Need A Little Inspiration For Your Wanderlust? Look No Further! Girls That Roam Has Scoured The Globe To Find The Best Vacation Spots For 2019.
by Heather Cassell
It’s a challenge and an adventure to seek out, discover, and forecast where women want to travel and plan to travel to in the coming year, especial since we are seeking more experiences than placing a pin on a map.
It’s the challenge that makes it an adventure. It’s a journey seeking ourselves in other destinations, what I mean by that is when we set out on this trek, we are seeking women who are taking on the world, challenging the patriarchy, building businesses, and being empowered just as we are doing at home. Perhaps it’s a westernized gaze through women’s eyes a manifest destiny circa the #MeToo Movement, but we at Girls That Roam sincerely feel that women must connect across borders, across languages, in order to create change. Once we do connect, revolutionary things happen, change happens.
As we step out into the world, we want to be safe and happy during our adventures whether we are climbing the tallest peaks we can, cooking alongside local women, or enjoying doing nothing but letting the sun wash over us as we lay on a beach relaxing … a rarity for any woman in any country.
We want experiences. We want to connect with other women. We want to be empowered. We want to enjoy life. We want to be whole. We want to embrace the journey.
It’s with the intent to embrace our whole selves and indulge in our curiosity about the world and women around the globe that we create our list of 2019’s best destinations.
1. Nepal
Mount Everest towering over the South Asian country in the Himalayas is the biggest reason why travelers venture to Nepal. It is the tallest peak above seawater in the world and earns those who conquer the challenge of climbing to its summit major bragging rights, but there is so much more to Nepal.
We don’t discourage women travelers from attempting this goal like Junko Tabei, who is the first woman to summit Everest, and Santosh Yadav, who is the first woman to reach the top of Everest twice. Or the other estimated 500 women climbers of the mountain, experts told the New York Times, including the two widowed Sherpas who announced that they were going to climb Everest this year.
The women’s goals are to put closure on their late husbands’ deaths on the mountain in 2014 and to inspire other single women the said when they announced their goal last week.
For women who aren’t that ambitious, but want to explore Nepal’s trails, we suggest connecting with sister-owned trekking company 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Also, keep an eye out on the trails for the women-operated teahouses.
Nepal also offers a variety of outdoor adventures beneath the Everest’s peaks in the jungles from canyoning to rafting and kayaking to mountain biking to ziplining for thrill seekers and in the Kathmandu Valley.
If you’re not going to Nepal for its outdoor adventure and wonders: Why else should women consider visiting Nepal?
Where else in the world can you visit a living goddess Kumari? The South Asian country also currently has a woman president, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, who is dedicated to women’s rights and equity.
Women power is clearly being channeled and centered in Nepal, but it’s not the norm yet. Many women still work only in the homes.
Nepal is recovering from the devastating earthquake that hit it nearly four years ago. That same year the country’s new constitution took effect. The country took the opportunity of the earthquake and its new constitution to rise from the rubble and revamp itself for its people and visitors. Nepal’s Tourism Board has been heavily promoting the country recently with good reason.
Nepal is ratcheting up the health and wellness scale offering a variety of Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, and spirituality activities, tours, and retreats to help visitors to rejuvenate.
To help enhance the quality of life in the country’s most popular tourism spots, cars are now banned from Kathmandu’s historic city center and car horns have been outlawed in Kathmandu Valley, according to Lonely Planet.
The country also offers people-to-people and local experiences allowing visitors to get to know Nepal’s warm and friendly people and culture of its 101 different ethnicities that live in the Himalayas, Mid-hills, and the Terai regions of the Hindu majority country. Visitors can enjoy culinary to architectural and historical experiences to luxury vacations.
Best times to travel to Nepal are in September, October and November after the monsoon season is over.
Women traveling in Nepal should be aware that Nepal is working to curb its sexual violence against women problem, which has been up 60 percent over the past five years, reported the Times in October 2018. One way the country is tackling the problem is to ban pornography and has shut down hundreds of Internet porn sites. However, that tactic has received a great deal of criticism.
However, young rural girls are being kicked out of their homes when they begin menstruating, reported the Times, demonstrating a need for reproductive health education in the country.
