Boldly Go Solo

<–Turtle sighting!

I did not go solo on a 15-mile hike on Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday. Six of us set out on the annual cross-island walk. That turned into a whopping baker’s dozen during a mid-morning break. That’s because my friend Joan, whose house we were staying at for the weekend, knows about a zillion people.

But we did take a solo traveler under our wings. As we
waited at Duarte’s Pond for our 9 am start, a petite woman walked up to a clump of us. She told us she was there on her own. So we enlarged our circle, introduced ourselves and drew her into our conversation.

Her background fascinated us. Joan Ambrose-Newton has traveled all over the world for work. And for play. For 10 years, she was a freelance
war correspondent for Pacifica Radio and the BBC, CBC and NBC. She was jailed for a short while in El Salvador for something she didn’t do.

In her lilting accent, this South African-born
writer explained that she likes solo travel because she "can’t be bothered" with people who don’t want to take off to the places she’s interested in. That includes her husband.

He doesn’t
like to travel, so she goes without him. “I don’t want to force people to do
what they don’t want to do.” On the Martha’s Vineyard hike, she met and talked to about a dozen new people. That wouldn’t have happened if she’d come with friends, she pointed out.

The hike was leisurely and beautiful. And long. We walked through land bank properties that the island has saved from development, and took breaks at a school where a soccer game was underway; at a farmer’s market that was just ending; and on a wooded path along Tea Lane Farm.

At lunch, where we ate sandwiches we’d brought along, Ambrose-Newton mentioned a great and hilarious tip for dining alone. She calls a restaurant and reserves a table for two, to avoid getting seated near the bathroom or kitchen.

Then, after she’s been seated for awhile, she tells the waiter that the creep she was waiting for must have stood her up. "Every waiter in town is going to be so nice after that," she laughed. Ingenious! Although, I’m not sure I have the nerve. Or that I’m a good enough actress.

She wishes more women would go away on their own. "But they don’t," she said. "They’re always together in threes and fours. How
does anything get decided?" After my weekend, staying in a
house with six women and dining with more than a dozen at two meals, I can
tell her how.

A few people decide what the group is going to do and everyone
else goes along. Nothing wrong with that. And it was fine with me for this beach weekend.

But it’s not going to work on a longer trip if there are places I particularly want to see. I’m not good about insisting people do things my way. I agree with Ambrose-Newton that it’s better just to go on my own and make travel decisions each day, according to my mood and desires. And the amount of sleep I’d like.

Photos: Ellen Perlman

1. Turtle on path. 2. Early in the hike. 3. Later in the hike.