Oh no! I missed Chocolate Day. It was July 7. No wait. U.S. Chocolate Day is October 28. Whew. I never knew such a day existed but now that I do, I sure don't want to miss it.
This news comes to me via a fellow travel writer's site, Travel Diversions with Doreen. I write a blog on solo travel. Doreen writes one on traveling for chocolate.
What. Could. Be. Bad???? In fact, why didn't I think of that?
Doreen has written not one, but two separate posts about chocolate masters in the United Kingdom. This is hugely important information. I'd be remiss if I didn't relay this fact. Particularly if any readers are heading to England any time soon.
She says that Britain is leading the Chocolate Revolution. I have not fact checked this. But I sure wouldn't mind hopping over and indulging for the purposes of accuracy.
AND...be still my heart...when I went to the Rococo Chocolates site, which Doreen writes about, what should be at the very top photo on the home page? (At least as of today?) Torrone! (I can't be positive, but it sure looks like it.)
At first, I didn't think of this as something to write about on a solo travel blog. But scanning (or should I say "spanning") the photos stirred up so many memories of my travels.
I thought maybe it would do the same for you, even if you haven't been across or in view of any of these particular bridges. For instance, seeing the bridge in Venice - one of so many you cross as you walk the quiet, carless streets - reminds me how special a place that city is.
If you've never gone because you haven't had someone to travel with...not a good excuse. You could wander for hours on your own marveling at the uniqueness of the place and stopping for pizza, gelato, cappuccino (what's not to like about eating in Italy?!) Bring a camera and a book and take your sweet time exploring any which way you'd like.
I didn't see too many other bridges I'd actually visited represented on the 50 Fantastic Bridge Photographs post. But as my mind wandered, I remembered Chain Bridge in Budapest. I got to visit that one because I had gone to Club Med alone, met someone I became friendly with and a couple of years later she moved to the city for work and invited me to visit.
Time for me to start harmonica lessons. Right quick.
A travel writer acquaintance of mine wrote this lovely story about how playing the harmonica during her travels in China, Turkey and elsewhere, quickly broke the ice with children she met along the way. Brilliant! Why haven't I ever thought of this?
People often advise travelers to bring gum, coins, pens, pencils and other small items to give to children. But sharing music seems like such a better idea. You hand over a pencil, there's not much of a bond.
But sharing music and bringing a smile to someone's face? Priceless!
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.
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.
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."
I've never skied in Europe. It's such a romantic notion, though. I imagine skiing into huts mid-mountain for hot soup or buttered rum. And skiing right into town at the end of the day, perhaps directly to the back door of my chalet?
I base my fantasies on one spring visit to Zermatt, Switzerland, where these things seemed possible, although I wasn't skiing there. I was staying at the Zermatt youth hostel (I was definitely a youth then) and several fellow hostelers had skis stored against a wall near the door. A few bucks a night for a room near the Matterhorn? Not a bad deal, whether you're skiing or not.
The Chicago Tribune has a piece on how solo travelers can buy vacation packages without getting fleeced by the single supplement. I've written about these points before but they always bear repeating.
If you're willing to share a room, many tour operators will match you with someone of the same sex, eliminating the single supplement. Some will waive it, even if you end up with a private room due to an odd number of men or women on the trip. Don't get your heart set on it. You have to be lucky for circumstances to work out that way.
Booking early or late can help, as can going with smaller tour operators willing to negotiate.
The Tribune story says the single supplement is typically 200 percent. I don't believe that. On cruises, maybe. But I've been on a lot of vacation tours (biking, rafting, horseback riding and more) and perused many a travel catalog. I've never seen the single supplement listed as 200 percent.
Instead, you usually end up having to pay several hundred dollars more than those who bunk with another, whether friend, partner or spouse. That's because the hotels charge by the room and if you're just one person, you can't split it with anyone. But that's not the tour operator's fault. It's the way of hotel pricing. The tour operator books a certain number of rooms and if two people are sharing a room, the overall costs are lower.
Over the years I've experienced most of the above. I've shared rooms with someone the tour company matched me with. I've gotten my own room because I was the "odd man out" among the women on the trip - the lucky one who asked for a share but got a single. I had a single when I was on a rafting trip because the sleeping quarters were tents. Which is not necessarily standard. On a camping and biking trip, I was assigned a tentmate.
I've rotated roommates on a trip where there were three solo female travelers. I thought that was a good, fair system, rather than giving the single room to one person for the entire trip. The only problem was, I got so friendly with the other two solo female travelers I felt lonely on the nights I got the private room! There they were chatting and laughing without me!
Anyway, don't let a single supplement put you off taking a vacation package with a tour operator. Choose one of the above options. Or, if you choose a private room, calculate if there are savings based on group travel and transportation that the tour is providing that you wouldn't have gotten on your own.
If you can't bear the idea of sharing with a stranger or paying a single supplement, I'm out of ideas for group trips for you. But if you're willing to try the roommate route, just remember that you won't be spending a lot of time in your room anyway, particularly on an adventure trip...the kind I like to promote here.
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.
Yikes. If that's the savings, how much is the cruise? Not only am I not going solo, I'm not going at all unless somebody treats me to it! Then again, some of the cruises are 23 days long so the price may not be outrageous for what you get.
But clearly the clientele is wealthy and retired. Either that or these cruisers saved vacation days and money to take the trip of a lifetime.
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