Boldly Go Solo

So how did Sheara do, leaving her husband behind and
traveling on her own in Barcelona for a couple of days?
In case you’ve forgotten who Sheara is, she’s my friend from Massachusetts who I offered 10 1/2 tips to, back in early March. She wondered what to do in the evenings, alone in a big, foreign city.

Sheara has returned from her Big Adventure. And she gives it a huge thumbs up. She admits she
was feeling some apprehension when she was winging her way over to Spain. She doesn’t usually travel alone.

But the minute she stepped off the plane, the edginess vanished. Completely. There she
was, in a bustling city. It wasn’t the vague, unknown foreign place that she
couldn’t quite see in her mind. The reality was motion and color and
conversation and bustle. People and buildings. She looked around and said,
“Wow, here I am.”

It was a little frustrating not being able to talk to the
cab driver, who spoke only Spanish, or maybe Catalan, mainly because
Sheara’s so nice and she felt a little rude not being able to say, “So, how’s
it going?”

He couldn’t understand her at all. She had to show him the written name of Hotel Jazz. But that worked. She arrived
with no problem.

And then it was time to walk. And walk and walk. And here’s
the glorious part about being on her own. When Sheara traveled with her
daughter and niece, they didn’t want to walk and explore quite as much as she did. 

When the three of them got lost, Sheara wanted
to find her way with a map. They wanted to hail a cab. They got tired
sooner than she did and wanted to stop walking. Sheara compromised
during that vacation.
Majority ruled.

When she was on her mini-vacation alone, however, she alone was the majority. “It was exhilarating,” she says. She wandered and changed
direction at will. Whatever she fancied.

She stumbled upon some school children
playing dodgeball in a courtyard, and later learned that that spot was used for
executions long ago. She spotted bullet holes in the walls.

 She continued on
through a Gothic section of Barcelona  and went to the Picasso Museum.
She never thought, “Oh, I wish someone were with me,” she says.

Toward
nighttime, she realized she was tired from a night on an airplane. She felt like she didn’t need to paint the town. Especially since, in Spain, the "painting" doesn’t start
until  9:30 pm or beyond. "I felt I could give myself some slack. I’d been up all night."

So, she enjoyed a meal at a falafel stand. Eating and people watching. She wished she were a little less shy. And that she were
more fluent in another language. Because she couldn’t imagine herself striking up a
conversation with strangers.

Instead, she spent a lot of time observing. And thinking. And eating chocolate croissants for breakfast, apparently.

And, she can report that she never felt
lonely or scared or upset. But she did agree that if she’d had more days ahead of her, she would have signed up for something that would have introduced her
to other travelers.

But for two days, it was exciting
to be on her own. After that, she met up with her son and the Spanish
family he was staying with. It was good to connect with people.
"It’s a nice feeling knowing you’re going to be with people in a few days. I think you need that."

I know a lot of solo travelers do
just fine continuing on their own, but I’m more like Sheara. I like to
find groups or tours. I usually don’t want to be
alone for more than a few days at a time. But I definitely want to be alone for some portion of any vacation.

Photos: By Sheara. Market and Gaudi sculpture