Boldly Go Solo

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

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  • Egypt. A civilization dating back to Third Millennium BCE (before the common era)

    I want to say that I'm winging my way to Egypt as we speak. But we're not speaking and I don't know when exactly you're reading this. So I'll say this: I'm headed to Egypt Monday night, where I will be for two weeks.Pyramids-cairo-egypt

    Yes, Egypt. Land of pyramids and papyrus shops, Memphis and museums, falafel and feluccas, Cairo and camels. I'm hoping beyond hope to twitter daily to the Web site (look up to your right and you will see twitter feeds.) So keep checking in to the site.

    As for the solo part…I am going with a bunch of other travel writers but I haven't met most of them and I don't know who I'll hit it off with or who I'll be eating dinner with each night.

    So it's like any other group trip I go on. I'm going alone, letting someone else do the planning and hoping that I will make friends. And, ideally, laugh my head off with them. Barring that, find reasonable people to pass the time with.

    But if not, as my friend Stuart says, I have books, an iPod and my imagination to entertain me in between sightseeing. Egypt most definitely is not the type of place I'd tour on my own. Many of my readers are much braver souls than I. To repeat, I'm your average Jane, a working stiff who does travel writing on the side and takes vacation time in spurts, where and when I can get it.

    That is, I'm like most people who go to work somewhere five days a week, and haven't set aside months or years to travel the world.

    Anyway, I hope I can keep you posted during the two weeks. Let you know about the people I've met. Tell you about what I'm seeing. Fill you in on any tips for solo travelers. I've heard there's no Internet service on our three-day Nile cruise so there will definitely be a gap in reporting then.

    So far the extent of my language skills: "Fein hammam." Or, "Where, toilet?"
    And, "shokram." "Thank you." 

    Caio for now.

    Photo: Crashsystems

  • The Beaches of Sarasota, Florida

    Birds and green ocean-Ellen Perlman
    Siesta Beach on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida, has white powdery sand so fine, it's like flour. I was in Sarasota with two great friends, to celebrate our birthdays. One afternoon we watched the sun go down in the West, despite the fact Florida's on the East Coast.

    I forget that it's possible to see the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean if you're in the right spot. Well, okay, the bay gulf that leads to the ocean. Most of the time, we here in the mid-Atlantic get treated to the sunrises, what with facing East and all.

    Another day, we walked along Lido Beach on Lido Key, where we discovered several different species of beach birds, one with a
    yellow tuft distinguishing it from your average Jonathan Seagull.

    What struck me was that despite being together, there were a lot of silences as we strolled along the shore, stopping to look at shells. And it occurred to me that beach walking is a fine, contemplative activity for solo travelers. For short periods of time.

    Meaning, I might get lonely on an extended beach vacation but I love spending hours at the beach on my own from time to time. Especially if there are little towns nearby or easy bike rentals or other entertaining activities. Birds in Sun-Ellen Perlman

    But for the most part, I'll stick with a Club Med type of place if I really want to spend a whole week by the sea. That is, someplace where I'm certain to meet people. Otherwise, I think time would stretch way too long. What have others found?

    Photos: Ellen Perlman

    Lido Beach, Sarasota, Florida

  • Solo travelers, and others, listen up: hotel rooms for a buck.

    If I could pay a dollar a night for a hotel room, I wouldn't complain about the fact that as a solo traveler I have to pay the dollar, while a couple only pays fifty cents per person. You know what I'm saying? (What am I on about, you ask?)

    Starting today, January 26, and continuing for two weeks, LastMinuteTravel.com is selling hotel rooms worldwide for a dollar a night. But just during a 15-minute each day. You can book up to seven nights but you must do so within that window.Hilton Hotel, Santiago, Chile-Ellen Perlman

    The catch is, you don't know which 15 minutes in any given day it will be. If you sign up for emails, you will receive hints.Then again, you'll also receive emails you may not want.

    My guess is that this is all about getting traffic to the site now and in the future, combined with the fact that hotels are awash in rooms because they're not filling up due to the terrible economy.

    But so what? A room for a dollar is a room for a dollar. Good luck!

    Photo: Ellen Perlman

    Hilton hotel room, Santiago, Chile

     

  • The narrowest “street” in Canada is in Victoria

    Fan Tan2-Ellen Perlman
     Enjoy a stroll down the narrowest "street" in Canada via the video below. It used to be a gambling district, filled with opium dens along with its shops and restaurants. Fan Tan1-Ellen Perlman

    I HAD to go alone. It was too narrow to walk side by side with anyone! Luckily, I was in Victoria on my own, exploring the nooks of the Vancouver Island city.

    Download Fan Tan Alley

  • The President walks the streets of Washington

    From Old Post Office-Ellen PerlmanWant to take a walk in President Obama's shoes? That's the story I wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer. It appeared in Sunday's travel section. 

    I walked the 1.2 mile route alone, taking note of what all the buildings were on each side, and scooting to the top of the Old Post Office Pavilion to take photos of the Capitol.
     
    Despite living in Washington for a long time, I learned many new things, hiking the street as a tourist.

    I'd never bothered to walk up the steps of the Canadian Embassy before, and found a crazy interesting sculpture depicting legends of the Haida people of the Northwest Coast.
     
    I discovered where the Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission are – not that they're so tourist related – and took note of some statues along Pennsylvania Avenue I'd never paid attention to before. 

    White House-Ellen PerlmanIf ever you're in Washington and want to play newly inaugurated president, walking from the swearing in to your new home – the White House – take a copy of the story and follow along!
     
    Photos: Ellen Perlman
     
    1. The Capitol from the Old Post Office Pavilion
    2. Rear of the White House

  • Two for one? Hey, how about one for half?

