Boldly Go Solo

Solo travel - day tour strategy

Short tours can do wonders for alleviating loneliness when you're vacationing alone. If, after flying to your dream destination, you start to feel lonely, you can join a group activity for a day or two and have real live conversations. Something beyond, "Does this bus go to Sintra?"

I recently went on an "urban foraging" walk in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. (My cousin asked if that meant dumpster diving!)  My tour guide Kathy and I tasted our way through a tea shop, a French cafe, a BBQ place called Pig, a chocolate store and more, talking the whole way along.

Usually she won't go out unless she has a minimum number of people, but it was early in the season and she made an exception this time, me being a travel writer and all.

Short tours can do wonders for alleviating loneliness when you're vacationing alone. If, after flying to your dream destination, you start to feel lonely, you can join a group activity for a day or two and have real live conversations. Something beyond, "Does this bus go to Sintra?"

I recently went on an "urban foraging" walk in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. (My cousin asked if that meant dumpster diving!)  My tour guide Kathy and I tasted our way through a tea shop, a French cafe, a BBQ place called Pig, a chocolate store and more, talking the whole way along.

Usually she won't go out unless she has a minimum number of people, but it was early in the season and she made an exception this time, me being a travel writer and all.

Farmers markets around the world

The Matador Network wrote a post recently about farmers markets around the world, from Dane County Farmer's Market in Seattle to Mercado Central in Valencia, Spain, and  Rialto Markets in Venice, Italy. 

I'm a fan of food browsing. I love walking up and down every aisle of shops in other countries to check out unfamiliar products, the foreign-language packaging of familiar products and tasty foods that could be gifts to bring home.

Yet I have mixed feelings about visiting farmers markets when traveling. With no kitchen, I can't do anything with the gorgeous fruits and vegetables I spot. 

On the other hand, these markets are places where locals shop, and they often feel less touristy than other places in highly visited cities. And there are often nonfood items for purchase, including handmade items. Knitted scarves. Ceramic mugs. Framed drawings.

Art at the Burwell-Morgan Mill in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley

On typical Saturdays in the town of Millwood, Va., volunteers set the 18th-century Burwell-Morgan Mill to work grinding corn, wheat, rye or other grains. They demonstrate the centuries-old method of food production, weighing and bagging the flour, grits or cornmeal for sale, often enlisting visitors to help.

But for three weeks in the spring, and again in the fall, the stones grind to a halt, the water rushing to the water wheel is cut off, and it’s showtime of a different sort.

That’s when Art at the Mill opens.

The show will be open for three weekends, starting April 27 and running through May 12. (Here's the story in The Washington Post on Art at the Mill.) 

For a lovely and relaxing way to spend a day or weekend, take a drive out to the Shenandoahs, wander through the show and picnic on the grass. 

There's something special about buying real art and being in the surroundings that the artist captured.

Mexican food isn't really Mexican food - think chilaquiles and pozole

If you're planning a trip to Mexico, or have been and want to reminisce, you'll enjoy reading this story about Mexican food from BootsanAll, a travel website.

The basic point is, don't expect Mexican food in Mexico. That is, don't expect the Tex-Mex taco fare you're used to in the United States.

I loved trying the food in Guadalajara when I visited there a few years ago, particularly the discovery of chilequiles and cheese-stuffed tortillas for wrapping meat and vegetables.

Mexican food in the States is so predictable, isn't it? I know I'll always find pretty much the same style of fajitas, tacos, burritos, enchiladas and quesadillas, with sides of refried beans and rice, right? 

But what about huevos divorciados for breakfast? (Yes, those are indeed divorced eggs.)

Half the fun I had during my most recent visit to Mexico was learning about all the variations in Mexican cooking and the foods at Mexican markets. My favorite find ended up being those chilaquiles, also the favorite of the writer of the BootsnAll post on Mexico.

Kauai for solo travelers - helicopters, taro farming and the mini Grand Canyon

My lunch companions wore plumeria flowers behind their ears, necklaces strung with black pearls and Ni'ihau shells, and clothing with floral patterns. All signs that they live and work in Hawaii. In this case, Kauai.  

[Quiz of the day. Can you name the eight major Hawaiian islands? Answer at the end.]

We on the East Coast often choose the Caribbean or Mexico over Hawaii because those places are closer. But obviously, they can't offer the unique culture and language of Hawaii, which is why it's worth a visit to the Aloha state.  

Nowhere else in the world are you greeted at retail establishments with "aloha" and thanked with "mahalo." And, where else can you spend a day swimming with sea turtles, watching hula dancing and attending a luau?

