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Issue Date: August 28, 2005
Fall travel guide
Hitting the road alone
By Kimberly Lisagor
Finding the perfect travel companion may be easier than you think: Just look in the mirror.
Four in 10 Americans took a vacation by themselves in the past three years, according to a recent poll by Roper Public Affairs. And fans of solo travel say venturing out alone can be the best way to see the world. "It's not just a different way to travel," says Lea Lane, author of "Solo Traveler: Tales and Tips for Great Trips" (Fodor's Travel Publications, $15). "I think it's the ultimate way."
The most surprising perk is that it's easier to meet people when you're alone.
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Why travel solo?
The freedom to determine their itinerary ranks high on many travelers' lists of reasons to go it alone. "No bickering, whining, disappointments or grudges," Lane writes. "You get to do exactly what you want."
But a more surprising perk is that it's easier to meet people when you're on your own. Traveling pairs tend to keep to themselves; soloists are more likely to strike up conversations with others.
"When I was alone, I was reaching out to other people," says John Guy LaPlante, a retired journalist who celebrated his 75th birthday by taking a solo trip around the world. In his book about the experience, Around the World at 75. Alone, Dammit! (Infinity Publishing, $18.95), LaPlante tells of strangers who quickly became friends -- like the Kenyan man he met at a Nairobi youth hostel who showed him around the city and kept in touch afterward. "For a long time, I got e-mails from a few countries every day," he says.
Getting started
Lane's first solo trip was a train ride from Miami to New York when she was 19. "Maybe it was the movies I'd seen, but I felt like I had been riding the rails all my life, by myself," she writes. Since then, she has explored more than 110 countries, many of them alone.
LaPlante, too, started close to home. He ventured out on Greyhound buses, crisscrossing the country. "When I was a kid, my father told me, 'If you smile, everybody will smile back,' " he says. "That's absolutely true." His global adventure covered 20 countries in 147 days.
Not all travelers embrace soloing so readily. Lane recommends starting small, with a weekend getaway, an overnight trip or what she calls "breaking away" -- traveling with others, but spending a few hours on your own.
TravelSmart columnist Kimberly Lisagor is the author of Outside's Wilderness Lodge Vacations: North America Plus Central America and the Caribbean.
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Lane's tips for traveling solo
*Accept help. Let the concierge map out your route.
*Smile and ask questions. The easiest is: "Where are you from?"
*Take lots of photos. This will give you a fun activity and lots of memories to reflect on.
*Savor every experience. Lasting memories require focus and contemplation.
*Above all, be flexible. Your freedom to deviate from or ditch the entire plan on a whim is what makes soloing the ultimate way to go.
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