Boldly Go Solo

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

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  • Silver lining for solo travelers in all this economic mess, says Budget Travel

    Wild feline, portrait in snow-Ellen Perlman
    If tour operators and cruise lines are having trouble filling slots in the near future, solo travelers may have luck in getting the awful, horrible (the word “dreaded” has become overused) solo supplement waived or lowered. So says Budget Travel at CNN.com.

    I’ve written here before about the single supplement but I like to return to the topic any time I find useful tips I haven’t touched on before. And sometimes to repeat tips for new readers who may not have gotten to all my previous posts. (What? Get crackin’! You still have 158 posts to go…)

    A summary of some Budget Travel tips:

    Book early.
    As in six months in advance. Some companies waive the supplement for the first few people who sign up.

    Wait until the last minute.
    Hm. “But didn’t you just said to ‘book early?’ ” Yes, well, the closer to the trip it gets, the more likely a tour operator is to cut deals, if it’s a choice between leaving a spot unused versus cutting a solo traveler some slack.

    Negotiate.
    Sob stories are good. Being friendly can work too. Small operators usually have more flexibility to offer deals that large ones.

    Travel off-season.
    This one’s a no-brainer.

    Develop a relationship with a travel agent.
    If you’re a regular cruiser, for instance, an agent who knows you can give you a heads up when there’s a deal to be had.

    Use a European operator
    Europeans are not as accepting of the Snow bust-Ellen Perlman
    lousy, rotten (but not dreaded) single supplement. And they’re more cost-conscious overall. Companies that cater to them take that into account.

    The problem I see for Americans is that the weak dollar may make such trips more expensive overall than an American-based trip. Even when a single supplement is charged. So tread carefully.

    Photos: Ellen Perlman. Snow carving festival, Jackson, New Hampshire. A fabulous cross country center.

    Meant to inspire you to plan a winter getaway – either TO the snow or AWAY from it.

  • Vacation layaway. Reserve a spot on a cruise or a tour, then pay in dribs and drabs.

    Speaking…again…of grim financial news…

    If money's tight, or you don't feel comfortable dropping a lot of cash right now, how about paying for your next vacation in increments?

    Were you ever the type to put money into a Christmas savings account (do they still have those?) or buy clothes on layaway? Now you can do it with vacations.

    At least with the two travel companies that came up with the idea. You reserve the vacation you want with Gate 1 Travel or Gutsy Women Travel, (see my previous post on Gutsy Women) a year or more in advance, with a small down payment. Then you pay in bits, whatever amount you want, up to 45 days before the tour departs. That's when full payment is due. It's more like four months in advance if you reserved a cruise rather than a land tour.

    Meanwhile, you get to lock in the price and the date you want. Of course, you're up the creek if something happens to the company between now and then…unless there's something in the fine print that says otherwise. Be sure to read carefully.

    I've never been the type to plan that far in advance. But I have friends I know would jump on this type of offer. So here it is, for all you plan-way-in-advance solo travelers.

    For the rest of you, tell me what you think. Gimmick? Or great idea?

  • Options for solo travelers, from the Los Angeles Times

    The Los Angeles Times recently ran a story about solo travel, offering options that "won't break the bank" for single travelers.

    They range from Elderhostels to volunteer trips to cruises. Read it and book…or jot down travel ideas for the future.

  • Solo travelers: You should be traveling … NOW!

    Can you say "shoulder season?" Summer's over. The holidays aren't here yet. Deals abound.

    Tucson Mountains-Ellen PerlmanI know a  lot of people are skittish about spending on "luxuries" such as travel, what with the financial meltdown around the world and all. Understood. But if you're up for traveling, you can pay for a trip without totally depleting that pile of bills that's now under your mattress instead of in your ailing bank.

    You can find large discounts on package tours now. When the kids are back to school and fewer families are on vacation, prices drop. Ten percent, 20 percent and more. And, of course, tours come with people who will keep you, as a solo traveler, company.

    Just be sure to call and find out the demographics of the trips you're interested in. Ask if any other people are going solo. You don't want to end up with all 80-year-old married couples (not that there's anything wrong with them) if you're 25.

    As to individual countries, the best value for the dollar at the moment is Egypt, according to a poll by the U.S. Tour Operators Association of "hot" 2008 destinations. Gulp. Yah, that's pretty far to go last minute. Other good values for travelers with dollars are China, Turkey and the United States.

    South America wasn't on the tour operators poll. Maybe because the association's members don't have as many trips that go there? From what I know, Central and South American countries generally are a good value, all year round.

    Get to it. Times-a-wastin'. Don't let life pass you by.

    Photo: Ellen Perlman. Tucson

  • Traveling alone? Phone for a friend in Chicago, Houston or New York

    Traveling alone in Chicago? You literally can order a "friend." Pick up the phone and call Chicago Greeter and you'll be reserving a local resident to show you around town for a few hours. For free.

