Boldly Go Solo

Harpers Ferry lodging, ghosts and pancakes. West Virginia is indeed wild and wonderful.

A guy I hardly knew cooked me breakfast yesterday. Pancakes. An Israeli guy from New York. 

Actually, "hardly knew" overstates things. I didn't know him at all. But Raz from Queens not only cooked me a batch of pancakes, he also gave me a rundown of all the places I should go and see in Israel - which I'm planning on visiting in January.

This is what I love about hosteling. Particularly when traveling solo.

You are unlikely to feel lonely at most hostels.

In the short time between when I checked in at the Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, hostel (actually located in Knoxville, WV) and left to visit the historic town of Harpers Ferry, I ended up talking to two bicyclists and one weaver, all staying there.

Free stuff in cities around the U.S.

$500,000 in free stuff in 16 major cities around the country. I don't know much about this site called zozi but that's what they're giving away. Starting today. But not for long.

It seems like it's another one of those discount sites that slashes prices so you will frequent a local business. I recently wrote about groupon and livingsocial deals and this seems similar.

Go. Now. Get something free.

I just went to the site and it tells me I'm eligible for a free paddle board rental at Chesapeake Beach in Calvert County, Maryland. Hm, never heard of that. But why not try it?

Anyway, I'm putting this out there without an endorsement, since I'm not familiar with the organization and I've never used it. Just in case you want to read the fine print and explore what you can get for free in your city.

Report back if it's something amazing!

According to the press release I received, you can get two free Zumba lessons in Chicago, a rock-climbing class in Los Angeles and a half day biking trip in Moab if you're in Salt Lake City. Among other things.

Sounds great. Let me know if it works. 

Photo: Courtesy of zozi

Colorado River rafting vacations great for the solo traveler

"Ideal for solo travelers," says the press release from Western River Expeditions about its rafting trips on the Colorado River through Cataract Canyon, Utah. I vouch for that statement. 

I had one of the best trips of my life floating on peaceful sections of the river and holding on for dear life through Class III and IV rapids (read: "big"). And camping by the side of the river with new friends who I was happy to spend every minute with.

Several other companies offer similar trips down this 100-mile stretch of the Colorado, including Holiday River and Bike Expeditions, Hoodoo Rivers & Trails, O.A.R.S.

These are professionally guided rafting trips with all meals and equipment provided. I call them "one-phone call" vacations because you sign up and then let the company do all the work of getting licenses, providing boats and setting out food.

No more solo-only trips with Backroads but not to worry

Backroads, an "active travel company," is ending its singles and solos trips next year. The owners found that more of their solo travelers ended up on regular trips than on solo ones. There weren't getting enough people to make the singles and solo trips fun.

After doing some of Backroads solo trips years back, I realized I prefer a mixed group anyway. It's more relaxed. Less of that meet market feel.

Along with the change, the company has reduced the single room charges. Nice little benefit.

The part I like is where they say, "Just give us a call and we’ll help you find the departure with the most Singles+Solos, if that’s what you are looking for."

That's exactly what I did for my first major solo adventure, a rafting trip. I called Holiday Expeditions and asked them to find me a trip that other solo travelers had signed up for. I didn't want to be the only person traveling alone. I didn't need a LOT of solo travelers. Just some.

I ended up in a fivesome with one couple, one married guy traveling without his wife (she wasn't much of a rafter, he said), one single guy and me. We became tight as ticks. We hardly made make a move without one another. We simply enjoyed one another's company that much.

I would consider another trip with Backroads. I've taken three with the company. Biking in the Colorado Rockies, biking in the Canadian Rockies and biking and hiking in Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon.

They were all run well. And I wouldn't have gotten to those places without joining a group that was already going. None of my friends are that gung ho about biking to plan a week-long trip out West to do so.

And I did things I never expected, including biking 120 miles in one day. (Trust me, there was a lot of downhill. But the 80 mile-day uphill day it took to earn the downhill was a major killer.)

Backroads is not the only company that will provide the service of putting a group together and getting on the phone with you to discuss who is signed up for the trip. On the other hand, I would probably avoid a company that wouldn't be willing to share that information. 

Five high-adrenaline adventures for daring solo travelers

After writing about adventure travel ideas for men, a reader checked in with suggestions for VERY adventurous travelers. From what I can tell, most blog readers don't check back to the blog for comments (since many of you get it through RSS and email notification of new posts) so I thought I'd alert you to the adventure suggestions from Tom, the e-mailer.

These are not trips so much as activities to build a vacation around.

