Boldly Go Solo

Superstar of solo travel meeting new people wherever she goes

I now have a solo travel idol. Her name is Laura and she's 25. She and her friend Alexa, two country girls from the (still) United Kingdom stayed with me in August, a few days before Alexa had to fly home and Laura was getting ready to continue traveling around the U.S. on her own for two months.

In return for a few nights at my place, the two of them cooked me dinner and left me with a thoughtful gift and a homemade picture postcard with photos of places they'd visited while in Washington.

They were so fun to have around that I contacted just about everyone I could think of around the country to see if I could set Laura up for lodging during two months of traveling alone.

I was disappointed I was "only" able to get her a bed with friends or family in New York, Massachusetts and California. She stayed with my niece, one of my dearest friends and is now with my second cousin.

But I shouldn't have worried. I was far from the only one looking out for her and booking her places to stay.

Coincidentally, I was vacationing in Maine in September about the same time she planned to make it to Maine. So my friends and I hosted her there, all of us indulging in as much lobster as we could manage and spending a morning paddle boarding near Portland.

My friends contributed to the hosting chain. One put her in touch with her daughter (Laura ended up staying with the daughter's former roommates in Austin) and the other contacted her son in California, who was game to host.

Heart-shaped tubs for Valentine's Day

In the tradition of Erma Bombeck and Ann Landers, I am rerunning a fave story for Valentine's Day, (though by no means comparing my skills to theirs!) Here you go:

A recent visit to Niagara Falls, where dozens of motels beckon with the promise of a soak in a bubbling red heart, left me strangely drawn to the outlandish kitsch of the heart-shaped-tub scene. And so one night, on my way home from a visit to friends in Massachusetts, I found myself checking into Caesars Pocono Resorts' Cove Haven in Lakeville, Pa., a k a "The Land of Love."

The champagne glass tub was the first thing I saw when I got to my room. It was next to a fireplace in the living room. Behind a glass wall to the left was the heart-shaped swimming pool, four feet deep. Next to that was the in-suite sauna.

Maine lighthouses open to the public in September

Any lighthouse fans out there?

On September 15, lighthouses in Maine will be opening their doors to visitors. You can climb the towers of the state's lighthouses situated on the coast, on islands and along rivers.

The fourth annual Maine Open Lighthouse Day will take place rain or shine. (Like the London Olympics?)

The event is the largest of its kind in the country, according to Maine's tourism office, and is meant to increase awareness of the state's maritime heritage.

Lighthouses always have a mystical feel to me. Ocean waves crashing ashore nearby. Thoughts of ships relying on that strong beam to navigate. The sea smell. Rocky coasts.

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. 

The best places in the world

It's time to give away three copies of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die."

Last time, all you had to do was "like" boldlygosolo. You can still do that and *everyone* who is a fan by the end of the month will be entered again to win.*

For the other two copies, all you have to do is name a favorite place you've visited or where you'd love to travel to next. I'm going to see if it's in the book and perhaps blog about it.

It can be as simple as one or two words (Borneo. Hamura Saimin Stand in Lihue on the island of Kauai, Hawaii)

Or it can be a phrase or a sentence or two about why the place you've named is your fave or why you'd like to go there. (Best escargot in the world. I love getting lost on the winding, cobblestone streets)

You want to write several paragraphs? Make my day!

"Places" can be countries, cities, sights, sites, restaurants, hiking paths or wherever else you've been or would like to go. That way everyone who reads your answers gets to learn about places they should possibly consider traveling to.

Your choice does NOT have to be in the book for you to win. Name two places (one per day) and you get two additional chances to win. Max of three chances: one "like" and two "places."

Go to the boldlygosolo facebook page to enter. 

Good luck and happy daydreaming about the best places to travel.  

*Sorry, only U.S. and Canadian residents are eligible.

Photo: Fiji's Coral Coast. By Ellen Perlman

Back to (language) school

This is the second year that fall has come around and my thoughts have turned to...Guadalajara. 

The foods, the family I lived with there for a few days and the Guadalajara sights.

The San Juan de Dios Market. (I just recently finished the vanilla I brought home from there, which reminded me of my trip every time I baked with it.) The Corona Market in Guadalajara's city center. And much more. My nice teacher at the IMAC Spanish language school in downtown Guadalajara. 

I was in a class with about five others, who ranged in age from teens to probably 60's. I loved the fact that la maestra couldn't revert to English to explain things (she didn't speak it well) and that I was able to follow along in Spanish pretty well.

Harpers Ferry lodging, ghosts and pancakes. West Virginia is indeed wild and wonderful.

A guy I hardly knew cooked me breakfast yesterday. Pancakes. An Israeli guy from New York. 

Actually, "hardly knew" overstates things. I didn't know him at all. But Raz from Queens not only cooked me a batch of pancakes, he also gave me a rundown of all the places I should go and see in Israel - which I'm planning on visiting in January.

This is what I love about hosteling. Particularly when traveling solo.

You are unlikely to feel lonely at most hostels.

In the short time between when I checked in at the Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, hostel (actually located in Knoxville, WV) and left to visit the historic town of Harpers Ferry, I ended up talking to two bicyclists and one weaver, all staying there.

Top spas in the U.S. and Canada, on cruise ships and in hotels

In a third-hand account of spa-going, I offer you the results from this year's list of best spas, based on a reader poll done by Conde Nast. I tried going directly to the Conde Nast site, but they offered their results with that annoying web trick of forcing you to click here, there and everywhere to see all the results.

Instead, you can go to A Luxury Travel Blog and see all on one page, the top spas in the U.S., Canada, Hawaii (yes, I understand that Hawaii is part of the U.S., but I didn't make up the categories), cruise ship spas, spas in Mexico and Central America, spas in the Atlantic and Caribbean and top hotel spas.

Take the recommendations with a grain of salt...or with a sugar scrub. Theses spas are not being reviewed by us skilled and trained professional journalists, you know, those of us who majored in spa going and can write about it objectively.

But the list of top spas  at least gives you some names of places to research if a solo spa vacation is in your cards. While you're researching, of course, investigate what the solo scene is to see if you'd enjoy going alone.

10 good ideas for solo travelers

Visiting a new place? Ride a bus to the end of the line and soak up the sights while coming and going. Get off the bus if you see something or some place that strikes you. Maybe get back on and go to the end of the line after that. Or maybe not. 

I love this tip. But I didn't think it up. It's from Pico Iyer, a great travel writer, well known in the biz.

He's the one who compiled the list of 10 things every traveler should do. I'm just throwing some of them out there and suggesting you read the whole list. 

Iyer says he did the bus thing in Miami and ended up in a "spicy part of Little Havana... that seemed to capture the essence of the city."

Farm Fresh North Carolina is the go-to guide to farm fun

How much do you know about the alpacas, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, live Christmas trees and other fab finds in North Carolina? We're talking here about hundreds of farms, wineries, agricultural festivals and bed and breakfasts you can visit in your travels.

Well, if you need to find out more, you should get a copy of Farm Fresh North Carolina, a statewide guide to all the farms and other cool agriculture-related places you'll ever want to visit in the Tar Heel State.

Even a "chocolate lounge!" (The cacao's not local, but the fruits, berries, honey, eggs and milk they use for their truffles come from nearby. And this guide is all about North Carolina agricultural products and buying local.)

It's written by my friend and fellow travel writer Diane Daniel. The food editor of The Washington Post, writes: "Her exhaustively researched guidebook will make you want to jump in the car and plan an entire getaway celebrating the family farm."