Women travel for myriad reasons. They venture out to escape the routine of daily existence; to encounter fascinating new people and places and facets of themselves; to enrich their lives, explore, wander.

But sometimes none of this works out.

The Unsavvy Traveler collects the hilarious and cathartic misadventure tales of over twenty-five women: Alice Evans, a journalist and environmentalist, battles a bear deep in the Tennessee woods, armed only with a bag of peanut M&Ms. Amateur shutterbug Nancy Cooper Frank is attacked by a furious nude model in Germany. Poet Ingrid Wendt unwittingly spews obscenities for a gathering of the Italian literati. Laid low by a foot injury, Alle Hall crawls on hands and knees around the temples of Angkor Wat, garnering curious stares from locals and tourists alike. In her first months as a teacher in picturesque Matsumoto, Japan, Marilyn Abildskov wrangles with curious forms of bathroom etiquette.

These writers are the comedic casualties of the tourism industry--the breezy, insouciant trekkers who discover the necessity of preparation far too late, the nervous new expatriates navigating the confusing twists of a new cultural environment or the irreproachable, unflappable travelers suddenly beset by the devilish whims of destiny. With wry humor and unabashed honesty, these stories convey the merriest spirit of the intrepid adventurer. Other contributors include Caryn Bark, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Ayun Halliday and Novella Carpenter.