HIV/AIDS is also on the rise in the South Asian country, according to Rough Guides.
The government working to address these issues. It has set up an office to address women’s concerns and safety.
Nepal is a relatively safe country for solo travelers, but it’s suggested that women travelers dress modestly ensuring proper coverage of knees and thighs and shoulders and elbows. Long skirts and loose clothes over tight and revealing garments are suggested. Per usual, it’s best to follow local women’s customs and if inappropriately touched loudly let it be known.
2. New Zealand
Outdoor lovers, especially hikers, love, love, love New Zealand. All you have to do is look at the scenes from “Lord of the Rings” that show off New Zealand’s majestic mountains, emerald forests, incredible rivers, and beaches and you know its magical.
Its indigenous Maori culture, the Kiwi’s relaxed nature, and culinary scene accompanied by its coffee, craft beer, and wine scene and you can understand why people want to visit New Zealand.
Nearly 15 years ago, my then-roommate packed up and met her best friend from Ireland in New Zealand for a month-long camper adventure across the Northern and Southern islands. When she returned, she regaled me with stories and photos about their adventures and wine.
Fun loving Irish girl that she is they had a blast! Her experience put New Zealand on my list of countries to travel to.
The Oceanic country is second behind Iceland on the Global Peace Index 2018, which measures a country’s safety and ranked 38 on last year’s Happiness Index.
However, New Zealand women haven’t been very happy recently. Last month, Grace Millane, a 21-year-old British woman visiting the country’s major city Auckland, on the North Island, was murdered.
Grace was enjoying a night out on the town with a 26-year-old man. He was arrested, detained, and scheduled to appear in court again sometime this month in connection with the young woman’s murder, reported the Times. The man’s attorney requested the court to suppress his identity.
The day after Grace’s murder and the body was found in a forested area, another unidentified 34-year-old woman was murdered on the other side of the city in front of her toddler.
Grace’s murder compounded by the other women’s murder became a tipping point for anti-violence activists.
New Zealand is known for its progressiveness, safety, wine, and incredible natural scenery, not necessarily for its domestic and sexual violence against women problems.
It was the first country to grant suffrage to women voters. Women lead half of the public sector agencies, not to mention New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacina Ardern made headlines for being the first world leader to give birth and take parental leave while in office. She returned to work while her partner became the primary caretaker for their new child, reported the Times.
Jacina is the third woman to be at the helm of New Zealand.
Now that’s rocking.
What’s not rocking are the rates of domestic and sexual violence issue. They are among the highest in the developed world, despite ranking seventh on the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Index Report as one of the 10 best countries to be a woman that was published last month. Yes, the same month Grace was murdered, and New Zealand woman said, “They’ve had enough.”
New Zealand’s reputation is the reason why the Oceanic country is second on our list for women to visit, however, unearthing the news of Grace’s murder and a dark reality for New Zealand women. It’s a wakeup call that despite the freedoms granted to women the #MeToo Movement is alive and necessary all the way on the other side of the world.
No place is safe. Just like anywhere in the world women need to keep their wits about themselves, be smart, and take local women’s lead on cultural customs.
3. Portland, Oregon
In Portland, you can be weird, you can be a strong woman, you can do or be pretty much anything you want to be.
Portland is a feminist haven where women-owned businesses, such as Wildfang, a gender nonconforming boutique, thrive. My feminist heart sings when I get to Portland. I just lose it shopping at many of the women-owned businesses getting feminist-themed t-shirts, phone covers, and anything else women empowering and women loving.
Then there’s the women-owned restaurants to food carts serving up amazing food, breweries, cafes, distilleries, and wineries, such as Hip Chicks Do Wines to the festivals from the Portland Queer Comedy Festival and Feast Portland, to name a couple. Portland has it going on.
That’s just within its borders.
Circling the city is more than 152 hiking regional trails with eight miles within the city limits. It’s only 2 miles and 15 minutes to Mount Hood by car for year-round skiing and an hour and a half to the Pacific Ocean for beach fun in Cannon Beach to Astoria.
Portland also has a great creative scene from art to music and intellectual scene with more than 50 percent of Portlanders holding PhDs, according to Statistical Atlas.
