Boldly Go Solo

Falconry, archery, off-road driving and more, at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland

How can you not like a place where you can order cullen skink and Dalchonzie tart  at dinner, have a stare-down with a falcon and discover that you weigh in the single digits?*

I was in Scotland last week reveling in the Scottishness of it all, starting at the The Gleneagles Hotel. Gleneagles is hosting the Ryder Cup in 2014, exciting news for golf aficionados.

The baggage carousel at Glasgow Airport is to golf bags as Denver's baggage carousel is to ski bags. Every other piece of luggage was an odd-shaped case containing clubs.

Not being a golfer - except the kind where you rent a single club and putt through 18 Astroturf holes - I was more interested in the country pursuits offered.

Archery. Gun dog school. Off-road driving in the Perthshire countryside, as pheasant and other fowl scoot by.

I managed those three activities all in one day - why lounge around when there are new things to try?

Falconry was saved for a "hawk walk" I went on a few days later at the Cameron House on Loch Lomond.

Solo traveler with a great sense of adventure. Who could that be?

Recently I was contacted by a guy from a bike shop in England who wanted to interview me about solo travel. I'm telling you this not because you have to buy a bike from him (but you should!)

And not because I feel a little like a celebrity (but I do!)

I'm mentioning it because Dave asked questions that were fun for me to answer. And the answers summarize why I started this blog in the first place.

Let's call it a refresher course on the reasons for traveling solo.

I asked him about his shop, which has this great address: Unit 3, Canalside, Tattenhall, Chester, Cheshire. (I've been to Chester and I seem to recall it has loads of Tudor homes, am I right, Dave?)

He told me that his staff is full of experienced cyclists and biking enthusiasts, some of whom have won competitions. They are committed to bringing cycling to all walks of life and, in particular, they support and encourage women and youth in cycling.

It sounds like they do good work.

Best way to visit the British countryside and practice English

With the Olympics over, I'll have to get my British fix elsewhere - in the short term by watching my new (to me) favorite television show: Doc Martin.

I had fun watching segments on England that NBC aired during the Olympics. One was on the words used by the British that are different from those we use in the U.S.

For example, what is the "English" word for: 

• A flashlight?
• The drugstore?
• A bandaid? 
• A nap?
• A bathing suit?

(answers below)

The Titanic and the S.S Nomadic - White Star Line ships

Had enough Titanic stories yet? Can I sneak just one more itty bitty one past you?

I was in Belfast a few years ago where I learned about the city's ship-building prowess and the fact that the RMS Titanic, and its sister ship the RMS Olympic, were built there for the White Star Line.

The best part of the tour on a gray day was a visit to the S.S. Nomadic, the last remaining White Star Line ship. The Nomadic was a tender used to ferry passengers from Cherbourg, France, to the passenger ships that were too large to dock in the harbor.

And it brought the passengers at Cherbourg to the Titanic for its last, fateful trip. 

The haunting part of the visit to the Nomadic was the exhibit inside.

It contained dishes, place settings, bedding and other items that the company had provided to its ships, including the Titanic. 

London chocolates to travel for. Indulge!

Oh no! I missed Chocolate Day. It was July 7. No wait. U.S. Chocolate Day is October 28. Whew. I never knew such a day existed but now that I do, I sure don't want to miss it. 

This news comes to me via a fellow travel writer's site, Travel Diversions with Doreen. I write a blog on solo travel. Doreen writes one on traveling for chocolate.

What. Could. Be. Bad???? In fact, why didn't I think of that?

Doreen has written not one, but two separate posts about chocolate masters in the United Kingdom. This is hugely important information. I'd be remiss if I didn't relay this fact. Particularly if any readers are heading to England any time soon.

She says that Britain is leading the Chocolate Revolution. I have not fact checked this. But I sure wouldn't mind hopping over and indulging for the purposes of accuracy.

AND...be still my heart...when I went to the Rococo Chocolates site, which Doreen writes about, what should be at the very top photo on the home page? (At least as of today?) Torrone! (I can't be positive, but it sure looks like it.)

50 gorgeous bridge photographs to set solo travelers daydreaming

Take a look at these 50 utterly fantastic photos of bridges around the world. 

At first, I didn't think of this as something to write about on a solo travel blog. But scanning (or should I say "spanning") the photos stirred up so many memories of my travels.

I thought maybe it would do the same for you, even if you haven't been across or in view of any of these particular bridges. For instance, seeing the bridge in Venice - one of so many you cross as you walk the quiet, carless streets - reminds me how special a place that city is.

If you've never gone because you haven't had someone to travel with...not a good excuse. You could wander for hours on your own marveling at the uniqueness of the place and stopping for pizza, gelato, cappuccino (what's not to like about eating in Italy?!) Bring a camera and a book and take your sweet time exploring any which way you'd like. 

I didn't see too many other bridges I'd actually visited represented on the 50 Fantastic Bridge Photographs post. But as my mind wandered, I remembered Chain Bridge in Budapest. I got to visit that one because I had gone to Club Med alone, met someone I became friendly with and a couple of years later she moved to the city for work and invited me to visit.

Solo skiing in Davos and St. Moritz in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe

If you're a solo traveler and ski fanatic, you might want to follow Gabriella Le Breton's winter adventure. Le Breton is the subject of a series of articles in Britain's The Telegraph, called "Single for the Season" about a single woman who is visiting 20 ski resorts this winter.