They are:

1. Tandem HALO jumping--High Altitude, Low Open--parachute jumping. Which basically means you're free falling for a looonnnggg time. Love this caveat on the site:

"Skydiving is inherently risky. You could die. You will be required to sign a release of liability. That said, the guy strapped to you throughout your HALO tandem jump has no desire to die young. He’s an expert jumper who will be using the best possible equipment and taking all steps humanly possible to make your adventure as safe as it can be."

2. Then there's El Caminito del Rey, or the King's Little Pathway, a walkway along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in Malaga, Spain.



3. Next up, shooting the rapids on the Gauley River in West Virginia.

"Your heart will pound with great anticipation as you witness the release of raging whitewater shooting from 3 colossal tubes. You will navigate through five Class V+ rapids. Insignificant, Pillow Rock, Lost Paddle, Iron Ring, and Sweets Falls (a 12' waterfall). Previous rafting experience is recommended and good physical condition is highly recommended."

4. How about the "Tough Guy" challenge, open to both sexes. It took place in February this year. Start training now for next year.

"Billed as "the safest most dangerous taste of physical and mental endurance pain in the world", the Tough Guy Challenge took place yesterday, February 1st, on South Perton Farm, near Wolverhampton, England. Thousands of challengers (men and women) started the endurance race, with hundreds dropping out along the way due to exhaustion or injury - broken bones, dislocations, and over 600 cases of hypothermia. Even the overall winner, James Appleton, was treated briefly for hypothermia. The course takes racers through 21 obstacles - through mud, freezing water, across ropes and burning terrain."

5. And finally, bungee jumping into an active volcano Whaaa??

"How about bungee jumping from the skid of a helicopter into the gaping maw of a bubbling active volcano? No. We're not kidding and yes this is for real! Our Stunts division set up this jump for MTV a while back. We loved the jump so much, we knew we had to bring it to the small percentage of the public who, like us, has that something special in their genes."

I release myself from any and all responsibility for what happens if you choose to engage in these activities! But have a blast. Well, not a blast in the dangerous sense...well, you know what I mean.

Adventure trip ideas for men traveling solo?

The large majority of single-sex adventure trips are geared towards women, a fact that gets under the skin of some male readers. Recently, I've begun receiving e-mail info from a company that promotes adventure trips by breaking them into categories such as "deal of the week," "family adventures," "women only" and, interestingly, "men's interest." Not "men only," but men's "interest."

I hoped, finally, I could point men toward trips geared specifically for them. Sad to say, the promotions are more a marketing conceit than anything else.

For instance, one listing promotes Bar Harbor, Maine, as "Adventure Central." So why is that "men's interest?" The release says, "Outfitters and vendors in the town of 4,820 year round residents offer sea kayaking instruction, mountain bike touring, a mountain climbing school, sailing adventures, birding expeditions, even motorcycle trips spanning the park."

I, too, like the sound of kayaking, biking, mountain climbing and sailing. Is it the motorcycle trips that make it "men's interest?" Hm.

One promotion that made me smile, though, was the suggestion that men go to 4UR Ranch in Creede, Colorado. The ranch has seven miles of private stream that will "stun even the most devout fly fishing enthusiasts." 

Fishing reminded me of "Defending the Caveman," a hilarious show about differences between the sexes. One riff is about how men don't bond by talking, as women do, but that fishing might bring them together. Says the "caveman" in his monologue:

"Men don't bond through conversation. Oh, we'll have one. We just don't bond that way. You know how men bond? It's just a lot of 'hanging out.' That's why men invent things like fishing.

"What is fishing? It's the barest excuse of an activity. It's the smallest goal you can possibly have. You've got a string in the water--something could happen.

"But--you gotta have that. You can't say to another guy, 'Hey Chuck. Wanna just go sit together by a lake?' Of course Chuck wouldn't want to go! You say, 'Come on, we'll go fishin.' And then, you can sit together all day long."

What's even funnier about the email promotion of the fishing retreat for men is that in another email, the same ranch is promoted as a "women's only fly fishing retreat" during one special week.

Utah: Home to some of the best national parks in the country

Utah has some of the best national parks in the country. And I mean, spectacular. When I saw this article, it struck me all over again how cool a place the Beehive state is for fantastic scenery and action adventure.

I have visited four out of the five top parks (at least as designated by the writer) by going solo on adventure trips. One was with Holiday Expeditions, the other with Backroads. And I would highly recommend both companies.

One of my first set-out-solo trips was mountain biking and whitewater rafting on the Green and Colorado rivers with Holiday Expeditions.

