Boldly Go Solo

Back to (language) school

This is the second year that fall has come around and my thoughts have turned to...Guadalajara. 

The foods, the family I lived with there for a few days and the Guadalajara sights.

The San Juan de Dios Market. (I just recently finished the vanilla I brought home from there, which reminded me of my trip every time I baked with it.) The Corona Market in Guadalajara's city center. And much more. My nice teacher at the IMAC Spanish language school in downtown Guadalajara. 

I was in a class with about five others, who ranged in age from teens to probably 60's. I loved the fact that la maestra couldn't revert to English to explain things (she didn't speak it well) and that I was able to follow along in Spanish pretty well.

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.

Top spas in the U.S. and Canada, on cruise ships and in hotels

In a third-hand account of spa-going, I offer you the results from this year's list of best spas, based on a reader poll done by Conde Nast. I tried going directly to the Conde Nast site, but they offered their results with that annoying web trick of forcing you to click here, there and everywhere to see all the results.

Instead, you can go to A Luxury Travel Blog and see all on one page, the top spas in the U.S., Canada, Hawaii (yes, I understand that Hawaii is part of the U.S., but I didn't make up the categories), cruise ship spas, spas in Mexico and Central America, spas in the Atlantic and Caribbean and top hotel spas.

Take the recommendations with a grain of salt...or with a sugar scrub. Theses spas are not being reviewed by us skilled and trained professional journalists, you know, those of us who majored in spa going and can write about it objectively.

But the list of top spas  at least gives you some names of places to research if a solo spa vacation is in your cards. While you're researching, of course, investigate what the solo scene is to see if you'd enjoy going alone.

10 good ideas for solo travelers

Visiting a new place? Ride a bus to the end of the line and soak up the sights while coming and going. Get off the bus if you see something or some place that strikes you. Maybe get back on and go to the end of the line after that. Or maybe not. 

I love this tip. But I didn't think it up. It's from Pico Iyer, a great travel writer, well known in the biz.

He's the one who compiled the list of 10 things every traveler should do. I'm just throwing some of them out there and suggesting you read the whole list. 

Iyer says he did the bus thing in Miami and ended up in a "spicy part of Little Havana... that seemed to capture the essence of the city."

Farm Fresh North Carolina is the go-to guide to farm fun

How much do you know about the alpacas, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, live Christmas trees and other fab finds in North Carolina? We're talking here about hundreds of farms, wineries, agricultural festivals and bed and breakfasts you can visit in your travels.

Well, if you need to find out more, you should get a copy of Farm Fresh North Carolina, a statewide guide to all the farms and other cool agriculture-related places you'll ever want to visit in the Tar Heel State.

Even a "chocolate lounge!" (The cacao's not local, but the fruits, berries, honey, eggs and milk they use for their truffles come from nearby. And this guide is all about North Carolina agricultural products and buying local.)

It's written by my friend and fellow travel writer Diane Daniel. The food editor of The Washington Post, writes: "Her exhaustively researched guidebook will make you want to jump in the car and plan an entire getaway celebrating the family farm."

Solo vacation in DC for cherry blossom seekers

The cherry blossoms are coming! Very soon now. I happen to be highly aware of the impending pinkness (pinker as buds, then very pale pink as blossoms) because I was immersed last month in writing a cherry blossom guide for a hotel magazine.

Recently, the National Park Service announced its prediction of the peak cherry blossom bloom times: March 20 to April 3.

While a lot of the cherry blossom events are for kids and families, several would be perfect for solo travelers looking for company while in D.C. I'm thinking about doing one or two of these myself, even though I've been to the Tidal Basin's beautiful cherry trees many, many times. And even though I might visit at other times with friends.

Washington Walks offers a "Blossoms Secrets Stroll" that teaches you all the cherry tree lore you could possibly want. I just learned that the 17th-century Japanese stone lantern near the Tidal Basin, where a veritable forest of cherry trees resides, is the oldest manmade object in the country that's not housed in a museum.