    A cruise line is heading to the Arctic, with a "limited-time offer" of a two-for-one package deal until February 15th. These deals never cease to irk me. Which I'm sure they wouldn't if I were part of a couple that wanted to travel to the Arctic together. It would sound like a great deal.

    Fine, for the twosomes. What about the rest of us? What about the couples who don't travel together? (Yes, it happens.) I dare anyone out there to give the company a call and say you want to go, but you're going solo. And want to know what kind of deals YOU can get when traveling alone.

    Tell us what you find out and I'll write about it here. 

  • Barrel racing and pole bending at Kay El Bar Ranch in Arizona

    Horsesign
    This city slicker played rodeo queen once. And it wasn't on Halloween. I was at the Kay El Bar Ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona, which is home to several horse ranches.

    I suited up with a neck hankerchief in the ranch's colors and tried my hand, and my horse, at barrel racing, pole bending and a relay race. It was an inter-ranch gymkhana, or dudeo, that was run like a rodeo.

    We, and our ranch's horses, all loaded up in cars and trailers to get to the arena at another ranch. And get this. I won a red ribbon in the relay. (However, the credit all goes to the speedy cowboy on my team, and Stormy, my horse, who had no "slow" gear.)

    Sad to say, Kay El Bar no longer does the dudeo. It was a hassle and there were safety concerns. Although the women who are at the ranch during Women's Week get to practice their barrel racing and other skills at a neighboring arena. But that doesn't provide the adrenaline of competition.

    But "regular guests" still get to sort cattle. If six to eight people are up for it, the ranch can get some cattle sorting teams together. "It's a blast trying to get the horses, riders and cattle all on the same page," says Alyson Smith, the ranch's assistant manager.

    Solo guests will be embraced by the ranch and its guests, she says. Even if the guests are all mean and rotten, (she didn't say this)there are always the ranch hands and owners to hang with. "We're still a good place for adventures singles," Smith says. "Everyone becomes part of the family and each person has their story to share."

    (more…)

  • Last minute solo adventure trips

    I heard on the radio the other morning that hotels in New York are offering terrific deals on rooms. One such deal was a rate reduction to $100 from $500. In that case, I won't complain about the fact that two people pay the same rate as one. Sorry I don't have more specifics about the hotels, but if the idea of treating yourself to a trip to New York is appealing, call around. And negotiate!

    Or how about a last minute deal on a trip to South Africa or Vietnam or the Amazon? G.A.P. Adventures has a page of last-minute deals. I need to look at these last minute sites more often. Postcards

    Because G.A.P.'s trips are inexpensive, I'm guessing their customers skew young. These are not your luxury trips. But that's fine by me. Just get me on the river or the hiking trail.

    I particularly like this line in the description of a 15-day trip to Costa Rica: "Hitting some of Costa Rica's best natural highlights, this 15-day tour provides ample opportunities for hiking, horseback riding and swimming."

    Wish I could go! But there are only so many vacation weeks in a year…

     

  • Irish jokes, accents, food, songs and solo travel

    "My
    father was a big whiskey drinker. He said that when he died, he wanted to be
    cremated. It took them three days to put the fire out."  Joke, courtesy of Hugh, my bus driver during a tour of Northern Ireland.

    When someone ran out in front of our moving bus to cross a Belfast street, he said, "I guess that fella's tired of living." Signs near Giant's Causeway-Ellen Perlman

    I
    craved a seat next to Hugh on that trip. He was alternatively funny and
    hugely informative. The major problem was understanding what he was
    actually saying. His Irish English was so strong, we sometimes had to
    get him to spell things so we'd know what he was saying.

    See that tar? That what? That tar. What's a tar? Not tar, tar. Spell it. T-O-W-E-R. Oohhh. Tower!!

    I
    wouldn't have experienced Hugh without signing up for a group trip and
    going on my own. If I'd traveled through Northern Ireland with friends,
    I would have heard a lot of American conversation, including my own.
    Who needs to travel for that?

    (more…)

  • Hoping your celebratory Hogmanay lasts until Ne’erday and beyond

    Happy Hogmanay. 800px-Edinburgh_Cockburn_St_dsc06789

    One New Year's long ago, I was at a bed and breakfast in Edinburgh, Scotland. The snow prevented a boyfriend and me from heading up to Aberdeen by train. All the restaurants were closed, except the Chinese ones. So that's where we ate dinner.

    It wasn't easy understanding the dialect of the folks in  town. When our host told us it was snooie oot, we looked at each other. Then back at her. And just nodded. I don't remember how long it took me to figure out she'd said, "it's snowy out."

    That was a year of firsts. A junior year abroad. A new culture. Trips to the Easternmost, Southernmost and Westernmost points in the United Kingdom. And loads of stays in hostels and bed and breakfasts.

    That night in Edinburgh was my first New Year's in Scotland, obviously. I intended to celebrate Hogmanay at midnight and American New Year's at 5 am. Good in theory. Tedious and tiring in practice. Didn't happen.

    Where's the "solo" part in this? Just that I would recommend a bed and breakfast for the warmth and comfort of a "family" away from home. Even if it's just a warm body talking to you when breakfast is served.

    But our host in Edinburgh did more than that. That evening, she brought out Scotch in a decanter on a tray with a doily. And offered us home baked cookies and other snacks at midnight. I seem to recall a crackling fire in the sitting room.

    Not a bad place to be, even if I had been alone. And perhaps she and I would have chatted more than we did that night.

    To all my readers, Feliz Año Nuevo. Bonne Année. (Add your language here)

    And happy, happy New Year. And for those of you in winter climes, enjoy the snoo oot there.

    Photo: Cockburn Street, Edinburgh. David Monniaux