Boldly Go Solo

Solo travel - day tour strategy

Short tours can do wonders for alleviating loneliness when you're vacationing alone. If, after flying to your dream destination, you start to feel lonely, you can join a group activity for a day or two and have real live conversations. Something beyond, "Does this bus go to Sintra?"

I recently went on an "urban foraging" walk in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. (My cousin asked if that meant dumpster diving!)  My tour guide Kathy and I tasted our way through a tea shop, a French cafe, a BBQ place called Pig, a chocolate store and more, talking the whole way along.

Usually she won't go out unless she has a minimum number of people, but it was early in the season and she made an exception this time, me being a travel writer and all.

Short tours can do wonders for alleviating loneliness when you're vacationing alone. If, after flying to your dream destination, you start to feel lonely, you can join a group activity for a day or two and have real live conversations. Something beyond, "Does this bus go to Sintra?"

I recently went on an "urban foraging" walk in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. (My cousin asked if that meant dumpster diving!)  My tour guide Kathy and I tasted our way through a tea shop, a French cafe, a BBQ place called Pig, a chocolate store and more, talking the whole way along.

Usually she won't go out unless she has a minimum number of people, but it was early in the season and she made an exception this time, me being a travel writer and all.

Tips on getting cheaper flights, packing, what to do on the road, and more

I've read a lot of great travel tips over the years. And I've probably forgotten just as many. So I always like reading stories on how to be a better traveler.

I've learned through experience to bring an empty water bottle to fill after going through security. That saves paying exorbitant prices to buy and throw out yet another plastic container.

For years, I've taken along photocopies of my passport in case I lost the real one. Having the passport information is supposed to speed up the replacement process.  

Recently, I was intrigued by an item about an inflatable footrest for airplane travel. Seems like a godsend. I'm always looking for someplace to put my feet when I'm trying to sleep on an overnight flight. 

On a site called Bookmundi, the post "The Ultimate Travel Hacks and Tips" provided many useful tips.  

For instance, have you ever noticed that the more you return to an airline site to check fares for a particular flight, the higher the prices seem to go?  You're not imagining things. Bookmundi suggests using "incognito mode" to browse. Who knew there was such a thing?

The section on airport hacks gave me several new ideas. Like downloading an app called Flight Board so you know your connecting flight's gate without ever having to stop at an airport departure board. Or sticking a "fragile" sticker on luggage to get your bags treated with care - and possibly taken off the plane first.

Bookmundi also offers useful tips for being on the road. Such as downloading offline maps. Or making sure to have the apps best for traveling internationally.

I learned that one in Italy a few years ago when I discovered WhatsApp was the only thing on my phone that worked in the rural village where I ended up. Having it was a lifesaver. I could have wandered around that place for days before being able to get in touch with the friends who were waiting for me.

Check out all the tips on the site to find some you might not have thought of. Google Goggles anyone?

(Tip 10 under the "On-the-road Travel Hacks and Tips") 

Travel companions who make solo travel look glorious

You say you don't want to travel solo. But suppose your choice of travel companions includes the faffer, the whinger or the waverer?

I enjoyed this post on travel companions by a writer for a New Zealand site who detailed the challenges of the "eight worst types of people to travel with."

The faffer takes forever to get out and go in the morning. The whinger won't stop complaining. And the waverer can't make a decision, come hell or high water. (No, I didn't know what these words meant either...)

Then there's the fussy eater, the drunk, the person who needs to be pampered, the person who is stressed by everything. I'm sure you know other types of people whose habits could lessen the joy of your trip, if not ruin your travels altogether.

These and the other aggravating travel companions will detract from a trip. They may even cause you to miss things you specifically went to see. What good is that, after you've spent your hard-earned money to have an adventure?

Other travel companion issues: 

You may end up traveling with someone who wants to eat in the finest restaurants when you want to eat street food. Or someone who wants to buy all meals from supermarkets when you want to taste the local cuisine at highly recommended spots.

So much to experience along the Slea Head loop on the Dingle Peninsula in Western Ireland

I hadn't heard of the Dingle Peninsula until a few years ago during a "girls weekend," when a friend presented a bottle of Dingle Original Gin from the Dingle Distillery for another friend and I to taste.

Then when I was researching a trip to  Ireland last year, the travel literature suggested that if visitors had time for just one tour in the west of Ireland and had to choose between the Ring of Kerry and the shorter ring road on the Dingle Peninsula, the choice should be the latter. 

And so it was, although it would have been nice to be able to do both.  

