There are times when the state department says not to travel to a place, but I'll look it up and find out for myself. For years, even Bali was off the list because they had been bombed. I totally ignored that.

There were times that the kids were upset I wasn't there, those three times a year they needed me. The rest of the time, I'm sure that I wasn't in their thoughts.

Even here, in the U.S., I walk my daughter's dog and I look for interesting people sitting at a picnic table and I walk over with my white hair and I ask, "Would you mind if I sat and rested here for a minute?" Nobody would refuse that.

If you don't talk to strangers, your life is so limited. If you're careful about what you eat, you'll never try anything adventurous.

Eat where the people eat, not the hotels and touristy restaurants. If a local teacher makes $50 a month and they're living decently, see what they do.

Stay away from Europe, stay away from Japan, Australia. If you go to the Western world, you're gonna pay more money. You can spend five months in Bali for what you'd spend in one month in Europe.

I don't worry about being a woman alone out there. My advice to people is to smile a lot, talk to strangers, accept all invitations and eat everything you're offered.