Boldly Go Solo

I scour millions of pages of the Internet every day so you solo travelers don't have to. Below are some finds on lessons learned, cheap tips traded and discussion boards discussed:

Fodor's recently posted an entry on lessons learned from travel in 2009. One person learned from travel to third world countries how "very blessed with riches and people" she or he was. 

Another learned that people can "communicate without any common language." Any English speaker who has traveled in a non-English speaking country understands the beauty of this. Smiles and pointing fingers can accomplish a lot.

Lonely Planet came up with 27 travel tips. One of the many tips I liked was to take your hobbies with you. A big soccer fan? Get tickets to a game while in Buenos Aires. An architecture buff? Take a walking tour when in a city like Chicago. Pursuing your passion while abroad is bound to connect you to people.

And honestly? If I go to one more church or temple…

These are the sights most often touted by guidebooks. The churches and temples. They're fine. Nice to see. Especially if you happen to be a church or temple buff.

But I don't go to them in my own city. I'd rather dig deeper and get behind the tourist sights. I've seen way too many small churches that didn't need seeing.

Check in with solo sites such as Tripadvisor's solo travel forum. Just as a for instance, an entry on Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, says that the city comes highly recommended for solo travelers, especially female solo travelers. The writer says it's one of the friendliest places on earth and that you never feel like you're alone.

Now, I can't guarantee that a PR person didn't write this. Do your research when it comes to any of these things. But at these various forums, people will pipe up and agree or disagree and you can glean something from the conversation.

A Fox news piece says "tweet and greet" if you want to travel solo for less. You can "follow" (as it's called when you connect with other people on Twitter) hotels, airlines, travel companies and restaurants to be notified of deals. 

I'll keep looking for more solo travel insights and tips for you from around the globe. Come back often!

Photo: Ellen Perlman. Waterfall on the way to Hana on Maui, Hawaii.