Boldly Go Solo

How to set out solo, but not travel alone: Trips, tips and ideas for the active traveler.

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Category: -Spain

  • Farmers markets around the world

    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…

  • Back to (language) school

    This is the second year that fall has come around and my thoughts have turned to…Guadalajara.  The foods, the family I lived with there for a few days and the Guadalajara sights. The San Juan de Dios Market. (I just recently finished the vanilla I brought home from there, which reminded me of my trip…

  • Paradores for solo travelers in Andalusia, Galicia and other Spanish cities

    I'd heard about paradores, but had never been clear how they'd fit into the solo traveler's world. So after hearing from Holly Maguire of escapio, I offer the following Q & A.  (Below: Parador de Siguenza) What exactly is a parador?   Traditionally, a parador would be a place to stop off for the night on…

  • Spain wins the World Cup and I wish I’d been there!

    Spain has won the world soccer championship and I have faces of Spaniards in my mind rejoicing. Not from the television. Not because I was in South Africa (I wasn't) But from a week I spent in Spain teaching English to Spaniards, in a little town several hours from Madrid. Which I did on my…

  • More mangling the language in English and other tongues

    "Don't worry," my new Spanish language partner explained when we arranged to meet for the first time for an exchange of English and Spanish lessons and he wanted to let me know how prompt he is. "I am sharp with the time." I laugh, but I'm sure I've cracked up many a Spaniard and South…

  • Alone with Gaudi in Barcelona, solo traveler finds love. Of architecture, that is.

    Architecture buffs might consider traveling alone through Barcelona. Fellow travel writer Barbara Wysocki found that she needed time to soak up all that the famed Catalan architect Gaudi had to offer. So it was nice not to have to convince anyone else to come along. And she didn't have to. She was in Spain by…

  • Win a phrase book to help you banter with the locals on your next foreign adventure

    Share | http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4b5880982c6b8af7 Don't you just hate it when you're in a bar somewhere in Rome or Florence or Barcelona and you just can't think of how to say, in the native language, "I would love to, Handsome?" Or, "That shirt doesn't go with those pants?" Yeah, me too! That's why you might want to…

  • Biking in Madrid and how to spot a fellow solo traveler

    How to spot a solo traveler? "You can always tell us apart by overuse of the self timer on our digital cameras or from the outstretched arm." This line by a fellow solo traveler made me laugh. I have to admit to having a self portrait from the outstretched arm technique. I also have to…

  • Kick, throw or spectate. Sports brings solo travelers together with locals

    Sports fan? It’s the perfect entree for a solo traveler. Perhaps you play a sport. Perhaps you’re a big fan of a sport. Either way, it’s something you have in common with a large group of people in other countries.   Sports bring travelers and locals together in several ways, according to a post in…

  • Juan and the Bean Store: A vacation parable

    I've been reading lately about a trend called "slow travel." The gist of it is that instead of the "If It's Tuesday This Must Be Belgium" style of frenetic travel, people are encouraged to slow down. Spend a week in one place. Live like a local, instead of a tourist. Don't try to see absolutely…