Boldly Go Solo

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

recent posts

about

  • Louis Oosthuizen and I end up on the golf course during the very same month!


    Tee Time Miniature Golf, boldlygosolo, Ellen Perlman, solo travel I'm no Louis Oosthuizen and I don't even play him on TV. And I've never been anywhere near the British Open.

    But I did play a mean game of mini golf the other day, the kind that world champion miniature golfers might play in countries around the world.

    Tee Time Miniature Golf in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, is one of a handful of regulation mini golf courses in the United States. A story on the course will be appearing in The Washington Post in a few weeks and I'll post a link to it here when it's published.

    But basically, this is not one of those goofy courses with green felt lining each hole and loads of pirates and sharks and polar bears that don't play a role other than to entertain by hanging above or near the holes.

    (more…)

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


    Soccer_on_tvellen_perlman_boldlyg_4 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 own. (And wrote about in "Sports brings solo travelers together with locals.")

    2010 FIFA World Cup. Soccer. Futbol. Spain. The Netherlands. The countries and the sport blend in a rosy, nostalgic blur in my mind because I've been to these places and met some of the people and it all has a deeper meaning than a game on TV. Ah, the richness of travel.

    (more…)

  • Just say no to the solo travel naysayers


    Egypt 2 216, Philae Temple-Ellen Perlman I like this post on banishing those naysayers who insist you better not travel solo.

    You tell them you're traveling solo and they get all negative about it. (Maybe they're jealous, the writer says.)

    Or they'll tell you you'll get hurt. You'll get lost. You'll get kidnapped, injured or die. (Fact is, that can happen at home too, she points out.)

    My favorite line is about the "what if" people: "But what if a stranger who has the Ebola virus jumps in front of you and
    starts bleeding all over you, while trying to poke you with a knife and
    steal your camera?"

    Yeah, that would be a problem. I personally would try to avoid those people if possible.

    Got naysayers in the vicinity? I say, come up with great reasons to travel alone and ask them why they don't do it. Try to stump them. Could be fun.

    Photo: Ellen Perlman. Philae Temple.Egypt.


  • Happy Fourth of July to you too Denmark

    74128_4thofjulyparty_aalbor It was during a hitchhiking trip from the Netherlands to Norway that I learned that Denmark celebrates an American Fourth of July. Well, in its own Danish way.

    And has done since 1912. In fact, it's the largest Fourth of July celebration outside of the United States.

    The celebration is held in Rebild Bakker, a 190-acre national part that Danish-Americans donated to the Danish government. It's a place where Danish-Americans gather each year with family and friends to celebrate Independence Day and remember those who emigrated to America.

    (more…)

  • Shakepeare’s Hamlet at Virginia theater festival

    Hamlet rehearsal, Sweet Briar College-Ellen Perlman Get thee to … no, no, no, not a nunnery.

    Get thee to the Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival 2010 in Amherst, Virginia, for a staging of Hamlet. Well, less a staging, than a "fielding." The show will be performed in front of an old dairy barn and you, the audience, will sit on a grassy hill. In the field, as it were.

    If you have to travel from, say, Europe, you don't have much time. The performances begin July 14 and end on the 25th. But all you folks in the Mid-Atlantic states have a chance. Think you've already seen Hamlet? But have you seen it set in Civil War Virginia?

    I didn't THINK so! And being solo would not be a problem in the least. I could practically guarantee a friendly crowd, relaxed and happy on a summer evening. If you find yourself with no one to talk to, try catching fireflies as the sun goes down! There are tons of them out there.

    For a taste of what to expect out of the performance read this story I wrote about the Endstation Theatre Company that appeared in today's Washington Post.

    Photo: Ellen Perlman. Actors Catherine Took as Guildenstern and Walter Kmiec as Hamlet, at rehearsals.

  • One half of a couple travels solo in Japan

    I landed upon the blog of a woman who normally travels with her kids and her "other half," who she says takes good care of her by packing and doing laundry for her. (Is he for rent?)

    Recently, she had the opportunity to travel in Japan on her own for two days. "Big deal, right?" she writes. "But to me, it was a
    big scary deal."
    Geishas by Bob

    She hadn't traveled alone before, not even on a business trip. She feared having no one to talk to and no one to remind her of the essentials, like taking her meds.

    Her blog post on solo travel is long so I'm going to pull out the pertinent bits, including that she
    has also had "rip-roaring fights" on some of her travels with this treasure of a packer and
    launderer, so     remember that nothing is perfect and score one for solo travel versus angry partners.

