Invest The World -- International Travel and Investment

Single Travel

Though it's been less than two months since my last trip, I'm already itching to plan another. My lovely wife does not have the time or desire to go on one so soon, and my normal travel buddy likely can't go in the near future due to his seasonal schedule. So, I thought, I'd look at taking a solo trip, something I've rarely done, but have enjoyed both times. I've already looked at some possible destinations for a long solo weekend, which I may share as things firm up.

There are many reasons why someone might travel solo. For some, it's just the obvious: there's nobody else to travel with, and they want to go somewhere. For others, perhaps there's somewhere they need to go, but they don't have anybody to go with them. For still others, there's something to be said about simply going it alone. Want to learn a little something about yourself? Go to a country where you know absolutely nobody, perhaps can't even speak the language, and find your way around. It's exhilerating, lonely at times, but altogether different than traveling with friends. Here, then, are some of the pros and cons I've found on the couple of trips I've traveled alone.

1. DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. Ok, this is quite obviously one of the benefits of single travel. You don't have to reach a group consensus on what to do, where to go, or where to eat when traveling by yourself. In my case, I'd say this benefit is somewhat overstated. While my wife has a certain comfort level that I have to adhere to (she prefers not to take multiple-leg flights, doesn't want to sleep in quarters without air, for example), my normal travel buddy is about as easy to get along with as one could want. In fact, to him, he views it as a luxury NOT to have to make the decisions, and tends to just go along with what I plan. That said, even a buddy as easy-going as he is has certain preferences and so, on the few solo trips I've taken, I try to do some of the things that perhaps I couldn't do with my wife or with my buddy. On this upcoming trip, for example, I'm looking at going to a beach and taking some surf lessons. While my buddy might be up for doing that once, I think he'd get bored doing it every day, like I might do. One of my trip ideas simply consists of hanging out at the beach, reading, writing, and attempting surfing. That's a pretty selfish thing, which makes it perfect for solo travel.

2. EAT WHAT YOU WANT TO EAT. My wife has much better and more selective tastes than I do in food, especially when it comes to health consciousness (i.e. fat grams, carbs, etc.) and perceived sanitary healthiness. When I've traveled by myself, I've tended to eat more street food, stop in little shacks by the road, and venture a little more off the culinary path than I otherwise would have.

3. NOT WAITING OR BEING WAITED ON. With my wife, I spend a lot of time waiting. I'm waiting for her to get ready so we can eat supper, ready for her to finish her morning run so we can go to the beach, etc. I'm simply a quicker mover than my wife. On the other hand, my travel buddy has to wait on me, usually in the mornings, he waits for breakfast until I'm done exercising, waiting on me for dinner while I finish running errands, etc. On solo travel, I go at my own pace, not having to wait or making anyone else have to wait on me.

4. THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET OTHER TRAVELERS. If you're solo, you tend to be a little more social because you're forced to, and you might run into other solo travelers. I'm not very social by nature, and so this has been new for me. I'm still constantly surprised when I'm on trips and I see single female travelers going through countries all by themselves, but I've also seen solo travelers who are obviously from different countries, who seem to have met up and spend time together.

Of course, I've found that not all is great about traveling solo. I'm sure, if you're not careful, there can be safety issues and fear, but I've not traveled so far afield to have that as a concern. Instead, the real downsides I've found of solo travel have tended to be mundane things:

1. EATING ALONE. The upside? I go where I want to go eat and eat what I want. The downside? There's nobody there but me at my meals. I traveled to Panama a few years back to look at a possible investment in a resort community, and stayed in the resort's all-inclusive hotel. The food was really delicious, and offered a good number of choices. But for all the choices, nothing changed the fact that, while I watched couples and large families enjoying themselves on vacation, I was sitting there munching on something alone. With nobody to talk to, and a little bit of self-consciousness that comes with being alone, my meals ended up being very quick affairs. Sure, the food was good, but with nobody to enjoy it with, meals lost some of their appeal.

2. NIGHTS ALONE. I've taken so many trips with both my wife and my travel buddy that both types tend to have evolved into pleasant routines. For my wife and I, usually that means a nice meal in a scenic location, as the sun goes down, then walking/driving back to our accommodation and spending the rest of the evening watching tv or otherwise enjoying each other's company. For me and my buddy, it usually involves eating, perhaps sitting at a bar at our hotel having a drink or two, and just shooting the bull about the adventures we experienced that day. As a solo traveler, however, things ended much more quickly. While the resort in Panama was fairly nice, after my meal in the evenings there wasn't much else to do. I could either go back and watch tv, or go by myself to the nightly cabaret show put on. When I took a business trip to Ambergris Caye by myself, I could explore through town, but with nobody to, e.g., get a drink with or go shopping with, things got boring quickly.

Overall, I would prefer to travel with someone, because for me the best part of travel is the memories created, and they're not as grand if they're not shared with someone. However, solo travel does have benefits, and what I've found is that if I find things for me to do in my downtime (such as reading a book I've brought) or enjoying my meals, say, in my own condo or room (where ironically it doesn't feel so lonely), I think I can pass the time better.

I consider myself a person who likes a lot of solitude, but one of the things I learned about myself traveling solo is that I was more of a social creature than I thought. Try it, you might learn something about yourself as well!

Labels: solo travel

posted by Wesley Deaton @ 7:05 PM