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Boldly Go Solo
How to set out solo, but not travel alone: Trips, tips and ideas for the active traveler.
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Short tours can do wonders for alleviating loneliness when you're vacationing alone. If, after flying to your dream destination, you start to feel lonely, you can join a group activity for a day or two and have real live conversations. Something beyond, "Does this bus go to Sintra?"
I recently went on an "urban foraging" walk in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. (My cousin asked if that meant dumpster diving!) My tour guide Kathy and I tasted our way through a tea shop, a French cafe, a BBQ place called Pig, a chocolate store and more, talking the whole way along.
Usually she won't go out unless she has a minimum number of people, but it was early in the season and she made an exception this time, me being a travel writer and all.
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I've read a lot of great travel tips over the years. And I've probably forgotten just as many. So I always like reading stories on how to be a better traveler.
I've learned through experience to bring an empty water bottle to fill after going through security. That saves paying exorbitant prices to buy and throw out yet another plastic container.
For years, I've taken along photocopies of my passport in case I lost the real one. Having the passport information is supposed to speed up the replacement process.
Recently, I was intrigued by an item about an inflatable footrest for airplane travel. Seems like a godsend. I'm always looking for someplace to put my feet when I'm trying to sleep on an overnight flight.
On a site called Bookmundi, the post "The Ultimate Travel Hacks and Tips" provided many useful tips.
For instance, have you ever noticed that the more you return to an airline site to check fares for a particular flight, the higher the prices seem to go? You're not imagining things. Bookmundi suggests using "incognito mode" to browse. Who knew there was such a thing?
The section on airport hacks gave me several new ideas. Like downloading an app called Flight Board so you know your connecting flight's gate without ever having to stop at an airport departure board. Or sticking a "fragile" sticker on luggage to get your bags treated with care – and possibly taken off the plane first.
Bookmundi also offers useful tips for being on the road. Such as downloading offline maps. Or making sure to have the apps best for traveling internationally.
I learned that one in Italy a few years ago when I discovered WhatsApp was the only thing on my phone that worked in the rural village where I ended up. Having it was a lifesaver. I could have wandered around that place for days before being able to get in touch with the friends who were waiting for me.
Check out all the tips on the site to find some you might not have thought of. Google Goggles anyone?
(Tip 10 under the "On-the-road Travel Hacks and Tips")
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The Matador Network wrote a post recently about farmers markets around the world, from Dane County Farmer's Market in Seattle to Mercado Central in Valencia, Spain, and Rialto Markets in Venice, Italy.
I'm a fan of food browsing. I love walking up and down every aisle of shops in other countries to check out unfamiliar products, the foreign-language packaging of familiar products and tasty foods that could be gifts to bring home.
Yet I have mixed feelings about visiting farmers markets when traveling. With no kitchen, I can't do anything with the gorgeous fruits and vegetables I spot.
On the other hand, these markets are places where locals shop, and they often feel less touristy than other places in highly visited cities. And there are often nonfood items for purchase, including handmade items. Knitted scarves. Ceramic mugs. Framed drawings.
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You say you don't want to travel solo. But suppose your choice of travel companions includes the faffer, the whinger or the waverer?I enjoyed this post on travel companions by a writer for a New Zealand site who detailed the challenges of the "eight worst types of people to travel with."
The faffer takes forever to get out and go in the morning. The whinger won't stop complaining. And the waverer can't make a decision, come hell or high water. (No, I didn't know what these words meant either…)
Then there's the fussy eater, the drunk, the person who needs to be pampered, the person who is stressed by everything. I'm sure you know other types of people whose habits could lessen the joy of your trip, if not ruin your travels altogether.
These and the other aggravating travel companions will detract from a trip. They may even cause you to miss things you specifically went to see. What good is that, after you've spent your hard-earned money to have an adventure?
Other travel companion issues:
You may end up traveling with someone who wants to eat in the finest restaurants when you want to eat street food. Or someone who wants to buy all meals from supermarkets when you want to taste the local cuisine at highly recommended spots.