Solo cross country skiing in Cape Elizabeth in southern Maine

The sound of cross country skis in fresh snow has never mixed with the smell of the sea in my imagination. Until this year.

I met up with my friends Adele and Sheara in Boston last month for our 14th annual cross country ski weekend. After an overnight in Massachusetts, we headed to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, near Portland, a new destination for us. 

While my cross country skiing jaunts have never been solo trips, keep reading solo travelers. Everywhere we skied, we saw solo skiers. Mostly female. Several accompanied by dogs. But clearly the ski areas are popular and safe spots for solo skiers.

Did George Washington ever travel solo in Old Town Alexandria in Virginia? Hm...

Old Town Alexandria is one of those cute cobblestone historic areas that modern Washingtonians love to visit. A few authentic cobblestone streets remain, but most streets are paved.

Still, many of the sidewalks are bricked, which lends an old-fashioned feel to the 15-plus blocks of unique galleries, shops and restaurants.

I've written two travel stories on Alexandria for different newspapers. Today being Presidents' Day (the merged February birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, our first and 16th presidents), I figured I'd rerun one of the stories here. (This one ran in the Kansas City Star and the St. Petersburg Times.)

Read about George Washington's haunts, other Virginia history and the Alexandria of today. It's easy for solo visitors to get to Old Town Alexandria without a car. The Metro system drops you off within walking distance of the locations mentioned in the following story:

"Alexandria paints picture of the past"

George Washington liked to ride over from his Mount Vernon home to Gadsby's Tavern in this Potomac River town to drink, discuss the successful Revolution and attend a banquet from time to time. Two-and-a-half centuries later, people still head to Gadsby's Tavern, and other bars and restaurants in Alexandria, to drink, talk about the war and, once in a while, attend a fancy dinner.

Solo travel Valentine's Day ideas include Ecuador, Moscow, Tucson

Since I didn't start musing about what might make a good solo Valentine's Day trip until yesterday, these ideas obviously will have to hold until 2012 or beyond.

Solo travelers seeking roses should book a flight to Ecuador, the rose capital of the world. One airline, I don't remember which, handed a large, perfect rose to each woman leaving the airplane. And it wasn't even February.

I've never been to Moscow. Do they celebrate Valentine's Day there? I'm thinking it's either too cold or too dark or the restaurant service is too poor to make it a great place to go out for a romantic dinner. So it would be a good place to avoid the hokey Hallmark nonsense. But it sure is a long way to go to avoid a silly "holiday."

What about a ranch? I've loved all my visits to Arizona ranches. Do cowboys do roses? Either ranch hands will pay special attention to solo female travelers or the day will be celebrated at some kind of big barbecue event with families, couples and singletons. Just like any other day. Either way, I'm guessing there won't be the red-rose twosomeness of a city slicker Valentine's Day.

Those are my rambling thoughts. Any other fun or funny ideas for a solo Valentine vacation? I can collect them for next year.

Photo: Ellen Perlman. Chocolate and candy hearts.

 

Yellowstone National Park in winter and deals for solo travelers

Winter visitors to Yellowstone National Park have the park, and the herds of native bison, practically to themselves. Apparently, it's a pretty special place to be in the next few months. 

“Winter for us means terrific cross country skiing, a sense of quiet and solitude and truly unparalleled opportunities for wildlife viewing,” said Jeff Brown, director of education for the Yellowstone Association Institute.

The bears may be hibernating, and the migratory birds off to warmer places, but otherwise the winter months are a great time to see wolves, elk and bison in their natural habitat. Without all the two-legged tourists getting in the way. Now that's adventure travel.

The non-profit institute offers private tours for small groups but also a "Lodging & Learning" program that provides guides for daily field trips, along with lodging in park hotels.

In a separate program, experts teach multi-day field seminars on wildlife, geology, history and more, a great way for solo travelers to get to hang with other people. You know, talk, laugh, discuss cougar mating habits.

Some of the courses are held at the Institute's Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus, where you can stay in cabins for $30 a night per person. Sounds like no single supplement to me.