Boldly Go Solo

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

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  • Hit the Beatles Museum in Liverpool, but go alone to get the most out of it

    Cilla Black was a hat check girl at The Cavern in Liverpool, where the Beatles played in their early years. She was also a friend of the band’s. In fact, she debuted on the British singles charts in 1963 with a song given to her by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

    Those are the facts. The juicy bits I got from Phil, my Beatles_museum_entrance_ellen_perlm guide at the Beatles Museum in Liverpool. He told the story of Paul McCartney asking Cilla out. Apparently, she couldn’t make up her mind.

    Finally, Lennon sputtered, so Phil says, "He’s not asking you to "f***ing" marry him." It was the little push she needed. She said yes.   Beatles_museum_photos_ellen_perlman

    Phil is a fount of "useful" Beatles information. He’s a Liverpudlian and grew up around the same time John, Paul, George and Ringo. And he knows many of the people who hung out with the Mop Tops before their hairdos were a topic of conversation worldwide.

    For instance, he said that Ringo was in the hospital a lot as a kid and missed many school days. So a friend helped teach him to read and write. That friend also is a guide at the Beatles Museum.

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  • Sure, solo travel is all fun and games until someone puts an eye out

    Would you prefer 12 safety tips for solo travel or 40+? Now, you don’t have to choose! Get all 52 plus!

    In the past few weeks both a blog and a newspaper have offered up ways for solo travelers, and women in particular, to stay safe and have fun while traveling.

    Some suggestions from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

    -If the person at registration says your room number out loud during check-in, ask to be reassigned. (As frequent travelers know, hotels these days write the room number down on a little card and say, "this is your room," while pointing at it. That way, lurkers and creeps and encyclopedia salesmen don’t know where your room is.)

    -If you fill out a breakfast room-service card, mark it for two guests, or better yet, call room service in the morning. (Except if you’re in a hurry because it generally takes awhile to get food after calling.)

    -Don’t leave plastic key cards behind or toss them in the trash. The magnetic strip can hold valuable personal information. (I didn’t know that!)

    From Travelhacker:

    -Buy something in a local store and use the plastic bag with the store’s name on it, instead of a nice purse or backpack, to walk around the city with. You will look less like a tourist.

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  • Table for one, and I don’t care who’s looking

    Early in my career I went to Atlanta on business. I didn’t know anyone in town so I was on my own for dinner. I could have grabbed a burger but hey, the company was paying. So I treated myself to a nice dinner, or rather, I had the company treat me to a nice dinner. It was at a quaint little restaurant that served peanut soup. I’d never tasted peanut soup and had to have it.

    I told the hostess, "just one," and followed her upstairs. The dining room was crowded. Ugh. I felt all eyes on me. I imagined them staring in pity. Pariah in the room! Let’s all stare at the pariah!Who_says_eating_with_others_is_alwa

    Of course, no one was judging. They were busy eating and talking to their companions. Or maybe they were judging. But so what? What were they saying? "She’s all by herself?" I knew that.

    Why is it so hard to dine alone? It’s the mystery of the ages.

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  • Believe it or not, some of us PREFER to travel solo

    "I love all the amazing people in my life, but sh**, sometimes a sista needs a break. Between all the drama in the workplace and life in the urban jungle, finding time, space and peace for yourself is harder than ever."  –Danielle

    I’m not a ranting kind of person, so this post on a site called, "Gerard Butler After Dark," amused me to no end. The attitude in her diatribe practically peeled the white off my rice.  She continues:

    "All I want is some R&R in a lovely place to unwind without all the ass hat drama that traveling with others can entail. I mean, come on. We all know the drill and have horror stories about people we’ve traveled with."

    Hm, isn’t there a comma between "ass" and "hat." Just kiddin’…

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  • Solo traveler dreams about future trips. And just might take one or two.

    Chairlift_1
    For me, love of travel includes daydreaming about where I might go next, and what I might do. At the moment, I’m in Park City, Utah with friends. We’ve skied Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons. The snow has been awesome. (that’s ski-dude speak for "awesome"). So we’ve been having a great time. Except for the crazy $79 a day lift tickets. Youch!

    In between slaloming down mountains (in my intermediate sort of way) I’ve been thinking how fun it would be to try snowboarding. In October, I met someone who works at Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont. She told me that several times a season, the resort offers special packages for women to take snowboarding lessons over two, three or five days.  Snowboarder

    I’ve looked it up online and it looks pretty reasonable. A little over $300 for two days, including lift tickets, lessons, breakfast and lunch daily and video analysis of one’s technique. And an optional morning stretch class. Although, those are midweek prices.