    The Chicago Office of Tourism matches visitors with residents knowledgeable about their city. They'll take you along the famous Chicago lakefront or to the city's parks, museums, boutiques or ethnic neighborhoods. You choose. In_the_subway, NY

    They're not professional tour guides. They're people who love their town and want to share it. They give you a personalized orientation, depending on your interests. And will spend two to four hours walking around, pointing things out. Or explaining things you'd like to know about the city.

    I plan to take the city up on this the next time I'm in Chicago, despite the fact that I already HAVE a Chicago friend who's given me a tour of the very cool Millennium Park downtown and some ethnic neighborhoods. But she's not always around to give me personalized tours!

    Houston and New York

    Call Houston Greeters and have a volunteer take you to a Houston Astros baseball game. Or a walk around the neighborhood. Or on a pub crawl.

    New York was the first city to have a volunteer welcome program for visitors. Big Apple Greeters have been taking people around their city's diverse neighborhoods since 1992. About 300 volunteers are ready and waiting. And they speak 22 languages. Book your airline ticket, submit your request for a greeter and have a grand time!

    Any other cities out there that offer a greeter service?

    Photo: Big Apple Greeter in a subway station, courtesy of the Big Apple Greeters Web site.

  • Dance, dance, dance in Washington, D.C. And bike, hike and tour with locals.

    Visiting Washington, D.C., solo and looking for company and entertainment? How about swing dancing on a Saturday night at a beautifully restored dance venue called the Spanish ballroom? A poker game? Nightclub parties? Embassy affairs? Mountain hikes? A bike ride? A haunted tour of Washington National Cathedral? Jackson statue, front of White House-Ellen Perlman

    These are the types of things available to Washington, D.C. residents at night and on weekends. They're equally available to out-of-towners. But they're not usually listed in the tourist publications. 

    These are the types of things I wish I could find when traveling solo to cities all over the world. How can I find out where single people are going for entertainment in Barcelona or Sydney or Toronto?

    As a service to those of you travelers who plan to visit Washington on your own, here are a few Web sites to check out to find diversion during your stay. And to connect with locals:

    Learning Escapes: an outdoor recreation club for singles, including one-day horseback riding, hiking and boating adventures.

    Potomac Pedalers: a bicycling club. You'd have to rent a bike first!

    Things to Do: a social networking group that attracts single people.

    Professionals in the City: another social networking group that attracts single people.  
    (Also in Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia)

    Jitterbuzz: lists the best swing dance and lindy venues for the week. Many, many people show up alone and many places give lessons during the hour before the dancing.

    If you can share what a visitor on his or her own can do for fun in your town, let us know.

    Photo: Ellen Perlman. Atypical Washington photo – a statue in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House.

  • Three- and four-day active vacations in France’s Loire Valley, the Canadian Rockies, the San Juan Islands and more


    Backroads, an active travel company, has come out with an idea whose time has come…but whose price is high: Short getaways. As in, three- and four-day trips.

    Biking in the San Juan Islands. Hiking and biking in Bryce and Zion national parks. Biking part of the Natchez Trace, a route from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. Biking in France's Loire Valley.

    Field of sunflowers, Loire Valley, France

     

    Maybe life's too hectic sometimes to take off for a full week but you can grab a long weekend here or there. Or maybe it's easier for "newbie" solo travelers to go on a short vacation if they don't feel like they'll be "stuck" for a whole week. 

    I envision these offerings as trips you can tack on to one end or another of a business trip. Or as a way for a solo traveler to enjoy the company of strangers for a few days and then wander off on his or her own, feeling comfortably familiar by then with the destination.

    I seem to recall that when VBT Bicycling Vacations
    was called Vermont Biking Tours  (or something like that), they also offered biking
    weekends in Vermont. I don't see those shorter tours on
    its Web site now. Perhaps it didn't work as a business model or
    just wasn't as popular as week-long vacations. We'll have to see how
    Backroads experiment works out.

    The problem for me with the Backroads trips is the price. A three-day weekend of biking in Banff and Lake Louise, in the Canadian Rockies, costs $1,598. Another $500 for the single supplement. Plus travel to and from the starting point.

    (more…)

  • Alone on the Flying Trapeze…well, not quite

    Travel-kid-trap
    Swinging on a flying trapeze was never a childhood fantasy of mine, so I'm not sure what I was doing leaning off a platform 24 feet in the air, holding a 7-pound bar in my right hand.

    With my left hand, I clung to one of the slender vertical cables that
    supported the platform.

    The instructor, who was poised next to me on the tiny
    plank, was telling me to step off into thin air before grasping the trapeze
    with my left hand    .

    And I was thinking, "You're outta your mind." Can you spell, "hyperventilation?" (You can read the rest of the story here.)

