Boldly Go Solo

Is traveling solo rewarding or horrible?

A Brit has written a story in timesonline about avoiding the "heartache" of traveling alone.

Oh please...

Heartache? If you've chosen to travel alone, you didn't get into it to be miserable. Clearly you have some sense of adventure and a desire to see parts of the world that intrigue you.

I personally would not pay big bucks to get on a plane to go somewhere and be unhappy. Know thyself. My highly useful advice is if you think you're going to suffer from wretched glumnitude and angst-ridden despondency (thanks Roget's) here's what I say: DON'T GO. (Okay, I made up the "glumnitude" part)

Putter in your garden, in your kitchen or online, safe in your happy home, where there's no heartache or misery.

Okay, now, let's skip past that silliness to get to the useful bits of the story. I love the advice about trying not being so British, and channeling one's "inner American" when traveling solo. giggle.

Apparently what that means is looking up from your feet and making eye contact. Who knew that every single American was so good at this? Good on us, eh?

Another suggestion from the story: travel with a purpose. Learn to cook or dance or to speak another language. That's a better goal than trying just to achieve "plain happiness." I agree. Showing up in a city and expecting that to be enough doesn't cut it.

The writer also suggests to find an English-language club as a way to socialize. People trying to learn English in their own countries will be thrilled to have an expert visit and speak in perfect English. The piece discusses an experience the writer had in China.

All in all, a worthwhile post on solo travel.

Photo: Ellen Perlman. Kauai from helicopter.

Solo tai chi and cooking classes in Vietnam

My friend and former work colleague "P," used to rush from work some evenings to make it to her tai chi class. She found it to be a relaxing respite from work tasks and household duties.

When she and her husband booked a trip to Vietnam this past December, she decided she was going to take the opportunity to practice tai chi in a place where it was a common pastime.

So while on vacation, she left husband M behind and headed to a park in the wee hours of the morning to participate in a public tai chi session. Here's her story:

"I have done what I came to do. Achieved my minor dream. Gone out on my own, with the help of a guide, to Hoan Kiem Lake (pronounced Juan Kim) that is to Hanoi what Central Park is to New York.

And there, at 6 in the morning, just as the sun is coming up (though, it doesn't feel like a sunrise since it's overcast and drizzling and pretty dark even when it's daylight), my guide steers me past the doubles teams playing badminton (yes, badminton is still alive and well somewhere in this world) and the men lifting barbells to groups of ladies doing tai chi.

This is what I wanted to do: Tai Chi in a park in an Asian city.

Philadelphia offers many options for the solo traveler

Like every city, Philadelphia has a range of activities for single, as well as partnered residents.Though they may be geared for locals, they are a good way for solo travelers to ease any isolation they may feel while visiting a big city. Philly also offers some excellent dining and drinking options for those on their own.

Let's start with some activities. The Bicycle Club of Philadelphia has regularly scheduled free rides in the evenings and on weekends, plus special events such as barbecues, banquets and picnics.

Are you a runner? The Fishtown Beer Runners has three- to five-mile runs on Thursday evenings followed by a visit to a local pub for some quality craft beer. The motto on their blog:

"Responsible running and drinking in the interest of science. 'So, ya wanna join us?' "

Fun! I might have to drive to Philly one Thursday just to experience that.

Dancer, or wannabe dancer? Try the Society Hill Dance Academy, where $20 gets you a drop-in class with a 45-minute intro to salsa, cha-cha, foxtrot and rumba. At DanceSport Academy, the timing might be tricky for visitors. The ballroom and Latin dance socials for $10, including drinks, dancing and performances, are only held monthly.

These dance socials usually are ways for studios to sell ongoing lessons to prospective dancers. But there's no reason you can't go and enjoy the dance as an out-of-towner, then be on your way. The Peppermint Dance Club caters to an older crowd, offering beginner and intermediate dance lessons followed by a dance party, three nights a week.

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

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

Go to classes to learn how to whip up Thai food. That's one way to solve the dining-alone problem

National Geographic came out with a book last year called "Journeys of a Lifetime, 500 of the World's Greatest Trips." The entry called "Thailand Cuisine Tour" was written by yours truly.

Taking a Thai cooking class or going on a culinary tour would be a good way for a solo traveler to go to Thailand alone and feel at ease. You will be cooking side by side with others. Talking, laughing, chopping, cutting, bleeding. It's downright social!

Gourmet on Tour offers lodgings and cooking classes in Bangkok, Chang Mai and Phuket. You can find cooking classes on cruises, in rural areas, outdoors and on farms. The Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School opened in 1993, and is run by an international Thai chef. Move over, Rachael Ray, if you're not whipping up some Pad Thai.

I have at least two friends who learned the art of mixing rice or noodles with fish sauce, lime, oil, chopped peanuts, cilantro, egg, and more in Thailand. They came home enamored of their Asian culinary skills.

Of course, cooking classes are just one of the things that draws visitors to the land of wats and rice fields, mountains and night markets, bamboo huts and a beloved monarchy.

But for solo travelers, it's a good entree to it all and a way to socialize and sit down and eat with others for a few days at some point during a vacation to Thailand.

Photos:

1. By Goab, a friend who visited a Thai festival in Washington, DC, that included fruit carving.

2. By Ellen Perlman. A scene from rural Thailand.