If Marybeth Bond has her statistics right, there are a few relatively big changes in travel that women should know about:

• 80% of travel arrangements are made by women.
• There are 28 million single women in the United States and we're traveling.
• By 2010, women will control 60% of this country's wealth.
• There has been a 230% increase in the number of women only travel companies in the last 7 years.
• The average adventure traveler is a 47 year old female who wears a size 12!
  

Let's just say this is food for thought. First, it tells us that the magazine covers and article photos - all the cruise and travel scenes of couples gazing into each other's eyes - is only part of the story. It's the old part.

Women, unaccompanied by men, have historically been vulnerable when they travel. Not only are they more physically vulnerable, they are much more vulnerable emotionally too. If you are over fifty, and even if you are younger, there is still that lingering "one down" feeling when you walk into a restaurant un-escorted.

It takes awhile for our internal, psychological realities to catch up with changes in the outside world. It may just be that women - especially older women - are entering a time when traveling with friends or solo will no longer leave us feeling even remotely self-conscious.

Wouldn't that be nice!