Traveling Solo

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.