Boldly Go Solo

Fiji fire walking

For two weeks before Sawau tribesmen from the island of Beqa in Fiji perform a firewalking ceremony, they have no contact with women and don't eat coconut. If they mess with "the rules" their feet are liable to get badly burned during the ceremony.

While in Fiji, I watched fire walking, not on Beqa, but the tourist version at the Outrigger on the Lagoon, Fiji on the island of Viti Levu. Now you can watch it too. (Funny thing, when the video begins, someone nexts to me coughs and it seems as though it's from the smoke you see.)

Read about the tradition of fire walking here. The performance sticks close to what is described. 

(And remember, "vinaka" means "thank you.")

The population of Fiji is half Indo-Fijian, the descendants of Asian Indians brought to Fiji in the 19th century to work in the sugar cane fields. One guide told us that Indians have a fire walking tradition too, but theirs is religious, whereas the Fijian version is purely ceremonial.

Traveling solo is often better than traveling with companions

In this story on why it's better to travel alone, the fourth reason is my favorite: deep immersion.

You simply are not going to see or notice as much if you're walking with a friend or partner, while in Paris or Tokyo or anywhere else, gabbing with each other about what you just saw or where your next meal will be or something you remembered about your lives at home. You've stopped absorbing what's around you at that moment.

That hit home for me while I was in Paris on my own for a month-long French immersion course the summer before grad school.

Although the rule in the apartment I was staying in was French only, I had an English-language novel with me. I realized early on that reading in English was pulling me away from a full immersion in French language.

It demonstrated my brain's inability to focus as well on learning French when I mixed in some English. I put down that book for the summer. Soon after, I awoke from a dream with a French phrase in my mind first thing. Immersion was working!

Smithsonian Folklife Festival celebrates Peru

The culture of Peru is on display on the Mall in Washington, D.C., until Sunday. Catch Peru: Pachamama (Mother Earth) if you can. 

Most of you can't, but I would say put the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on your travel to-do list, should you ever visit D.C. in late June or early July.  

The Smithsonian does a great job of bringing in people, culture, crafts, food and more, from places all over the world.

Last year the themes were Kenya and China. Other years, states or cities have been represented. The festival planners go all out to bring in artists, craftspeople and performers.

And the exhibits can be astounding. From Smithsonian's website:

In recreating physical settings for the traditions represented, the Festival has built a horse racetrack (from the Washington Monument to the U.S. Capitol Building), an Indian village with forty-foot-high bamboo and paper statues, a Japanese rice paddy, and a New Mexican adobe plaza.

Loving solo dining. Or at least not hating it.

There are people I know who will jump out of perfectly good airplanes or ski double black diamond slopes in Utah who are afraid to dine out alone in a nice restaurant. Afraid!

In this enjoyable story on dining solo, the writer describes it this way:

When chilling out at home with a bowl of popcorn gets old, I opt for the solo dining experience – the next best thing to a bubble bath, except you’re doing it in public.

She describes the "pangs of terror" at the thought that people view you as "a friendless loser."

I've often thought about how psychological this whole solo dining thing is. Think about when you're going to meet someone at a high-end restaurant. You walk in, they're not there yet. Maybe you go to the bar and order a drink. Perfectly relaxed.

Now think about going into that restaurant alone without anyone to meet. The stress emerges. Perhaps you wonder what people think about you or if anyone is noticing your lack of an "other."

Same activity. Only the emotions have changed.

For solo travel, tap anyone you or your friends know

You have friends, right? And they have friends? And relatives, too? Well, what are you waiting for? TAP THEM. You don't have to know them well, or even at all. They just have to live someplace you want to go.

That's how I decided I could go to Ecuador without a travel companion. The thought of landing alone after dark in Quito, the capital city, was nerve wracking otherwise. But my childhood friend's husband's uncle's wife (don't bother figuring it out) is Ecuadorian. So I asked Mark, whose aunt it is, to connect me with her.

That's how Lola ended up picking me up at the airport the night I arrived. We'd never talked during the planning stages. The whole thing had been arranged through emails and phone calls between her daughter in Miami and me. Lola drove me to her Quito condo but only stayed one night. She had to get back to the beach-front hotel she ran with her husband in Atacama.  

Solo travel around the world in the pre-Internet era

Imagine a woman traveling the world alone...a half century ago. I'm sure it wasn't common, certainly not as common as today.

I was intrigued when I learned about the experiences of such a woman from her daughter, Jane Stein, who found her mother's travel logs and turned those adventures into a children's book on travel. 

Today I'm running a guest post that Jane wrote. I enjoyed reading the tidbits she listed on her website to get people interested in the book. Details and fun facts, such as:

• Every year the world’s largest tomato fight takes place in Spain.
• Sesame Street puppets speak Hebrew, Arabic and Russian, and a cousin of Oscar the Grouch is named Moishe Oofnik. (That one cracks me up.)
• There are special laughing clubs in India where people go for their health. (I feel healthier already, laughing about Moishe Oofnik.)

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.

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.  

Delayed flight remedy: tweet the airline

A decade ago or so, I remember feeling so clever when, after my flight was canceled, I called the airline to find me another flight, while I stood in a long customer service line at the airport.

Within a few minutes, I was rebooked to my destination and I stepped out of line. It had barely budged.

Twitter has upped the ante. A Washington Post story today describes how a woman got great service from United Airlines by tweeting her troubles about a delay due to mechanical problem.

United responded to several of her tweets and she was rebooked much faster than others who tried calling the airlines or using its app. 

The story, "How tweet it is," offers a list of tweeting tips.

United's Twitter page says, "We like hearing from you. Tweet us any time." And, according to the Post piece, people do and United has folks assigned to respond. 

Note to self: Make sure you're following all the airlines you ever plan to use. 

Note to followers: You should too.

@boldlygosolo

12 tips for solo travelers

Recently, my good friend and fellow travel writer Clark Norton asked if I would share some tips for women traveling solo because he was going to be interviewed on the topic. 

I realize I haven't blogged on solo travel tips lately. And, hey, I was flattered that Clark, who is an expert in baby boomer travel, called my pointers "valuable." So I thought I would share here what I shared with his audience. 

* Travel light so you can easily handle everything you brought.  

With only a small bag or two, you won’t struggle to get your luggage onto a train car, up a flight of stairs or into an overhead rack or compartment. Or need someone to watch your luggage while you go the restroom.  (No one will know you’re wearing the same clothes over and over. You’re traveling alone!)