    Still, for me, Vermont is a whole lot closer to home than the West Coast, so a trip of a couple of days isn’t out of the question.

    Continued…

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  • Girl’s Night Out, stretched to a weekend, or a week, or more

    Many tour operators offer women-only trips. One major advantage that I can see for solo travelers is you’re definitely not going to be the only single person with a bunch of couples, no matter what. 

    I have never been on a woman-only vacation. Except, of course, when I’ve arranged to go away with my own friends. As a solo traveler, my first choice would be a mixed group. But when I read the "why’s" on some of these websites, I can understand what the attraction is.

    Men sometimes like to go away with "the guys." For that guy bonding thing. This is the female version, says the Adventurous Wench website. Another thing. Since women tend to be supportive, rather than competitive, they will feel less pressure to keep up with the head of the pack on any kind of active vacation. And something else I never thought of – for married women who want to get away without their husbands from time to time, this can be a comfortable option. Both for the husband and the wife.

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  • Row, row, row your raft

    I talked to my friend Laura into going alone on a river rafting trip. We were in our 20's. I'd loved my trip and insisted she would have a great time too. Risky recommendation, I suppose. I couldn't guarantee her happiness.Orion

    Her trip was on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho with Holiday River Expeditions, the company I'd gone with. Recently, I asked her about her memories of that trip. "It was one of the travel highlights of my life."

    The only other solo travel Laura had done was to visit a
    friend who worked at Club Med. Mostly, she'd traveled luxuriously, with
    her parents, to ski resorts in Europe.

    The rafting trip really
    was her first ever on-her-own trip where she wasn't meeting up with
    anyone familiar. She was nervous about the whole thing. The idea of an
    adventure vacation, with a bit of roughing it, was a new concept. No
    little bath soaps. No comfy quilts. "I didn't know what to expect," she
    says. "I don't know what possessed me to do it."

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  • Take this fear and shove it

    Man_studying_map_in_front_of_mural_
    Virtually everyone who travels alone feels apprehension before a trip.     The difference between the solo traveler and the dreamer who never gets out the door? The ability to push past the fear.

    Even veteran travelers admit to experiencing that dread. The following question appeared recently on a listserv for travel writers:

    "Every single time I get on a plane to jet somewhere new (or familiar) I’m nervous and nearly back out. Regardless of how well prepared I am. Any other travel vets feel this way," asked Brigitte.

    No. Absolutely not. We veterans have steely nerves. Why, sometimes we even bellow our way through airport terminals, laughing uproariously at all the tense and anxious people. Ha, ha, ha.

    Interestingly, Brigitte has been to more than 70 countries and mostly travels on her own. She’s done this. Over and over. But the fear still crackles and pops.

    Continued…

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  • Letting trip organizers do my bidding

    I’m not big on spending a week or more alone, as is obvious if you’ve read much of this blog. While I often love to explore museums and sights without others by my side, I can get lonely if I go for too long without connecting with someone. I happen to like the social life that comes along with a group trip even if I don’t like every member.

    One way to guarantee down time as well as social time is to plan an active tour and add extra days before or after the organized trip. If I get lonely in the days before, I have the trip to look forward to. After a trip, I have post-trip adrenaline to keep me going, and memories to mull over while I wander. And I’m familiar with the place by then, making solo travel even easier. 019kaikoura_walk_2

    Also, I’m a little…hm…what’s a nicer word than "lazy?" Once I decide on a place and an activity, it’s great to let others do the planning. For instance, I chose a multi-sport trip to New Zealand’s South Island with Active New Zealand.   

    Continued…

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  • Hitting the slopes solo

    It was just one day, but I didn’t want to go skiing alone. But I was in Denver on my company’s dime and it seemed a shame not to take advantage of Colorado’s gorgeous snow and sunny skies. So I steeled myself, booked a rental car and headed off to Winter Park, an hour away from Denver. By the time I sat down to syrupy French toast and bacon in a little cafe in the mountains I was pretty happy with my decision.

    Once I got to Winter Park, I signed up for a group lesson for the morning. I figured it would be a good way to not feel alone on the slopes. I also hoped I’d meet someone to ski with in the afternoon. No such luck. But the lesson had eased me into a good mindset and I didn’t mind spending the rest of the day on my own.

    On my first chairlift ride after lunch, the guy next to me struck up a conversation. Turns out he was a ski instructor! Knew the mountain like the Easter bunny knows eggs.

    He skis alone a lot because few members of his family want to ski as many days as he does. He offered to give me the insider tour of Winter Park. He had no problem slowing down to my intermediate pace. We skied from one end of the place to the other. I took nary a glance at the trail map. It was glorious.

    And to think I almost didn’t go skiing because I didn’t want to ski alone.