Tennis Camp, anyone? A good match for solo travelers

The backhand I have today is a gift from the Amherst Tennis Camp. For two summers, I spent a week at the camp, practicing my strokes. For hours each day. The housing is in college dorms, which makes the week inexpensive. And, it enhances the opportunities to get to know fellow campers. You walk back to your rooms at similar times and eat meals together.

Breakfast and lunch are served in dining halls. The head tennis pro, Reiny Maier, usually gathers people up at night to go out to eat in town or to play pool together at a bar somewhere. Reiny's a hoot, and often the other instructors are too.

Tennis camps like this are great for solo travelers. You can be a beginner or an expert. They'll have pros to suit you. And, no single supplement because you're not in a hotel room, the basis for the "per person, double occupancy" curse. A few of them offer singles weeks. (Hm, is that singles versus doubles, or singles versus marrieds?? Be sure to ask...)

Another summer, I signed up for Swarthmore's tennis program, in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. The tennis lessons were just as fun but the dorms were awful. I see that lodging is no longer in the dorms. Smart move. But the meals are. Those too were grim. I much preferred the food at Amherst. Loads of fresh fruit and healthy choices.