On the Holiday Expeditions trip our group of five went mountain biking in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and then joined a larger group to raft through Canyonlands. So peaceful and mellow drifting through the canyons, bathing in the river, relaxing by the shore. No electronics whatsoever. Clocks and watches unnecessary. Just drift and eat and soak in the colorful rock formations and hike the smooth chasms where the river has cut through to form a winding path.

The fab five from the biking portion formed such a tight bond that when the trip ended, four of us who didn't have immediate flights home drove our three cars by caravan to Moab, Utah and stayed overnight.

The next day we explored Arches National Park together before we had to fly home to our respective corners of the country: Washington, New York and California. For years, my favorite t-shirt was "Go with the Flow," purchased at the company's store.

Five fun activities for solo travelers in Miami

These days, when I run into the tourism marketing people, I always say the same thing: "Nice destination, but is there a way for solo travelers to meet other travelers or local people while there? After a spell, we can get tired of traveling and touring on our own." 

The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau came through with flying colors recently. Jennifer Haz, the assistant media relations manager, sent me a list of ideas, three of which would serve well as "isolation breakers" during, say, a week-long trip that includes Miami, Florida. I've included the other two in case they're of interest.

Her suggestions:

1. Find an "ecoadventure" through Miami-Dade Parks.

Naturalists will guide you through parks, wilderness areas and historic sites. You can go snorkeling and kayaking in Biscayne Bay, canoeing through mangrove creeks "teeming with native wildlife," or biking along the barrier island.

Also offered are "wilder" activities, including marine wading tours and hiking trips into wilderness areas of the Everglades, Big Cypress National Preserve and coastal parks. If there are others on the tours, you will have people to talk to. If not, there's always your friend, the guide.

2. Swim with dolphins.

The Miami Seaquarium is the place to interact with the "Flippers" of the world. The program brings you to a classroom for an interactive presentation. Then you suit up and head out for dolphin encounters. Surely, people in the "class" will be giddy and share their excitement with everyone in the room. Including you.

Here's the Web site patter: "As a ‘Dolphin Odyssey’ participant, you’ll have the opportunity to kiss, hug, dance, rub and get up-close to these friendly mammals."

(Don't you drink the ocean if you try to kiss a dolphin?)

 3. South Beach bike tour

Since so much of what's unique and cool about Miami is the South Beach art deco area, a bike tour would be a great activity. I've walked around the funky area but biking would be so much more efficient and fun.

South Beach Bike Tours offers a half-day bike rental (on one of those cruiser bikes), a helmet and "refreshments." Bike and Roll offers a two-hour tour for $39. Again, there will people on the tour to chat with, or if not, a guide.

These next two don't seem as conducive to mixing and mingling but could be fun things to do while you're there.

Lake Tahoe biking, hiking, skating, kayaking, walking, eating, sleeping. Whew.

I'm standing high on a mountain in California on a hot summer day, my hiking boots planted at the top edge of a large patch of snow. One of the last remaining from the winter. I take in the scenery. The snow-kissed Sierra Nevada Mountains. The stoic evergreen trees. A verdant mountain meadow below.

Then, with an Elvis-like flick of my hips to get going, I let my feet skid. I go slipping 'n sliding on the ski-season leftovers. My arms swing wildly, helping me keep my balance. But I fear coming to the end of the patch and pitching forward when my feet hit dirt. So I sit down to stop. Elegant!

What a great trip. A multi-sport tour of Lake Tahoe that included mountain biking, hiking, inline skating and kayaking. I had a wipeout during that trip due to a loose brake on my skate (my fault for not checking and tightening the screws for, oh, about two years). That spectacular fall led to major road rash. About 10 inches of bruise and scrapes on my left thigh.

But when you're with a group, even with people you've only known for a few days, people rally around you. One guest, a doctor, taught me how to clean and dress the wound.

Going solo to Kalaallit Nunaat, the world's largest island

Want to kayak where the kayak was invented? How about go dogsledding, snowmobiling or on a musk ox or whale safari? Then Kalaallit Nunaat is the place for you. Also known as Greenland. A place where you can view icebergs from a hotel terrace. A place where dog sleds have the right of way. Seriously. 

I haven't been to Greenland, a nation of 56,000 people.  But the other day, in Washington, D.C., I had a chance to meet Aleqa Hammond, the country's minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs.

The United States wants to work more closely with Greenland. In 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Power, in the shepherds' village of Igaliku, signed an agreement, along with Denmark and Greenland (which is part of the Danish realm) to expand cooperation and deepen ties with Greenland. That's why Hammond was in D.C. last week.  

As for tourism in the land of Erik the Red, there is bittersweet excitement over a new natural phenomenon. Due to climate change, the seas around the island have turned into something astoundingly different than what anyone can remember.