Boldly Go Solo

The New York Times ran a story today called "One Is No Longer the Loneliest Number." It says that travel companies increasingly are "courting" solo travelers. The piece mentions companies such as Intrepid Travel, which is offering singles-only trips and Absolute Travel, an agency specializing in customized luxury trips that will begin a service pairing compatible travelers seeking travel partners. 

These are not new concepts. I did a solo bike trip with Backroads a decade ago. And travel-partner matching services have come and gone over the years. But it’s nice to learn that more companies are aware of the existence of solo travelers and are offering them options.

Still, I will reiterate some of my basic beliefs about solo travel:

    1. A trip purely for solo travelers is bound to have a "meet market" feel to it. It won’t be as dramatic as a night at a singles bar, but people WILL be scoping out the possibilities.
Continued…

2. You can comfortably go solo anywhere you want, at any
time you want, with any tour company you choose, at any price range. You just
need to make some calls and get some information about who you would be
traveling with on the week you’d like to go. If there are no solos that
week, and that’s a problem for you, ask the company to put you down as a tentative guest and then
take it upon yourself to check back to see if some solo travelers have
signed up. Or ask the company to call you if some do.

About the pairing of travelers… I would shy away from that,
although it may be something you’d be interested in trying. I once got excited about a group that was forming in my area, started by someone who wanted to find travel partners. The fantasy was far superior to the reality. I would not have
wanted to travel with any of the complete strangers who gathered at the restaurant that night to discuss travel options.

Regarding pairing people up, I find traveling as a twosome difficult in the
best of circumstances. That’s a lot of together time, no matter how far back
the friendship, or the marriage, goes. If things go sour, you’re stuck with each other
until the flight home. And on the flight home. And perhaps in the cab from the airport.

I like group travel because if one person
gets on your nerves, you move on to the next one. You have the
security and company of people at dinner, with a different
array of dining companions at each meal. Or, you could wander
off on your own as you please without insulting anyone, or having to
report in with a particular person.