Boldly Go Solo

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

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  • Borneo: A trip that changed a life

    Young_orangutanjohn_trybus
    A solo trip to Borneo sealed the deal on a dream job for John Trybus. Not too shabby for a few weeks away.

    After college, John, 22, was searching for a full-time job. He didn’t get the one he expected to. But rather than feel sorry for himself, he took it as a sign. And an opportunity to travel for awhile.

    He learned of a "trip of a lifetime" to Borneo, and signed up to go orangutan trekking with Dr. Birute Galdikas. She’s the world’s leading expert on orangutans. She has spent more than three decades living with and studying them at a reserve called Tanjung Puting Reserve.

    John’s trip to Borneo, sponsored by the Orangutan Foundation International, was not out of the blue. He had worked at National Geographic and had always been fascinated by the culture of Asia. And he’s been interested in primates and their natural world since he was a child. Ever since seeing "Gorillas in the Mist," the movie about Dian Fossey.John_trybus_with_orangutan2

    The Borneo group was fantastic, he says. He was younger than the dozen other people on it, but everyone was nice. And intriguing. "You would expect a trip like this to bring an unusual type of person and it did."

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  • The risks, and many rewards, of trusting the locals when traveling

    On the Web site "Travelers Notebook," Tim Patterson writes about "10 Travel Risks Worth Taking." Several of them don't interest me. (Decline anti-malaria medication. Brush your teeth with the tap water.) But one I particularly subscribe to: Trust in the kindness of strangers. Apple_hotel_amsterdamellen_perlman

    Patterson says that almost all the people he meets in his travels are "good-hearted, hospitable and sincere." I have found the same to be true. He says it's "tragic" when travelers' paranoia interferes with their chance to make connections with the locals.

    People who shy away from strangers tend to be the ones who hang around in tourist zones, he adds. And those are home to the highest proportion of "scam artists, petty thieves and dodgy characters who prey on naive foreigners."

    He makes a good point. I not only have trusted strangers in foreign lands, but often counted on them. For instance, as I've said before, I stayed in a Dutch hotel owner's home when he messed up my reservation and he couldn't find me another room in the city.Ricks_living_room_amsterdamellen_pe

    I let a French Moroccan airport worker drive me from the Paris airport to a hotel he knew of on the outskirts of the city. I was young. He got interested. I got nervous. But thankfully, he took "no" for an answer.

    Whew. Close call. But then again, I never really felt in danger. Maybe because I was sure I could deck him if I had to! He was far from football player sized…

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  • 10 great places for solo diners to pull up a chair

    Hey, did you know that this week is National Singles Week? Yeah, me neither. And says who?

    Anyway…to "celebrate," Marya Charles Alexander of solodining.com shared with USA Today her list of favorite places to eat alone. Read it and salivate.

    I don’t see myself traveling specifically to Lynchburg, Tennessee, or Birmingham, Alabama, for the chance to eat at a restaurant that’s good for solo dining.

    But in case you happen to be going to one or more of the 10 places she mentions, have at it.

  • Surfing, stretching or salsa-ing in Spanish

    Whoa, slow down calendar. I’ve got vacation days piling up and no vacation planned. Meanwhile, I’m only allowed to carry over five days into next year. There is nothing worse, in my mind, than wasting vacation days by taking off and staying at home…not that I’ve ever done it.  Costa_ricaby_jeepeenyc

    When it has come to planning vacations I’ve made rash decisions. Spur-of-the-moment ones. Off-the-wall ones. But never have I let vacation days wither on the vine. At least, not for an entire week.

    The vacation idea that formed in my head about a week ago, and has been solidifying since, is a trip to Costa Rica or Guatemala to take Spanish classes. I wrote about my brother’s trip to Costa Rica but now I think I want to do something different. That is, ever since I landed on the AmeriSpan Study Abroad Web site.

    I’m intrigued by their offerings. Not only is it a one phone call type of vacation, which I often relish, but the site has a category called "Language and Fun."

    For example, if I choose Costa Rica, I can combine Spanish with surfing, Spanish with yoga or Spanish with digital photography at Jaco Beach, a premier surfing beach. What a great idea! Especially for a "want-to-order-two-things-and-share-them-because-I-can’t-decide-and-I-want-to-taste-both" type of person like me.

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  • A spa in California, the land of sunshine

    In Ojai, a charming old California town crammed with art galleries, is a spa called The Oaks. Margaret Lukens, from the San Francisco area six hours away, booked a visit for this month, having so enjoyed her first trip. Though married with grown children, she often travels solo, especially to spas.The_oaks_hiking_group_on_trail

    The Oaks is gracious but also casual, she says. "No competition for the latest designer workout gear here." Sounds good to me.

