Boldly Go Solo

Upscale hostels good for social solo travelers

"Upscale" and "hostel" don't usually land together in a sentence so I was thrilled to read the story in today's Washington Post about the "new breed" of hostels opening in this country.

They are "very high-end, clean, design-focused," according to the owner of a hostel soon to open in Pittsburgh.

The story describes the Firehouse Hostel in Austin, the Cleveland Hostel and the Freehand Miami, along with the 20-year-old Green Tortoise hostel in San Francisco that offers many free amenities, including massage chairs, computers, sauna and sangria.

Where were these all the years I was staying in "youth" hostels?!

New Year's thoughts, wishes, dreams

For me, the beauty of travel is how even mundane days at home are enlivened by those memories. Random snippets of news or information send my mind to intriguing places I've visited and experiences I had there.

When I noticed that my jeans were made in Jordan, my mind leaped to Petra, the city carved into rocks. I visited a couple of years ago during a trip to Israel. 

When I read a story about Israel in the local paper, I found myself thinking about the history and modernity I experienced there, from the museums to the food markets to the high-fashion stores. 

And when I heard the word "geothermal" on the radio recently, I thought about the geothermal lagoon in Iceland where people go all year round to soak, float and get massages with the lagoon's silica mud. And where, weirdly enough, I met a buyer of Icelandic lamb for the Whole Foods supermarket chain. Yes, while floating in the lagoon.

Our minds wander hundreds of places all day long. It feels like a gift to travel the world in some of those wanderings. In between the thoughts about the to-do list, the work obligations, the worries.

Travel is not only about a week or two weeks away. It is about a day-to-day life enriched. Along with a way to  have a deeper understanding of the world. 

If it means going on your own to some of the places you dream about, so be it. Think about the gift of a lifetime you'll be giving yourself. 

Happy New Year and best wishes for a well-traveled 2014. Go!

Photo: The Treasury in Petra, Jordan. By Ellen Perlman

Solo travel stories from Fez, Morocco, and around the world

 

“So you travel . . . only?” asked the woman sitting next to me in halting, but intuitive English, as we sat in the packed compartment on a train speeding through Moroccan farmland. We were the sole unveiled, accompanied women in the car.

 I enjoyed this story about solo travel in Morocco, a place I'm not sure I'd have the courage travel alone. 

Read more: Alone, a Western woman sees the sights

 

Solo travel has its pros and cons. But so does travel with friends or a partner, as a story in an Australian newspaper points out.

Yes, there's comfort and safety in traveling with someone you know. But at the same time, "Being around the same people constantly can be a source of frustration," wrote Courtney Taylor.

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.

A stroll on top of the CN Tower restaurant in Toronto. What a high.

Here's one Guinness World Record you can match without having to lift a table with your teeth or live with scorpions for more than a month:

Walk outside on top of the CN Tower restaurant, 116 stories high, to match the record for "highest external walk on a building" set in 2011.

Here's my Washington Post story about doing the Edgewalk during a June visit to Toronto.

Photo credit: CNTower

This is Paradise: a portrait of modern life on four Hawaiian islands

Aloha.This week I am giving away a book of fiction called "This is Paradise" by Kristiana Kahakauwila. The story is based in Hawaii and from the excerpt I've read, I'm intrigued.

To be eligible to receive the free copy, all you have to do is write a word or phrase related to Hawaii in the comment section below. 

You could write "pineapple" (though that industry has tanked there). "Spam" (I hear they sell spam-related products in McDonald's but I forgot to check while there.) "Sea turtle" (I spent several days on Oahu trying to spot one.)

Even the word "Hawaii."

Whatever. Although it would be fun to hear your word association and what you think of when you hear "Hawaii."

Shave ice? Poi? Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa?

Having visited once, I came to realize that people who grow up on Hawaii truly speak a different language, eat different foods, have a different sensibility about a lot of things.

Solo travelers on solo travel

A round-up of solo travel news

Lately I've enjoyed reading posts from solo travelers on the reasons they travel solo.

From a blog called the Simply Luxurious life, two thoughtful posts on solo travel.

Why Not...Travel Alone?: When traveling alone "be reminded of what stirs your passions" and "boost your confidence" and "realize the difference between alone and loneliness." I like the quote the writer found: “The first rule of travel is that you should always go with someone you love, which is why I travel alone.” – Andrew O’Hagan 

Why Not...Part Deux offers some tips on dining alone and getting a seat at a New York theater. And there are cautions about safety. For instance, travelers should dress to fit in and consider springing for a taxi from the airport or train station at night rather than walk around a strange place alone, in the dark. 

Is solo travel becoming trendy?

The number of women traveling alone is increasing, according to Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a hotel booking site. Between 2010 and 2011, bookings by women traveling solo increased 53 percent in this company's core markets, which include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, the UK and the USA.

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.

Three great travel apps for those willing to be adventurous

For my recent trip to Toronto, the adventure started a couple of weeks before I got on the plane.  

Booking a room through airbnb:

I started by searching for places to stay, using airbnb. It's tough to research places if you don't know what the neighborhoods are like. Or where the closest transportation is.

If cost were no object, I could have stayed in a downtown hotel, near the conference center where I was attending TBEX, a two-day conference for travel bloggers. But that would have cost about $600 just to sleep. Nevermind eating, flying and incidentals.

Five fun things to see and do in Toronto, ON

Toronto, Canada, is full of food, fun and adventure. Who knew?

I was bowled over by my recent visit to Toronto. I had visited Montreal with my family when I was a kid. It had that French vibe and it felt like you were in Europe. And my dad could have fun practicing his bad French. 

But I always thought of Toronto as a modern city without much character. I knew you could go up the CN Tower and see the whole place. But what exactly was there to see?

Well, let me tell you. I only had a few days to explore but I wish I'd had weeks. Below is my short list of things to do and see when you travel to Toronto but it hardly begins to tell the story. For starters you can:

Hop on and off the 501 streetcar along Queen Street

The 501 streetcar route is one of the longest in North America. With a TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) day pass, you can hop on and off all day, visiting the many, many shops and restaurants all along most of the line. Bakeries. Clothing shops. Stores selling cool kitchen gadgets. Shoes, shoes and more shoes. 

My first day, I went east from the center of town with a group of people from a travel bloggers conference I was attending. A freelancer for the Toronto Star who writes on urban life, guided us through back streets in Corktown, settled by the Irish in the 19th century. Corktown turned seemlessly into Leslieville. If we'd continued east, we would have hit the beach at the end. But we had to head back. It was only, as the Gilligan's Island people said, a three-hour tour. 

Another day I walked...and walked...west to the Gladstone Hotel before turning back, catching a streetcar east and then another north to Chinatown.