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I have done several road trips by myself, and at times it would be nice to have someone to share the driving with and just talk to at times. It can be nice to go at your own pace. I agree that it does get boring to not have someone share the experience. It has allowed me to do things that I want to do. When I first started road tripping I went to Graceland, tours of the house were not available on Tuesday, still got to see the property. Started visiting my grandparents by myself. It can be fun but also boring as well. I see both sides to this topic.
I mostly travel by myself - well, all my international excursions I have went alone. In some I met tour groups or colleagues there. I think it's almost a bad idea to travel with friends and/or family - just like living with them - there are many fights to be had. I always recall a hellish driving trip to Key West, FL from Westminster, MD with my dad and sister... never again! Things were said that cannot be unsaid!!
Tour groups are nice if it's a place you've never visited and need a controlled exposure to, but they are expensive. I have never had a serious problem in any country travelling alone as a young woman and most of the time I have been able to make good friends with a few locals for future visits! Enjoy the downtime to go to a cafe, or the hotel lobby even, to meet new people and hear their stories. I've never met a boring person on any of my travels!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by yellowsnow
I love travel. ... If I had money, I would go all the time.
Me too... I much prefer to be 'gone' than home, even tho home is beautiful and 'sometimes' relaxing.. just that I have to REALLY work hard when home to prepare the 'farm' to get along without me. I love 'space', so traveling solo is a bonus. Absolute WORST is traveling with workgroup, especially bosses! I always seemed to have 'something come up' when the boss wanted to join me.
I find I meet a lot more people when traveling alone, than I would if with friends or family. I like to strike up conversations with locals and learn from them.
Driving alone is HEAVEN... I seldom listen to 'tunes / entertainment / books', I seldom get bored (West TX and UT / NV may stretch that. If there is no scenery or places to visit, I drive it at night. (Fast and peaceful). Then I arrive at a great destination for sunrise, and take a nap about the time people get on the road.
I very much dislike hotels when solo. (I dislike them in general too! )
Interestingly, I have no issue with eating out solo, tho I am likely to strike up a conversation with another patron or an employee.
When I travel 'budget', I eat from the grocery store excess produce. Interesting what you get to fix! http://www.wisebread.com/cooking-gre...the-heat-is-on
Worked well for the many yrs I was a commercial driver, especially during holidays (double pay).
I like travelling alone and have done so several times (more outside the US than in it). As a native English speaker, I am supremely lucky that it is the default second language among many, many people across the globe. Failing to find them, you just have to make do with hand signals or observations, depending what you need to accomplish.
I do group and solo travel on the same trip. When I travel with friends and family I go with the group for general sight seeing but also take solo trips for a day or in the early morning / late evenings when others want to different things ( usually souvenir shopping).
When I went to Ecuador a couple of years ago I decided to take a solo trip using a local bus from Quito to Otovalo in order to experience the largest Saturday market in South America. My wife and kid wanted to just sight see Quito but I wanted some local experience.
I also go out early in the mornings to take photographs at dawn before my group wakes up. Usually, by the time I am done and come for breakfast, they are sauntering in at the same time. By doing that I do not alter the group plans for the day. This worked out well in Prague, which is a great "walking" city.
I mostly travel by myself - well, all my international excursions I have went alone. In some I met tour groups or colleagues there. I think it's almost a bad idea to travel with friends and/or family - just like living with them - there are many fights to be had. I always recall a hellish driving trip to Key West, FL from Westminster, MD with my dad and sister... never again! Things were said that cannot be unsaid!!
Tour groups are nice if it's a place you've never visited and need a controlled exposure to, but they are expensive. I have never had a serious problem in any country travelling alone as a young woman and most of the time I have been able to make good friends with a few locals for future visits! Enjoy the downtime to go to a cafe, or the hotel lobby even, to meet new people and hear their stories. I've never met a boring person on any of my travels!
You could also couchsurf?
The potential strain on friendship is a definitely a possible downside to traveling in groups. When I was on an overseas trip with friends, (4 of us in total), two of my friends essentially, right from the get go, decided to go off on their own and leave the remaining two of us to our own devices. They didn't know they were doing anything wrong, but it should have been clear from our responses and interactions (I don't want to have to "complain" to have people act properly as that will often open up another can of worms). Those same friends think all went well and are asking for another trip, but I've (as well as the other friend) politely declined. This doesn't mean that I won't travel with friends in the future, but that's definitely a potential downside.
I just went to Little Corn Island, Nicaragua by myself. I had a great time, very relaxing, met a few people that I'm now FB friends with. I do wish I spoke Spanish, it would've been very helpful. Yes, people there speak english, some fluently & others not so fluently. The locals that don't live in town that I came across, no english at all. I really need to just bite the bullet & learn it. Anyway, other than that I loved it. I'll definitely go back. I felt safe the whole time, people I came across that found out I was a female traveling alone were pretty amazed. I came across one other solo female traveler that I ended up hanging out with for a few days, other than that it was either friends together or couples together. I traveled to Malaysia by myself, that was exhausting, but I was staying with a friend so the only time I was solo was the actual flying there & back. I go camping by myself all the time. I'm hoping to go camping at Glacier Nat'l Park this summer. To be honest, if I waited to travel until I had a boyfriend or I had friends who would go with me, I would never travel. My friends just aren't interested in traveling to the places that I like to go so I just say fine, I'm going by myself. This makes my parents nervous of course but you only live once, right?
Even if one sets out by oneself, you will meet many travelers along they way, and have not just companionship, but some lifetime friendships. My first major travel was 7 months in every country in Europe and North Africa with an airline flight bag (there were no backpacks in the 60s). I flew across the Atlantic by myself, and along the way, I'd say on more bus or train trips than not, I was traveling for a day or two with someone I met going the same direction.
You'll meet as many people traveling as your gregariousness allows for. You can remain a loner if you want to, but you can nearly always find a companion (or a group of them) to travel with for a few days.
Just go to the hotels and hostels in the backpacker guide books -- it will be nearly impossible to have enduring solitude.
One interesting rule of the road -- if you meet a temporary traveling companion, you never offer to treat them to anything. Everyone pays their own way, right to the penny.
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I seldom listen to 'tunes / entertainment / books', I seldom get bored (West TX and UT / NV may stretch that. If there is no scenery or places to visit, I drive it at night. (Fast and peaceful). Then I arrive at a great destination for sunrise, and take a nap about the time people get on the road.
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