It's a long haul for most people. And it can seem daunting for solo travelers to fly a long way, rent a car and spend beach time alone. 

But there are ways to find people to spend time with. For example, snorkel with others on an adventure tour. So many beautiful creatures live in that part of the Pacific, including the humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, Hawaii's state fish. 

Did George Washington ever travel solo in Old Town Alexandria in Virginia? Hm...

Old Town Alexandria is one of those cute cobblestone historic areas that modern Washingtonians love to visit. A few authentic cobblestone streets remain, but most streets are paved.

Still, many of the sidewalks are bricked, which lends an old-fashioned feel to the 15-plus blocks of unique galleries, shops and restaurants.

I've written two travel stories on Alexandria for different newspapers. Today being Presidents' Day (the merged February birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, our first and 16th presidents), I figured I'd rerun one of the stories here. (This one ran in the Kansas City Star and the St. Petersburg Times.)

Read about George Washington's haunts, other Virginia history and the Alexandria of today. It's easy for solo visitors to get to Old Town Alexandria without a car. The Metro system drops you off within walking distance of the locations mentioned in the following story:

"Alexandria paints picture of the past"

George Washington liked to ride over from his Mount Vernon home to Gadsby's Tavern in this Potomac River town to drink, discuss the successful Revolution and attend a banquet from time to time. Two-and-a-half centuries later, people still head to Gadsby's Tavern, and other bars and restaurants in Alexandria, to drink, talk about the war and, once in a while, attend a fancy dinner.

Gifts for a solo traveler from a German Christmas market and the Smithsonian Institution

Today I got one of those great gifts that a traveler's gotta love. Unusual, one-of-a-kind, retro. On the other end of the continuum from the snazzy travel gadgets and apps available these days. Which are also nice. But this gift was unique.

It came wrapped in a map, In this case, a map of Germany with tourism information on the inside. Double-sided travel wrapping paper! And tied with string? Hardly. Tied with neon green shoelaces with the word "travel" repeated throughout. They'll be on my sneakers as soon as I finish this post.

The book, "Where on Earth: A Geografunny Guide to the Globe" was promoted in the 90's by the Smithsonian Institution, where my gift giver works. It has entries such as, "The Silk Road is not a street made of cloth. It doesn't have 'Dry-clean Only' written on it. It isn't even really a road. There are no signs saying, 'Silk Road, Next 3 Exits.' "

Antiquing for solo travelers in New Oxford, Pennsylvania

If you're an antiques freak, I highly recommend a trip to New Oxford, Pennsylvania, to get your fill of Victorian, Civil-War era and other antique furnishings, toys and kitchenware.

I don't see it as an ideal place to travel solo if you don't love antiques because it's not exactly a hoppin' town, but for a couple of days it would be absolutely fine as a place to relax too.

New Oxford is a one-horse town in rural Pennsylvania that, as I said, doesn't have the bustle of an urban center. However, considering you could spend HOURS perusing goods from hundreds of dealers you would be quite the busy shopper/browser.

I went with a friend because I'm writing a story for The Washington Post on learning to like, or at least understand, antiques. So I took along a friend who has furnished her house in solid-wood oak pieces, green Depression glass and Watt pottery. (If you don't know what these are you're in the same boat that I started out in. I, at least, have begun to learn how to paddle.)

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.

Solo sightseeing in Can Tho, Vietnam

My friend P, and her husband M, are in Vietnam, sweating through a very non-white Christmas season. The white stuff wouldn't last a second in Southeast Asia if it ever managed to head that way. It's broiling hot, she says.

Between the heat and the fumes from the "hundreds of thousands of mopeds that fill the roads at all hours," on the streets of Can Tho, a big city on the Mekong Delta, P felt a little woozy.

She decided to pass on a pre-planned bike ride. M went, which meant P could explore the back streets on her own. Which she LOVED.

She emailed me from an Internet cafe, another thing that's difficult to indulge in when you're traveling with others. They either have to want to use email too, or you have to make them wait for you, or you have to arrange to meet them somewhere when you're done.

And then you have to make sure you're done when you said you'd be done or you're making them wait. Details, details, that you don't have to deal with when you're on you're own. 

Anyway, she wrote that for the afternoon, she was "boldly going solo" for two hours. With someone she called a "guide in training." So she had the company of a Thai local. "It's more interesting because I can ask the questions I want to ask without M going off on his tangents."

See, my faithful readers, even the person who's nearest and dearest to your heart, that traveling companion you supposedly can count on, can get in your way. Or on your nerves.

It's not always a blessing to have that familiar person by your side, as I've said before.