Boldly Go Solo

Solo travel tips from writers and experts

Nearly every day, I find solo travel stories from around the world. Here are just three of the dozens I've collected. More to come.

Activities good for solo travelers:

From Peter Greenberg, a story on how to find friends when traveling solo. Some of these I've mentioned about before - such as staying at upscale hostels or B&B's or going to a dude ranch - but he offers some interesting new ones. 

For example, certain hotels that have wine hours every night, or cocktail parties for single parents on Mondays (Mondays?!). One even has a "yappy hour" if you're traveling with your dog.  

Traveling solo Down Under:

From an Australian writer out of Melbourne, a story on "Why we prefer to travel alone." She shares thoughts and stories from several solo travelers.  

Kayaking with manatees in Sarasota, Florida, and through the mangrove tunnels

I highly recommend kayaking with manatees next time you're in Florida. Even if you don't see manatees. (After all, they're not on call for interested visitors.)

But there they were last week, paddling around Sarasota Bay during mating season. Cruisin'.

Even if I'd had a camera out, it would have been tough to get photos. They don't surface much. Only a bit of their heads rise out of the water when they come up for air.

But there's plenty more to see out there.

Solo and loving it at Disney World

Are you a fan of Disney World but think it's someplace you simply can't go alone? Why?

Gray Cargill at SoloFriendly.com offers 10 reasons for traveling to Disney World alone. And loving it. For instance, how great is it to be able to slip into the Single Rider line and fill one-seat spots, bypassing the sometimes 45-minute or longer waits to get on a ride?

Or, say you want to go one a ride over and over? Or don't want to go on any rides at all one day? Who's to argue with you?

And speaking of arguing, you know how you often see families at amusement parks arguing or irritated with one another. So many reasons that can happen. But not when you're alone.

I'm not a big enough fan of Disney to make it my vacation but I have been there several times. With family. With friends. And alone, either because I had work in the area or because Disney actually WAS my work. I once wrote a story about the park for a publication I used to work for.

I enjoyed each way of visiting Disney but remember why I liked going alone. It was that ability to make quick decisions and zig zag my way through without getting approval from anyone. "Hey, mind if I stop in the gift shop, even though it's the 17th one and they all have the same stuff and you're really sick of the shops?"

I never once uttered anything LIKE that sentence when I went alone.

Once, when I was with family and friends, I was all excited to go on the Matterhorn ride, but there was a (not-to-be-named) person who chickened out at the last minute. So I turned away too. It was okay. I'm an adult. I can take it. But if I'd been alone, I'd have been zooming up those inclines and listening to the screams around me. Just like when I was a kid.

In retrospect, that family member might have done me a favor. (You know who you are, but I'M not going to out you.) Rollercoasters? They don't sit so well with me anymore, now that I'm all grown up. Sadly. Very sadly. They were one of my favorite things as a kid.

So if you're a Disney fan but don't think it's "right" to go to a family place like that by your lonesome, read Gray's post. It may give you the encouragement you need to indulge the kid in you. Even without any kids along.

Photos:

1. Jeff Christiansen

2. Jonathan McIntosh

A solo traveler goes wherever the road takes him

Andrew Fu set out from California with the idea of visiting every state over a period of months. Since then, the 25-year-old has driven a tractor and shoveled manure in Kansas. Hung out with a fisherman in Florida. And helped break a record in Georgia for making the most pancakes in eight hours.

Most recently he was shopping for a new car in the Washington, D.C., area, after crashing his Honda Element. That's where we met up for coffee.

Fu started traveling at the end of March. On his own. After quitting a well paying job and before attending business school in the fall. He headed South after he hit cold and slippery roads in Colorado.

Every day is unique, he says. He has found that he enjoys the solitude and reflection traveling solo affords him. He's surprised to find that even after two months he has not hit any lonely patches. "I thought I'd feel lonely by the second month. I don't know why I haven't hit that. There's a lot of solitude at times. Sometimes I find it very comforting."

He ends up places on a whim. After someone mentioned sights in Texas, he found himself floating and swimming on the Comal River. I completely understand. I decided to go to Iceland after seeing an ad in a magazine. And chose to go to the balloon fiesta in Albuquerque after a conversation on a rafting trip.

Fu has a few months more for his adventure and recommends that others set out on the road. "People should live their dreams," he says. The beauty of his adventure is not knowing what he's doing next.

And he doesn't know of anyone who's sorry about going on such an adventure. "Anyone who's hit the road, I don't think there are any regrets."

About going alone? If you can't do something by yourself, it must not be that important to you, he surmises.

As for the pancakes? Fu contributed mightily to the 80,000 flap jacks poured and flipped in Atlanta that day. It took its toll. "I don't think I want to flip a pancake for a long time."

Photo: Joshua

 

 

 

The Beaches of Sarasota, Florida

Siesta Beach on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida, has white powdery sand so fine, it's like flour. I was in Sarasota with two great friends, to celebrate our birthdays. One afternoon we watched the sun go down in the West, despite the fact Florida's on the East Coast.

I forget that it's possible to see the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean if you're in the right spot. Well, okay, the bay gulf that leads to the ocean. Most of the time, we here in the mid-Atlantic get treated to the sunrises, what with facing East and all.

Another day, we walked along Lido Beach on Lido Key, where we discovered several different species of beach birds, one with a yellow tuft distinguishing it from your average Jonathan Seagull.

What struck me was that despite being together, there were a lot of silences as we strolled along the shore, stopping to look at shells. And it occurred to me that beach walking is a fine, contemplative activity for solo travelers. For short periods of time.

Meaning, I might get lonely on an extended beach vacation but I love spending hours at the beach on my own from time to time. Especially if there are little towns nearby or easy bike rentals or other entertaining activities.

But for the most part, I'll stick with a Club Med type of place if I really want to spend a whole week by the sea. That is, someplace where I'm certain to meet people. Otherwise, I think time would stretch way too long. What have others found?

Photos: Ellen Perlman

Lido Beach, Sarasota, Florida