Generally,
I don’t travel on my own; I am a fan of travel buddies. One—or more than one—travel buddies add
dimension and alternative perspectives to the travel experience. Travel buddies allow the opportunity to share
and the opportunity to debrief.
Now, I’m
not talking about having someone with me at every moment and juncture of my
travel time. These days, more often than
not, I actually meet my travel buddy in the airport or hotel of our first
destination city. Often, during the span
of our travels together, we will separate to pursue an individual interest or
activity and then connect again later . . . usually for a meal! For instance, rarely do I have a travel buddy
who wishes to accompany me on a morning run!
Although I
have spent two or three days on my own at the beginning or end of a travel
experience, I have never planned and then partaken of an entire travel adventure
solo. Until my spring break travels in
April, that is! For spring break I returned
to Vietnam for a week, this time ALL BY MYSELF!
And I
survived. And I had quite a good time.
So, with
one week of practical experience in my repertoire, I hereby offer—in no
particular order—what I discovered to be some of the perks of traveling solo:
·
Both
complimentary bottles of water in the hotel room are yours.
·
All
the mango slices on the welcome fruit plate at the hotel are yours.
·
You
can eat dinner at 4:30 or 5:00—no explanations or justifications necessary.
·
You
can forget your dirty clothes in the bathroom after a shower minus the risk
of grossing out the travel buddy.
·
The
Swiss gentleman who checks out of the hotel just ahead of you invites you to
share a taxi to the airport with him and then, once at the airport, refuses to
split the fare because his “company will be happy to cover the expense.”
·
You
can opt for the motor scooter day-tour—less than half the price and more
story-worthy!
·
Two
German guys will momentarily amuse themselves on this gorgeous
beach taking a brief photo shoot of you using your camera.
·
The
couple from Australia you meet on the Mekong Delta boat will talk politics—Australia,
USA, the world—with you. Then she will
be your comrade-in-arms for purchasing Vietnamese-style hats, and he will make
the requisite photo documentation.
So, yes, this first trip traveling solo I
would consider successful, even pleasurable, and certainly memorable.
Did I miss
having a travel buddy? Absolutely . . .
pretty much every day. And there are
things I would have done with a buddy that I did not do on my own. Like . . . on my motor scooter day-tour, my
guide would pull up at a lovely deserted beach and ask if I wanted to take a swim. Although I did have my swimsuit
and all, I just didn’t want to swim there by myself.
So, would
I travel solo again? Maybe.