    That wasn't my favorite vacation ever. I was at a Club Med in Playa Blanca, which has since closed down. It was one of the few times I didn't meet any interesting people to talk to, let alone connect with kindred spirits.

    And the sun didn't shine until the day I was leaving. But that's the chance you take when you travel. Hey, you can have a rotten time when traveling with a friend or spouse too.

    The trapeze most certainly saved the day. I loved being able to do that. And it got to the point where several of us were going to perform on the final night of camp…uh…I mean the week's vacation.

    I was nervous and excited at the same time. I think I was more worried about having to wear a white leotard – yikes – than having to do a "catch," that is, swing by the hands of a guy who is upside down, knees wrapped around the bar. In front of hundreds of people.

    Then it rained. And rained and rained and rained. We're talking mudslides and power outages. There went my moment of circus glory. But, like others can always say they ran a marathon, or swam the English channel, I always have my story about my time in the circus. Ahem.

    Although the Playa Blanca Club is no longer around, Club Med offers trapeze and other circus activities at several of its clubs.

    Photo: Courtesy of Club Med. If you look closely, you'll see the teacher is holding a little kid mid-air, getting ready to let him or her go.

  • Travel: Capturing your thoughts on paper

    "Travel can make you a poet. Travel can make you spiritual."

    This is how Rick Steves, the traveler and guidebook writer, starts a story in the Kansas City Star Sunday.

    "But without capturing your thoughts on paper, the lessons of travel are like shooting stars you just missed."

    Steves started taking notes during his travels even before knew he was going to pursue travel writing. Now, and for the rest of his life, he can revisit places he's been just by picking up a notebook.Sheep_northern_irelandellen_perlman

    For me, keeping a travel journal, as I've done on most trips since I was 19, helps focus my thoughts about what I'm seeing. And, like it does for Steves, the notes capture memories and details for all time. What was the name of that restaurant I ate in? And what part of town was it in? Ah, yes, here it is, in my notes. Huh! It was in Iceland, not Greece. How about that…

    As a solo traveler, the notebook also provides company, in a way, and a pleasant activity, while I'm sitting at dinner in a restaurant. Or while I'm relaxing or people watching in a park.

    And, funny enough, the notebook often captures others' interest. What is she writing? Is she taking notes on what I'm doing? Is she a restaurant critic? Let them wonder. It's nice to feel intriguing sometimes…

    Photo: Ellen Perlman. Random sheep. Northern Ireland.

  • The downscale California spa perfect for putting the pieces back together

    Prologue: The heart-wrenching break up. Leslie Keough's 30th birthday was coming up and her boyfriend was going to take her to Palm Springs. Then it all "kind of fizzled."The_spring_california_spa


    But we don't focus on the prologue here. We move right along to the restorative part of things, where solo travel is the balm to the soul. Or comes to the rescue. Or however you want to put it.

    All Leslie knew was that 30th was drawing near, the boyfriend was a goner and she didn't feel like explaining quite yet what had happened. Not to her girlfriends. Not to her mother. Not to anyone.

    Off she went to The Spring, a secluded resort in Desert Hot Springs, California. By herself. She hadn't known about it before finding it during her research. Now she raves about it. 

    Although it's set in a neighborhood, once you're inside the walls, it's completely secluded. Part of its beauty is the simple, clean lines of the place, says Leslie, an artist.

    It has only 10 rooms, so no busy comings and goings. Just nice people, she says, wandering around in robes. "You enjoy your solitude without ever feeling lonely." 

    The best part was being decadently alone. As in not
    having to talk to anyone or make many decisions. Just do what she wanted to do, in a new place. "I wanted to be in an
    environment inspiring to me that didn't remind me of him."

    Once she
    found it, she burrowed in. Spa guests are served a continental breakfast. Other than that, there are kitchens provided or people go out to eat.     Which
    means, very few deadlines. Or set times for things. There's all day to relax under palm trees or drift off in thought or sleep in a hammock. In between spa treatments.

    Leslie's room had no TV or phone. That may not suit
    everyone. But it helped her get started on a project she'd been
    mulling for a long time.

    Seven years ago she was in a serious motorcycle
    accident and was hurt badly when she was propelled off the back of it. Without getting
    into detail, she suffered hemorrhaging, burns, road rash and
    more. She had no short-term memory for six months.

    About three years ago, she decided she wanted to write a book about what happened. While she was at the spa, without the constraints of daily life,
    work, friends and family, she finally had time to sit down and start to tackle it.

    "I decided to work on my passion project." She
    wrote a book proposal while at The Spring. Her stay "allowed me to
    focus on my project and my personal goals. It allowed me to
    reprioritize things."

    She also spent her time in the mineral pools, having spa treatments, sleeping well and meditating. She lost several pounds. And she felt some of her anxieties fade away amidst the grass and the flowers of the unpretentious resort. "This spa was perfect for what I needed."

    Photo: The Spring, Hot Desert Springs, California