It’s easy to get around Portland by public transit, rideshare, or drive to any one of Portland’s 95 unique neighborhoods.
4. Argentina
Bursting with intense life, Argentina is definitely one of the most enticing countries in South America to visit with the tango, wine, food, outdoor adventures … ah, why wouldn’t you want to visit?
Despite the Latin machismo culture, women travelers feel comfortable traveling around Argentina, many have written on various blogs and travel websites. Along with machismo comes chivalry. It’s in the men’s blood. So, take advantage, it’s nice being a woman.
Argentina is relatively safe, ranking 66 on the Global Peace Index, but it’s also a Latin country and that usually brings Latin machismo. Interestingly, the country also ranks 36 on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index and 39th as one of the best countries in the world for women to live in by US News and World Report. Argentines are also happy people, they rank 19 on the Happiness Index.
However, Argentines might not be too happy at the moment as their country officially slid into recession at the end of 2018, making it a very good time to get that stamp in your passport.
Argentina is hoping visitors will help buoy the country through financial hard times by giving out incentives for travelers to visit the beautiful country with its wine (Mendoza), exciting city, outdoor adventure (hiking and rafting at Iguazú Falls and jungle or trekking in Laguna Torre or horseback riding through Patagonian Steppe), star gazing (the solar eclipse will be crossing the northern part of the country in 2019), and more. The government is giving out deals. The $160 Reciprocity Fee for Americans to enter Argentina instituted in 2008 was temporarily lifted in 2016 to encourage American travel to the South American country. Argentina is also waiving visa fees for other countries too. Check out what countries are benefiting. The icing on the cake now is the 21 percent refund on the rate of the Value Added Tax if you book a hotel.
5. Albania
Sandwiched between Greece and Montenegro on the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea, many women travelers have written about their nonexpectations for this European country that Lonely Planet calls “Europe’s final frontier.”
One of the poorest countries in Europe, many intrepid travelers have praised it as a gem in the rough. Infrastructure wise, Albania is lacking some basic necessities: power and orderly transportation systems are two of the main complaints from travelers. However, whatever the country lacks it makes up for with what it offers visitors not only monetarily, but culturally.
Albania boasts of three official UNESCO sites with five more sites that are on the UNESCO’s tentative list, it’s interesting culture and history with its blend of Balkan, Mediterranean and Italian influences and its archeological sites Apollonia and Butrint (to name two). The European country is officially in the process of becoming a part of the European Union boast of incredible scenery from its beaches to its mountains, picturesque postcard towns, amazing beaches, and a unique culinary scene and more importantly uncrowded, unlike Montenegro and Greece, to the north and south respectively.
Additionally, Albanian is putting women in charge. In 2017, women in elected office reached a milestone when 28 percent of Albania’s Parliament, the highest ever in the country which passed the Gender Equality bill in 2008. The bill established a 30 percent minimum quota for women representatives in elected office as a part of a partnership with the United Nations Women and partners.
Power isn’t only for women in politics, women’s businesses are also thriving in Albania, particularly women in tourism, and other women-owned businesses which made up more than 31 percent in 2015, reported UN Women.
Albania is also a happy country, ranking 13 on the Happiness Index. Happy people equal peaceful people, the country ranks 52 on the Global Peace Index.
6. Belize
Looking for an inexpensive Caribbean escape? Belize has it all – beaches, outdoor adventure, culture, archeological sites, culinary delights, and much more – without the crowds. Travelers can choose from the rouged to luxury accommodations where you are sleeping out in the heart of the jungle or waking up to the sound of waves lapping at the shore either at your own private island escape or within a unique culture.
The country is small, but it packs in a lot for visitors to experience. Belize touts having the world’s second largest barrier reef with rich marine life and the Blue Hole; Mayan ruins, Black Howler Monkeys, Green Iguanas, and other indigenous animals and birds that make it a nature and adventure lovers dream. Belize is home to nine of the 13 types of rainforests in the world covering eighty percent of the country and is home to nearly as many animals as Costa Rica, 4 percent of the world’s animals. The interior of the country is filled with caves the ancient Mayan’s believed led to the underworld. The country is made up of an interesting cultural cocktail of Maya, Mestizo, Garifuna, Creole, Mennonite and expats. In the near future, getting to the sites of Belize will be even easier than the backbreaking rocking and rolling on the rugged dirt roads due to the government heavily investing in the country’s infrastructure and protecting its ecosystems and marine environment.
