Anybody ever go on a trip on your own, say to Europe, and

[raccoon]

just do whatever you wanted to do? And you didn't have friends/relatives in the country(ies) you were visiting, just go as a tourist and see museums or whatever?

[nosillies]

1. Yep, that's my favorite way to travel

As long as you don't mind dining out by yourself, it's ideal. You can do exactly what you want to do at your own pace every minute of the day.

In fact, I love traveling that way so much, I took it a step further. I actually moved to a foreign country by myself. I had a work visa, but I had no job, no place to live, nothing.:crazy:
Best thing I ever did in my life!

[MonkeyFunk]

2. Oh yeah...

I've been to The Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand on my own. I love it - it's a great way to travel. I think the fact that in all those places, most people speak English helps.

It would be tougher being a place I didn't understand the language by myself, I think.

[Eurobabe]

6. You could still manage, even if you just knew some

nice-ities. People always appreciate when someone tries to speak their language, even if one mangles it. LOL. Traveling is the greatest education in the world.

[2Design]

3. Did that in 1989, 1983 in Europe but have done it a lot in usa

Best way to travel is alone. Listen to other argue about where to go and what to do and you thank your lucky stars you are alone. Also, you are more likely to meet others who want you to join them because they are uncomfortable you are alone and they are in a group. It is terrific to pick what you want to see and do and plan accordingly.

Now when going to Europe I had a travel agent book a hotel for first night and last night to make sure I had a place to stay. Between that I found travel ling by train is so easy and there are booths where they help you find a hotel near the station and I always found they helped me pick a safe area for a single female. It was terrific and so much less expensive than traveling in the usa.

[gateley]

4. I've always been afraid to, but you all have convinced me to give it a try. nt

[Eurobabe]

5. I live in Europe and when my hubby travels

sometimes I accompany him and go off on my own during the daytime. This gives me a good overview of the cities we've visited, and I get a comfort level to go back alone. Sometimes I get daring and go off by myself alone while he is away. Once you've done it, it is SO liberating. It's not as complicated as you might think, and alot of people speak English here and don't have a problem with Americans (Italians still love us, TG). Since I live so close to Austria and Italy, I often have just taken the car and gone by myself. I've even done Barcelona by myself, although beforehand I heard scary stories of people getting mugged, just use common sense and you'll be fine. I'd do Barcelona alone again in a heartbeat, it is SUCH a cool city. I'd do Vienna by myself, it's so easy to get around by train. Prague also. Southern France, etc. If you get a rental car, get a navi system, that is a life-saver.

In fact I might take a train somewhere this weekend, my DH is away and the weather is pretty good.

The world is your oyster. :hi:

[AnnInLa]

7. Yes, If you want to travel by yourself, but have the option

of meeting up with other travelers once you are at your destination, then do what I did: Go to www.tripadvisor.com, and join the forums for the places you are interested in. On the forums, you will find "Experts" who live in that city/area and offer advice and answer your questions. On the forums, you will also find others who will be there at the same time, and possibly at the same hotel. In most of the major cities, TripAdvisor has "Meet Ups," where all of those who have been posting, and are visiting, meet up at a pub or restaurant. These Meet Ups are arranged by a local "Expert" who lives in that city. The Experts are unpaid, and just love to offer advice and meet the various people from around the world who are posting on the forums.

I did this on the TripAdvisor London forum. Before the trip, I made contact with a couple from Ontario who would be at the same hotel at the same time. It was great to meet them, and hang out with them some of the time. The Expert for London was a great guy named Adam, and he arranged 2 Meet Ups while I was there. I got to meet the people who had been posting in the London forum....people from Australia, mainland Europe and USA. I know that, while in London, if I had a major problem, I could have called on Adam for advice and help.

After traveling with groups, I find that solo traveling is the only way to go. While in London, I got to visit all of the art museums and spend as long as I wanted just looking at absorbing the great masterpieces. I had been twice before with groups of friends, but no one else was interested in spending much time in the galleries, so I just went by myself. It was great and no problems arose. If you do your homework in advance, it will be a wonderful experience.

I travel to Mexico all of the time by myself. Check out the island of Isla Mujeres (off the coast of Cancun), www.myislamujeres.com. The island is very small, and you quickly make friends with the other Americans there and with the locals. Believe me, you are never lonely or bored!

[raccoon]

8. Thanks for the heads up. I'll look into both these sites. nt

[DrDan]

9. all the time . . .

Might make a hotel reservation the first evening. After that, just take off and enjoy. Trying to plan a week or more can certainly lead to disappointment for where you wish you could have gone, or what you could have visited.

[blondie58]

10. yep, back in the early 80's

I always had a passion for travel and languages. My girlfriends all voiced the desire to go- but no one cared enough to save their money. My first trip I spent 2 weeks with an art/history tour with my college, but I stayed another six weeks on my own. I went back for another two month sojourn a year later.

It was the best thing that I've ever done. I had a Eurail pass and stayed primarily at youth hostels or bed and breakfasts. Traveling alone forces you to connect with people in ways that you might not if you were traveling with someone else. I traveled to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Holland, Italy and then took the ferry to Greece.

It is amazingly easy. At just about every train station, you look for the blue I- information kiosk. They can help you with directions, accomodations and just about anything else. Now, I speak a little German and Spanish, so that might have helped, but most people speak some English over there.

I encourage you to go- you won't have any regrets.

[Darth_Kitten]

11. Yup, that's what I did.............

in September, when I went to London. Just did whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it. :)

I say if you want to do it, go for it. :)

[spindrifter]

12. Yes. I just don't enjoy eating by

myself all the time.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. Yes, that's how most of my trips to Japan have been

as were the second halves of both my trips to England.

When I travel alone, I try to rendezvous with people I know and stay in small B&B type places.

[Retrograde]

14. Is there another way to go?

Lately I've been looking at 1-2 week apartment rentals in various cities. We did a 1-week rental in Rome last year which was great: doing the little things like grocery shopping and figuring out how to take out the garbage give you a different view of a country than an organized tour does. Plus, it was cheaper than a hotel. And although my Italian is very, very limited, we got by.

We take local transportation and walk a lot. We also found that getting to the big-name tourist sights very, very early is best for avoiding crowds.

When I used to travel on business my company was nice enough to let me tack an extra day or two on a trip (at my expense): I would do day trips from wherever I was working. After a week or so of business I looked forward to a nice, quiet dinner by myself.