    So, she finally gets to her destination and realizes she not only has the whole room to herself, but can soak in the tub for as long as she likes without kids banging on the door. She can surf the net without anyone nagging. She can have a meal without having to cut up meat for a child or referee a fight.

    (more…)

  • 10 travel tips for great adventures, come what may


    Georgia Aquarium-Ellen Perlman The following 10 tips come from the Trusted Adventures travel alliance,a group of nine travel companies. The travel tips are meant to help people have a rich travel experience, come what may.

    Unexpected events may include changes in plans, volcanic ash, oil spills and other "have-to-roll-with-the-punches" events that all travelers should be ready to face and deal with.

    "How mentally prepared you are can make the difference between a meltdown and a good laugh," says Brad Moss, executive director of the alliance.

    Meltdown people, you know who you are! But travel usually comes with a degree of delay and uncertainty and you shouldn't expect perfection. So think about how to plan for problems and ease the discomfort should they arise.

    10 Tips to assure a better vacation:

    1. Plan extra sightseeing activities and build in some extra time, in case you face delays, miss connections or lost baggage. (If in Atlanta, check out the aquarium!)

    2. Make sure you have a carry-on bag with a change of clothes, food, books or other entertainment, chargers and anything else you can think of that will keep you busy and happy when you face delays or other snafus. For me, those snafus have been lost luggage. Too many times. So the change of clothes is mucho important.

    (more…)

  • Any piano players out there with a yen for solo travel?


    309022_pianoak_saopaulon_dest_2 Piano players! Come quick to New York City.

    As of today, 60 painted and decorated free public pianos are set up in 50 places throughout the Big Apple, from the Metropolitan Museum to the Coney Island boardwalk, according to a blog post with a great headline: "New York City plunks 50 free public pianos."

    Does anyone else see how great a solo trip this is for the musically talented? One, you have a goal: Get to NYC to show off. Two, you start playing and there's no way in the world people aren't going to gather and talk with you.

    (more…)

  • High Museum of Art in Atlanta presents cool European design exhibit

    DeSantillana.Bambu Worth visiting: The High Museum of Art's exhibit on European Design Since 1985: Shaping the New Century. In Atlanta.

    I was going to blog about the High Museum but my friend Diane beat me to it. So I'll just point the way to her post called "Way High Design at Atlanta's High Museum."

    She mentions how excited I was to find two pieces in the museum that I actually own versions of. It's true!

    A Philippe Starck tea kettle and an Ikea watering "can" (made of a plastic or polymer of some sort. Mine's green but it comes in several colors. Very inexpensive.)

    It's exciting to see things you own in a museum exhibit. Well, not always. Once, I saw the Texas Instruments calculator my father had owned in the Philippe Starck tea kettle-Ellen PerlmanSmithsonian's Museum of American History. Mostly I felt old.

    But I was intrigued by the High Museum exhibit and the experience was enhanced by feeling a part of it. I have to confess, though. The kettle was never really my taste. It was a gift. But it has elicited more comments that anything I own. Some sneers. Some compliments.


    Bengtsson.SliceChair Diane runs a photo of the kettle that the museum provided since we weren't allowed to take photos. Here is the kettle on the stove, where it should be.      In someone's kitchen.

    In this case, mine.


    Photos: 

    Bambu vases by Italian designer Laura de Santillana. Photo by Ivan Baj for Arcade-Italy

    Hot Bertaa Kettle by Philippe Starck. Photo by Ellen Perlman

    Bengtsson Slice Chair. Photo by Martin Scott-Jupp

  • Blue Ridge theater festival in Amherst, Virginia, goes comic then tragic with kid’s show in between


    The Complete works of William Shakespeare Tell me if this video of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is as funny to you as it is to me?

    I saw the whole show yesterday in Lynchburg, Virginia, so I loved watching the backstage shenanigans of these three guys on video. I felt the personal connection.

    Renaissance Theatre, Lynchburg, VA-Ellen PerlmanSo, you know how usually when you're by yourself you tend not to laugh out loud? Well, I was all by my lonesome at the theater yet I laughed out loud. A lot. While sitting next to strangers.

    And so did most everyone else. These guys were working the room and boy, they killed.

    Even during intros. "Was there a long line for the ladies room," actor Michael Stablein, Jr. asked after intermission. Waits a beat.

    "I HATE that."

    Okay, was that "you-had-to-be-there" humor? Or does a joke about a guy concerned about the ladies room line translate?

    (more…)