Women’s roles in the country aren’t as advanced as in some other emerging countries due to heavy religious influences, but there are a few standouts from the famous Marie Sharp hot sauce and Mayan chocolate at AJAW Chocolate & Crafts to name a couple. There are programs developing at some of the women-owned resorts, such as the Mariposa Jungle Lodge, to help train women to enter the hospitality and tourism business.
Even better, a trip to Belize costs a fraction of the cost to travel to Costa Rica. An additional bonus is that everyone speaks English and it’s safe and super easy to get to from the states. Belize is a hidden gem that won’t be hidden for long. We highly urge you to go now while it’s still relatively unspoiled by mass tourism.
7. Lisbon, Portugal
A friend posted on Instagram over the summer, “What city is this? Is this San Francisco or somewhere else?” She was hinting that she was in Lisbon, which could be San Francisco’s twin city with its own “Golden Gate Bridge,” the 25 de Abril Bridge, that spans across the Tagus river connecting Lisbon with Almada. The bridge was built nearly 30 years after the Golden Gate Bridge.
Lisbon even has its own electric streetcars, its own version of cable cars and trams that transport residents and visitors to where they want to go up and down the steep slopes of the seven hills (same number as San Francisco). The hills are decorated by colorful houses, apartments, and shops topped off with white or Mission style clay roof tiles and offering stunning vistas and views from terraces known as miradouros, translated from Portuguese to English means viewpoints. However, given that San Francisco is 243 years young and Lisbon is at least 2,700 years old, it’s sufficing to say San Francisco flatters Lisbon and vice versa as both cities have their unique charms as they nearly mirror each other right down to its own histories of devastating earthquakes.
Foodies and culture vultures delight in Lisbon’s streets where the old world meets the modern world. Visitors mingle with locals atop hip rooftop bars and along the streets and the river bank at cutting edge restaurants experimenting and crafting the latest culinary trends to gourmet markets. The wine flows (you know the French, Italians, and Spaniards don’t entirely have a claim on wine, Portugal’s ports are famous worldwide) complementing the food. The party is on the streets from dusk to dawn as Lisbon doesn’t have a curfew or open container laws.
The arts are alive with new museums, such as the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, beautiful architecture, history, and culture.
The nighttime comes alive with an electrifying nightclub scene ranging from the intimate to the large dance halls along the river.
Lisbon is alive and ready to dazzle visitors who haven’t already fallen for the “Queen of the Sea.” This year, it will be easier for American’s to discover this European jewel as Portugal’s airline, TAP Air Portugal is launching inexpensive nonstop flights from several major US cities.
8. Italy
Imbibe the passion that is Italy. That’s what the lady novelist did in “A Room with a View,” the romantic English comedy by E.M. Forster that starts and ends in Florence. Its easy to lose yourself in Italy when everything around you is stunningly naturally beautiful and the food and wine are sinfully delicious. You name your place in Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice, the Amalfi Coast to nearly anywhere you venture to in the “boot” each city and town is unique and filled with a personality all unto itself. Not to mention the crazy passionately warm Italians.
Life is lived in Italy and everyone should experience the Italian way of living at least one in their lifetime.
9. Georgia, USA
There’s something about Georgia that is simply peachy. The Empire State of the South is rich and diverse in its culture with its history nestled firmly in the cradle of the civil war to civil rights to Atlanta’s industrial boom town to rising to be the cultural center of the South to charming cities like picturesque Savanah, Albany, and Athens to name a few.
Georgia offers so much for visitors to see and do from history to art and culture to food and beverages to the great outdoors.
In Georgia, history travelers can walk in the footsteps of Martin Luther King, Jr. throughout the state seeing sites where he crafted and tailored his thoughts and beliefs into his powerful sermons that moved a generation and generations after him.
