates will win you attention and service, will straighten out your difficulties more quickly than any other method. If you take the ills of traveling with some sense of humor, with a give-and-take spirit, you will get more than the benefit of the money your journey may cost you. If you do not carry an elastic spirit with you, the finest trip that ever was planned will bring you little return.
CHAPERONS IN EUROPE
A woman who travels abroad must remember that the rules of chaperonage are much stricter in Europe than they are in this country, and that she is expected to have a companion or a maid. If she wishes to dispense with these, she must reconcile herself to foregoing social invitations. If she makes inquiry she can always learn of particularly desirable pensions where she may count on finding among the guests a congenial person to accompany her on many of her short excursions.