    Last time, Lukens stayed in the main building with its Spanish style decor. This time she treated herself to a small private cottage and brought along books to indulge in during her down time.

    Lukens, who does business coaching and consulting, takes relaxing spa classes, such as yoga, and less typical ones, such as West African dance and qigong, (which is spelled any number of ways, but has to do with working with the body’s energy). The spa offers up to 16 exercise classes a day.

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  • Canada: The dinner companions just appeared

    Red_fish_blue_fishellen_perlman
    I travel solo with the assumption I’m on my own. But often, companions appear from nowhere. On my last night in Victoria, B.C., I went searching for a new take-out fish place I’d read and heard about. It’s called Red Fish Blue Fish and it is down at the Broughton Street Pier.

    Couldn’t find it. I entered the Blackfish Cafe – right protein, wrong color – and asked. No wonder I couldn’t find it. It’s hidden off the side of a ramp that goes into a parking lot. Of the seaplane airport. You can walk right by it from above, thinking the only thing down there is the sea and a dock.

    The restaurant is only about the size of a metal shipping container. Actually, it’s exactly the size of a metal shipping container. Because it IS a metal shipping container.

    It’s the ultimate in recycling. Don’t throw out and melt down and recombine materials into something else. Just use objects as is. Which is Taconesellen_perlman_2
    what Red Fish Blue Fish did. Impressive, in a mighty funky way.

    I walked up to the "window" and ordered a smoked tuna tacone and a salmon tacone, with a side of "mushy edamame" – soybeans smashed a bit instead of whole – and coleslaw. (In Britain, I think "mushy peas" are a familiar dish, yes?)

    The shipping container concept was highly amusing so while I waited for my food, I took photos from all sides. A man sitting on the pier with his wife, waiting for his fish and chips, asked me if I wanted a photo of me in front of the restaurant.

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  • Three trip suggestions for solo travelers, in Canada, Ireland and Italy

    Basil_garlic_tomato_ellen_perlman_2
    The title of a story in yesterday’s Calgary (Canada) Herald was, "Solo Travel Not So Lonely After All." The writer describes three separate trips: cooking in Sicily; hiking in Ireland and going to a spa on Vancouver Island.

    ALL of them appealed to me. Now I just need the time off work and the money to pay for them all. The usual problem.

    In case the link to the story goes dead, the Web sites for the trips are: Sicily, Italy; Ireland and Vancouver Island, Canada.

    Photo: Ellen Perlman

  • Active vacations for the not quite as active solo traveler

    Over 50 but and energetic and rarin’ to go? I found this blog post today that lists the "top" five trips for 50+ travelers. Who decides what’s tops? You can decide whether it’s just a sales pitch. But what I like about the groups they chose is that they’re either active or educational.

    The problem is, I don’t view 50 as "old," or an indication that someone has slowed down. Nevermind. If you feel you ARE in that category – not old, but desiring a slower pace, perhaps – these are worth looking into.

    The tour companies are Eldertreks, Walking the World ("for those who are 50 or better"), 50plus Expeditions, Senior Women’s Travel by SWTTours and Smithsonian Journeys.

  • Da train, da train…riding the rails in Canada

    Talk about the Wild, Wild West. While traveling across rugged and mostly rural Canada, Al Stewart shot a bear. From a moving train! Just this year!Bearal_stewart

    Okay, so it was with his camera.

    And, maybe it wasn't exactly from a moving train but from a car in a park in Whistler. Standing still. Details, details.

    The point is this. Stewart, who is retired, loves train travel. In particular, the Rocky Mountaineer. If you've never heard of it – and I hadn't – it's because you're not Canadian.

    The Rocky Mountaineer is owned by a Canadian company, and it travels coast to coast through Canada. The train, that is, not the company. It sounds spectacular, when you consider the natural beauty of that part of North America. Photos on the Website give you a taste of the possibilities.

    Mountains_and_clouds_reflected
    For Stewart, the draw is the chance to take photos. "I have no problems traveling alone. The big thing is, I want to get pictures. I want to get pictures at 5 a.m. and be out there before the sun comes up. So traveling alone's not bad."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bucket_List

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  • The world’s view on dining by yourself

    View_from_point_no_point_restaurant
    Still chicken about dining solo? Read the Fodor’s Website thread about how others feel about dining by themselves and what they do to alleviate their discomfort.Point_no_point_restaurant

    And if you comment, tell them boldlygosolo sent you! They’re expecting you. (See my post there from September 10)

    Photo: Ellen Perlman.

    1. View from Point No Point Restaurant, Vancouver Island, B.C.

    2. Front, Point No Point Restaurant, Vancouver Island, B.C.