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I hadn't heard of the Dingle Peninsula until a few years ago during a "girls weekend," when a friend presented a bottle of Dingle Original Gin from the Dingle Distillery for another friend and I to taste.Then when I was researching a trip to Ireland last year, the travel literature suggested that if visitors had time for just one tour in the west of Ireland and had to choose between the Ring of Kerry and the shorter ring road on the Dingle Peninsula, the choice should be the latter.
And so it was, although it would have been nice to be able to do both.
I recently wrote about my trip around the Dingle Peninsula for the Boston Globe. I didn't travel solo, but it's a place you would enjoy as a solo traveler – if you're willing to drive a standard shift car on the left-hand side of the road.
Or you could join a guided tour of the Slea Head drive and let someone else do the driving. A quick web search shows plenty of companies that will take you around this Irish-speaking region.
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I was looking for an Irish town to spend a view days on my own last April, during a two-week trip around Ireland with a rotating roster of travel companions.
Kilkenny stood out.
The city an hour-and-a-half south of Dublin is known as the design center of Ireland, but also has a medieval castle, a 17th-century Irish merchant's townhouse and a 13th-century cathedral.
So much to see.
And I met the nicest people at the pubs, in the restaurants, at the local theater.
Read about my visit to Kilkenny in this Sunday's Washington Post.
Photos: Ellen Perlman. 1. Medieval Kilkenny Castle. 2. Matt the Miller's Bar and Restaurant, overlooking the River Nore.
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Solo on ThanksgivingWhy did Shannon spend her Thanksgiving break solo? “I wanted to go with someone but no one wanted to go. I just went.”
That’s the spirit!
Shannon’s family is in California and she lives in D.C. It doesn’t make financial sense to fly to California at the end of November and again for Christmas just a few weeks later. That means Thanksgiving isn't a family event for her. “I never go home for Thanksgiving."
And where we work, Thanksgiving is a four-day holiday, so why not zip off for a little rest and relaxation somewhere new?
"It looked cute."
Shannon happened upon Quebec online. "It looked cute," and it was French-speaking and she thought it would “feel like you’re in a foreign city,” without the effort and expense of flying to someplace in Europe. In fact, the official website reads, "Quebec City: So Europe. So close."
It didn't disappoint.
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They say that if you walk late at night, up Hog Alley, a short, steep street in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., you might see a tall black man, dressed like a gentleman from the 1800s, pacing up and down. If you get close enough, he slowly lifts his head to show piercing blue eyes. But when he lifts his head a little farther, you see blood dripping from a scar that goes from ear to ear. . . .Agghhhhhhh!
This story continues in The Washington Post under the headline, "An eerie twist on 'living history.' "
The "eerie twist" came from my visit to the O' Be Joyfull ghost tour in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
The Harpers Ferry Ghost Tour
Rick Garland, the guide of the ghost tour in the historic area of Harpers Ferry related stories about the ghosts of people who actually died in the area, many during the Civil War era. Some Confederate soldiers, some abolitionists, some young boys sent to help the soldiers.
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We got our first crisp day of autumn today here in D.C. With the beginning of fall, some people's thoughts turn to vacation plans for the cold months ahead.
Maybe it's a trip to someplace warm. In other cases, the choice is winter sports.
For those thinking about a ski vacation but don't have friends who ski, here's a post I wrote about how a ski-loving friend dealt with the situation:
Although my friend Elaine is skiing in Park City, Utah, alone, she's making friends right and left. Okay, they're friends for five minutes, but what's the difference? She's being entertained, being social and not feeling lonely.
"I have five-minute relationships with people on the chairlift," she says. "Then it's, 'Have a nice life.' " And off she goes, carving her way down the snowy mountainside.
I worried that Elaine, who has gone solo on plenty of biking, skiing and other group adventure tours, would not have a good time going skiing for a week in Park City, Utah. All by herself. In a condo without her pals.
Instead, I'm envious of her vacation. No, it isn't perfect. Nothing's ever perfect. She misses the camaraderie from the time a couple of years ago when she, our friend Andrea, and I traipsed out West together, eating out, waiting for each other on the slopes and laughing. A lot.
Boldly Go Solo 