In mid-January, Le Breton was in Klosters, Switzerland, solo skiing her way at the "preferred ski destination of Prince Charles."

In late January, in report a on Le Breton's solo skiing I found on a blog called Travel Blog Land she was at Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps.

I've never skied in Europe. It's such a romantic notion, though. I imagine skiing into huts mid-mountain for hot soup or buttered rum. And skiing right into town at the end of the day, perhaps directly to the back door of my chalet?

I base my fantasies on one spring visit to Zermatt, Switzerland, where these things seemed possible, although I wasn't skiing there. I was staying at the Zermatt youth hostel (I was definitely a youth then) and several fellow hostelers had skis stored against a wall near the door. A few bucks a night for a room near the Matterhorn? Not a bad deal, whether you're skiing or not. 

Nice cups of tea in London, Edinburgh, Oxford and all around England

Feeling British? Like tea? Then celebrate International A Nice Cup of Tea Day, which I learned about on the Traveldudes web site. It's mostly a Facebook event, so if you're not on Facebook,  you're out of luck.

Which doesn't mean you can't celebrate tomorrow, November 28.

Pour yourself a cuppa, relax and treat yourself to some nice biscuits -- or cookies -- depending on your nationality. But if you find some McVitie's Digestive biscuits, all the better. Covered in plain or milk chocolate? You, my friend, are living large.

The British drink 165 million cups of tea daily, according to the Traveldudes' post. But tea for the British is often about more than the steaming brew in the cup.

It's about the atmosphere you drink it in. What you have with it. What you get to take a break from when brewing and drinking it. And nostalgia.

Tea doesn't have to mean something fancy. The way the fine hotels in London serve it. Yes, that's nice. But that's not typical. Plenty of down-to-earth tea shops and inns all over the country serve tea in an ordinary or even rustic atmosphere, without the bone china cups and saucers.

Is London safe for solo travelers?

"Is London an extremely dangerous place to travel alone?" This was the question posed by a "young woman traveling alone" on a site called English Travel Deals.

If you'd been in the room with me you might have seen my eyes roll. And a smile appear. What kind of question is that? If you go to London and nothing happens to you, you will feel like you are in a safe city.

If you go and get pick-pocketed, you will forever think it's the Wild West of Europe.

But to tag a whole Western city dangerous? It doesn't make sense. Is Los Angeles dangerous? Is Dallas dangerous? Is Oklahoma City dangerous? Definitely at certain times and in some places. Particularly when terrorists strike, which they have in many tourist destinations such as London and Madrid.

Advice for 20-something transformation is to "do things alone"

Doing things alone is the best way to develop confidence in yourself, your skills and your judgment. So says, a self-described life coach and Gen Y expert in a post on tips for transforming during the 20's. Or, really, during any stage of life where you are undergoing major changes.

But Christine Hassler's focus is on young adults. She says they often "travel in packs or yearn for a permanent 'plus one.' " She suggests they learn how to be their own companions by going to a movie or dinner alone, "or best yet, travel alone. Be open to discovery."

I was 19 when I headed off to the University of Exeter, England, for my junior year abroad. It was not as part of a university program. I had applied independently to the university and I headed off on an airplane, alone, landing in London's Gatwick Airport.

I'd sent a duffel bag of clothes for the year as cargo. When I inquired at the airport where to find it, someone directed me in such a way that I ended up on an airport road in the cargo/warehouse-y area of the airport. Lost. Confused.

I sat down on the curb with the luggage I'd flown with. And cried. Well, that didn't solve much. When I finished crying, I got up and kept going.

Eventually I was reconnected with my duffel. Signed some papers to have it trucked West to Exeter, a nice city in Southwestern England with a beautiful old cathedral. Personal storm over, and back in the airport once again, I started marveling at the differences of British English.

"Way out" for exit reminded me of a Flintstones cartoon. A woman helping me find my train into London said "shed-jool" instead of schedule.  Except the train schedule is actually called a timetable.

I got on a train (or was it a bus?) to London to make my way to my cousin's place where I was going to stay the night - he was also in England for his junior year - and was amazed to see sheep in the fields right outside the airport. What a crazy place this England was!

Long story short - things worked out really and I ended up feeling strong and in command. I'd made the whole year happen and here I was! Despite all the glitches.

The year itself was one of the best ever. I made new friends, mostly English, but also Indian, Malaysian, Swiss, French. Learned a new culture. Learned to eat fool and brussel sprouts and Cornish pasties and drink tea with milk in it. Learned what plimsoles and jacket potatoes and chokkie bikkies were. Played on the university volleyball team and traveled the country with those new friends.

Picked up a British accent. Sort of. (The Brits could see right through it. But when I returned home, my family and friends said I sounded like Mary Poppins.)

That was the last of my solo travel for awhile. But when I started running out of people to travel with years later, I swallowed hard and started up again. I went on a river rafting trip in Utah, as I wrote in my first couple of posts on this blog.

With each trip I take, or solo adventure I do - even if it's just one night of eating out alone during a business trip - it gets easier. Truly.

Photos: 1. Me in front of my dorm at Exeter University many, many years ago! 2. New British friends from my dorm, being 19 and silly.