In Atlanta, visitors can learn about his childhood at his birthplace to his rise to prominence preaching at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the same church his father delivered his sermons, and his final place to rest with his wife with Coretta Scott King at The King Center. Travelers can see King’s evolution visiting the First African Baptist Church of Dublin where he first won an award for a speech when he was a teenager to where he traveled with his message to Albany, Macon, Savanah along Georgia’s Civil Rights Trail. Visitors can dive deeper into the African American experience following his message that traveled to the small black town of Pin Point that the Gullah/Geechee Community call home and where Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas grew up and the baptismal river that is now a marsh where blacks took new members to be initiated into the church. They weren’t allowed to baptize them in the white church because they were black.
King’s message of freedom, justice, equality, and love is ever present and continues at the relatively new Civil and Human Rights Center.
Those who want to travel back further in time can visit six Civil War battlefields that serve as a reminder of a dark past.
Literature and movie buffs can see where Margaret Mitchell lived and wrote, “Gone with the Wind,” in Atlanta. They can follow the Gone with the Wind Trail to see the plantations that stared as backdrops and sets in the 1939 Academy award-winning movie with Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.
Fans of the silver screen big and small are flocking to Georgia to take tours guided by zombies and superheroes to see where their favorite reality stars from “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” live, work and play.
During the past decade, Georgia has become the “Hollywood of the South,” joining already established industries Coca-Cola, CNN, Chick-fil-A, the Centers for Disease Control and Delta Air Lines that call Atlanta home. More movies and television shows were shot in the Peach State than in the Golden State in 2016, Time Magazine quoted the Los Angeles Film Office. In turn, those movies and shows have turned out to be an incredible tourism campaign driving visitors to the state supporting local businesses showing off not only Southern charm and hospitality but Georgian’s creativity.
Hollywood has turned up the heat from Hotlanta to smaller picturesque postage stamp towns. Georgia’s small towns are getting some big city flare on its main streets thanks to chefs turning up the heat with nouveau Southern cooking. Southern brewmasters and distillers of spirits are giving locals and visitors something to imbibe with their culinary creations.
This is just scratching the surface of what Georgia has to offer visitors that makes the Peach State so interesting to visit.
10. Merida, Mexico
When planning a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, most people think about Cancun and the Mayan Riviera where pristine beaches line the brilliant blue waters of the Caribbean Sea.
If you aren’t a sun worshiper or beach dweller, what does a Yucatan vacation have to offer you? Merida.
The capital city of the Yucatan offers the perfect marriage between Colonial and Mayan cultures, art and culture, history and architecture, outdoor adventure and nature reserves, unique culinary delights, colorful markets and festivals throughout the year all set in a stunning and charming cobblestone city.
Just outside of the city, are ancient Mayan ruins Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, Mayapán and Dzibilchaltun that are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites and magic towns that have been designated to retain Mexico’s cultural and historic heritage.
Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy swimming in cenotes, like Cenote Xlacah, which is one of the thousands of cenotes that punctuate the Yucatan Peninsula and trek into the nature reserves where they will be able to observe the wildlife unique to the region. If you do want to go to the beach, Merida also offers powdery white sand beaches just like Cancun.
Merida is centrally located offering a good deal of flights from the US but it is still an affordable getaway.
11. Island of Hawaii
The island is newly changed following the Goddess Pele’s rage that wreaked havoc for months on the island starting in May. The natural furry was followed by Hurricane Lane in August. Now it appears that nature has settled down after a good tussle and life is beginning to resemble some sort of new sense of normalcy for island residents and visitors even as the lava continues to flow.
The fact is that the Island of Hawaii, commonly referred to as the Big Island, is a living and breathing example of geology and the development of the world we live in. This last big eruption of Kilauea completely changed the shape of the island creating a new area and even a new smaller island adjacent to the main island.
It’s an exciting time to visit the Island of Hawaii.
The West Coast is known for its island-style flashiness with the fashionable set and the East Coast is a destination for artists and healers attracted to its “hippie vibe.”
Bottom line, the Island of Hawaii has something for everyone from a fashionable culture to outdoor adventures or peacefully meditating in a lotus position on a lava rock overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Many of the places on the northeastern side of the island affected by the volcanic rupture, such as Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the famed Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market, finally reopened last fall.
The Island of Hawaii’s East Coast is typically wet giving way to its tropical lusciousness and relaxed vibe. This is where you truly unplug and get away from it all.
