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I never travel domestically these days. Get way more value and fun out of traveling internationally. It worries me that some are worried about traveling in their own country.
If you are inclined, you can try couchsurfing.org to find places to crash for free. As you can imagine, higher demand cities are tougher to find but you'll be amazed at the number of kind (and in this case BRAVE) souls who are willing to offer their homes to strangers in exchange for friendship and kindness in return.
Well if you travel to big cities, safety is an issue. You could end up being robbed or hurt in the wrong areas if you get lost. Plus it is kinda weird to eat out alone.
Pull the plug on the TV and go.......People everywhere are not really that scary
As long as Europe doesn't over react as we did after 911 I am looking forward to taking advantage of the artificially strong dollar to take a trip. Don't let those news buggers get you down. We are low income, all our kids grown and much better off than us. You may never have an opportunity like this again to travel to Europe. We saved by paying off investment property. As long as you keep the bankers out of your life, its good. Never buy a "new " car not for cash.
I've always been weird about eating at a crowded restaurant alone, while being totally fine with doing anything else by myself. But it finally took eating at a crowded cafe in Beverly Hills to become completely okay with it. I'm not sure what did it, but if you do it enough you just hit the breakthrough moment of "this is TOTALLY okay"
When I eat out alone, I try to come either early or late, when there is not a crowd. Then I am less likely to be overlooked. I usually go to nice places, not cheap diners (except for cheap ethnic places which can be excellent).
For ideas on budget travel, take a look at some of the websites that are used by backpackers. Thousands of kids from all over the world travel around with backpacks and stay in hostels or small hotels. They seem to have the cheap travel thing down to a science.
I want to repeat what many others have said. "People are nothing to be afraid of".
There are limits to that statement, of course, but generally people are your friend.
I was not quite 18 when I found myself alone with no family. I did lots and lots of traveling, and had some of the greatest adventures of my life; none of them life threatening. I still tell stories from that time even though I am now 70 and have a family.
As an aside; learning to handle myself around people and learning to read people and enjoy our various differences has paid big dividends for me. I believe that would be true for all of us. I still - to this day - enjoy traveling alone.
My best times traveling have been backpacking and hitchhiking around with very little money.
Did you ever try hitchhiking around truck stops?
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One just needs a sense of adventure.