I recently wrote about my trip around the Dingle Peninsula for the Boston Globe. I didn't travel solo, but it's a place you would enjoy as a solo traveler - if you're willing to drive a standard shift car on the left-hand side of the road.

Or you could join a guided tour of the Slea Head drive and let someone else do the driving. A quick web search shows plenty of companies that will take you around this Irish-speaking region.

Solo in Kilkenny, Ireland, and loving it

I was looking for an Irish town to spend a view days on my own last April, during a two-week trip around Ireland with a rotating roster of travel companions.

Kilkenny stood out.

The city an hour-and-a-half south of Dublin is known as the design center of Ireland, but also has a medieval castle, a 17th-century Irish merchant's townhouse and a 13th-century cathedral. 

So much to see.

And I met the nicest people at the pubs, in the restaurants, at the local theater.  

Read about my visit to Kilkenny in this Sunday's Washington Post. 

Photos: Ellen Perlman. 1. Medieval Kilkenny Castle. 2. Matt the Miller's Bar and Restaurant, overlooking the River Nore.  

Enjoying nature, sunflower photography and camaraderie

A photographer friend invited me out to the McKee Beshers Wildlife Management Area to capture the fields of sunflowers. They're at their peak this weekend and next. 

I've been meaning for a long time to join Rena on photo shoots. I love her work, and I knew it would be helpful to see the world through her eyes. And to get some photo tips.  

I'd seen her sunflower photos from other years and definitely wanted some of my own. So I met Rena and her friend Amy out at the fields in Poolesville, Maryland. At 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday. We beat the crowds but not the heat. 

Solo travel hits the big time

You know the solo travel world has come into its own when The Washington Post does an entire travel section on it. 

One article offers eight tips ensuring a "trip of ease."

Some obvious tips include using common sense when it comes to safety and talking to locals. One you don't hear as often is the recommendation to travel places where the dollar is strong. Agreed.

It's always fun to go somewhere you can live like royalty for very little money, but it's that much more important when you're not sharing expenses. 

 Meeting a tiny Irish tourist, Inishmoor Island, Ireland

In another of the articles, the writer calls solo travel the "All About Me" trip. "More myselves and Is are venturing out into the world alone," she writes. Good for them!

Specialty beers, cars from the good old days and relaxing massage. This is Hershey, Pa.?

Children and chocolate. That is what most people think when they think Hershey, Pennsylvania.

But it's entirely possible to have a grown-up weekend in the town that chocolate built.

Mine involved visits to a winery, a brewery, a spa, an outlet mall and an antique car museum. All for a travel story for The Burg, a monthly community newspaper for Harrisburg, Pa.

I've written about Hershey way more times than I need to count. Somehow I keep ending back there! Each trip has been fun...and different. Including a falconry  experience.

This time, I started at the spa in The Hotel Hershey. In the parking lot, I could see the roller coasters of the nearby amusement park and Chocolate World in the distance. But those were two places I bypassed all weekend.

Visiting volcanoes in Ecuador

 

Volcanoes abound 

It's not often one gets to experience a volcano. But there I was in Ecuador, a decade or so ago, watching a plume of what looked like smoke--but had to be ash--spewing from Tungurahua, translated as throat of fire. 

In Riobamba and other towns nearby, people were constantly sweeping a film of gray off steps, sidewalks, the front of churches. More ash kept settling down.

Obviously, volcanoes can be dangerous but it was far in the distance and an adrenaline rush to witness. Seems Tungurahua, located along Ecuador's Avenue of the Volcanoes has been showing a lot of activity again these days.

You can take that one of two ways, depending on your personal risk meter. Either it's hey, time for me to go see an active volcano for myself-from a safe distance, course. Or heck no, I'm staying away until things settle down-which way to the Galapagos?

Solo trip to Richmond, Va., during black history month

Green and white awnings and a small sign are all that distinguish the Richmond home of Maggie L. Walker from neighboring duplexes that have been carefully restored to their appearance circa 1925. What distinguished Walker in her day was her skill at overcoming all the obstacles society could place before a black woman living under Jim Crow segregation laws.

But wait. Maggie who?

Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a former slave, was a black entrepreneur and civil rights activist who achieved business success at about the same time as the more well-known Vanderbilts, Carnegies and other Northern captains of industry were making their names. She was a respected resident of Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood during the early 20th century, when the area was experiencing its heyday.

Yes, Virginia, there is a side of Richmond known as the cradle of black capitalism, despite the fact that just a few decades earlier, during the Civil War, the city had served as the capital of the Confederacy.