Aside from Kilauea and Mauna Loa, the island’s active volcanoes, it offers visitors other unique geological treats, such as unique beach experiences, and swimming with manta rays.
There are three different types of beaches on the island with one that is very rare in the world.
Venturing to the east side of the island, visitors can stop off at the green sand beach, one of four of its kind in the world, at Papakolea Beach, near South Point, the most southern point in the US.
Hawaii has a number of black sand beaches, but Punaluʻu Beach is the most popular.
As far as white sand beaches go, the popular beach is Hapuna.
While nature abounds on the East Coast, over on the West Coast in Kailua-Kona is more cosmopolitan with its big-name resorts and nightlife.
Popular among vacationers, despite its lack of sandy beaches, due to its thousands of years old volcanic desert and dry climate it has bounced back following the eruption.
Some of the best snorkeling is on the western side of the island. Not far from the lava rock beaches are trails hikers can trek into incredible valleys or up to amazing vistas with stunning views during the day and party into the night at local bars and nightclubs.
12. Nairobi, Kenya
It’s rare when the concrete jungle meets the real jungle, but that’s exactly what makes Nairobi so unique.
The bustling city has been rapidly growing with the population expected to reach 6 million by 2025.
Just as Kenyans are discovering the city and starting new and exciting businesses, tourism is jumping just as quickly, with tourism earnings up 20 percent in 2017, reported CNN. The numbers are anticipated to continue, even after the recent attack on an upscale hotel that left 21 people dead.
One of the city’s biggest attractions is its easy access to the big five. Thanks to neighboring Nairobi National Park immediately next door, the big five are roaming free for visitors to see during the day and head back to the urban jungle to dine, shop, and party.
The park isn’t the only reserve with close proximity to Nairobi. Visitors can go on an overnight safari at Maasai Mara National Reserve in southwestern Kenya along the Tanzanian border to see the wildebeest migration too. Anyone who loves giraffes can get up close and friendly with the endangered giraffe species, the Rothschild giraffe, at the Giraffe Center or book a room at the Giraffe Manor, like Ellen and Portia did last summer, and have breakfast with the long-necked mammal, or the OneFortyEight Giraffe Sanctuary, a new eight-room boutique hotel that borders the sanctuary, owned by Elizabeth Fusco.
When not out in the wild, travelers can check out the Karen Blixen Museum. Nairobi is also home to the “Out of Africa” author’s former house and coffee plantation. After changing ownership over the decades, the house was transformed into a historical treasure in the 1980s following the success of the Oscar-winning film adaptation of the book starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
Nairobi has a plethora of interesting museums and galleries dedicated to emerging artists, such as the GoDown Arts Centre, to national artists, but to learn about Kenya’s history check out the Nairobi National Museum.
Fashionable travelers might enjoy shopping at the Designing Africa Collective, that sells apparel created by makers from all over the African continent, and the Kazuri, a bead workshop that employs more than 340 women who hand-craft the colorful beads, jewelry, and ceramics, reported Travel and Leisure.
It’s no wonder that Nairobi is ratcheting up traveler’s hit lists as a hot destination, with all this city offers travelers and now it’s easier to get to Kenya from the states. This past October, Kenya Airways launched its first direct flight from New York to Nairobi. What are you waiting for?
How We Select Destinations
Girls That Roam selects destinations to travel to in the New Year based on a number of factors. These factors include: random polling of select galivanting Girl Roamers throughout the year, speaking with travel experts, locals, people from the destinations we are considering, and people who have traveled to the destination recently if we haven’t visited ourselves; political and cultural events in 2018, upcoming major events and festivals, travelers’ travel patterns and trends from 2018, and lastly destinations that have caught our editor, writers’, and photographers’ attention.
We also examine the ease of traveling to a destination based on how convenient it is to get there and travel around, safety factors, friendliness toward women locally and cost.
When considering destinations, we like to present a well-rounded selection with a dash of exotic and glamour for women to aspire to journey to in the year.
Book your next trip to make a difference with Girls That Roam Travel. Contact Heather Cassell at Girls That Roam Travel at 415-517-7239 or at .
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