Last time I went on holiday (to San Francisco) I had a lot of oppurtunity to see the sights and travel around the city on my own. I enjoyed the freedom this gave me and was considering going on a long weekend a city somewhere in Europe on my own.
Does anyone else regularly travel abroard on their own on their holidays? Are there many drawbacks to this type of travel?
I took a week-long vacation by myself, and enjoyed it a lot. I’m kind of a quiet person who spends a lot of time alone anyway, so that’s probably why. I liked having the freedom to visit whatever I wanted, and take as long or as short a time as I wanted.
There was one day that I found myself feeling a little bit lonely because I didn’t have anyone to talk to about what I’d seen, but other than that, it was great.
(My trip was in the US, so not technically “abroad” but if you don’t mind spending time alone doing activities, why not just go for it?)
I had the opportunity to do just that and travelled around the UK for a couple weeks when I was in my early 20s. I am not a gregarious person by nature, although certainly not unfriendly. I had no reservations about going by myself, just as I would go to movies by myself occasionally.
I had a very good time. I had a rail pass that allowed me to ride any train I wanted, and gave me the freedom to move on a whim. Case in point, I was in Inverness and decided to see if I could catch a coach tour down to Loch Ness and the tourist traps therein. The local tour office was absolutely crammed with tourists (predominantly Spanish I think) and I didn’t feel like waiting for a period of time to find out if there was any room on a bus, so I collected my stuff and went to the rail station. I hopped on the next train out and got off when I saw an interesting sight (Stirling).
I found that people were very friendly to a lone traveller and that I usually found someone to talk to whereever I was. They were often interested in speaking to a foreign traveller and where I was from, and I was able to find out local sights and things to do.
All in all, it was a terrific chance to tour around and I found it to be a very relaxing vacation. I was active and did a LOT of walking, but the ability to do what I wanted was something that I appreciate now that I travel with my wife and 2 kids.
The only bad thing about going on your own is that you may be missing something that you would really like because you don’t know about it, or aren’t really sure if that is something you want to do right now. Oh, yeah, and you aren’t in many of your pictures…
Interestingly, just last night I came back from 2 days alone in San Francisco. I went there for work on Wednesday and Thursday, and decided to extend the trip for the weekend. I love doing that primarliy because of the freedom. I can wake up whenever I want, change plans on a whim, take naps, etc. Plus, I meet all sorts of interesting people because people are generally less intimidated by a single person versus a group.
These days, with a wife and 2 kids, these solitary vacations are few and far between for me. So take advantage of this ability while you have it.
I swear that I didn’t read cantara’s post before I posted.
I have actually travelled quite a bit on my own. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages. It really comes down to your personality whether this is right for you - and you probably won’t know until you try it.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
For me the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and I’ve never let not having someone to go with stop me from going somewhere. The more you do, the more you learn how to cope. I recommend it.
I spent 3 weeks in Australia in 1999 on my own, then last year I spent 3 weeks in the UK on my own. Plus assorted road trips around the US and Canada before and after.
cormac262 pretty much covered the pros and cons. There are times it would be nice to share something in particular, but that is why I have a digital camera. 
That’s my big problem - but quite frankly, I know what I look like, and I can see that whenever I want (which really isn’t very often). And obviously, I know I was there, otherwise I wouldn’t have the picture.
I did two weeks in New Zealand a while ago (great place to be on your own - they speak English. And stuff is rather cheap (compared to the US, it’ll be incredibly cheap compared to England). And there’s a ton of things to do.) And I just got back from a short trip to the big European capitols over the past winter holidays. (Plus Canada frequently, but I can drive there, so it doesn’t really count.)
I’m used to being on my own - so, that isn’t a drastic change. But, it’s nice to go on vacation and do whatever you want whenever you want. If you end up liking a city or attraction, you can stay until you get bored. If you’re bored, you can leave. There’s no compromising, which is truly lovely.
There can be a problem with downtime - after several days, it can get weird to not have other people’s feedback. Also, you have to entertain yourself without the things that you normally use to entertain yourself (it’s one thing to hide out in my apartment with my books, and my computer, and my tv, and my knitting, and my stuff that I want or need to do. It’s another when it’s just me and an empty room. Then I have to find people. Luckily, there have always been people around to be found.) And as cormac262 said, it is definitely more expensive to travel on your own than in pairs. But if you shop carefully, it won’t be that bad.
Definitely give it a try.
Actually, I don’t want **anyone **in my pictures. I’m the guy standing there, camera ready, waiting for everyone to get out of the way. And I’m totally unimpressed when people return home with hundred of pictures of themselves standing in the way of a beautiful view.
I do almost all my traveling alone, even to countries whose language I don’t speak, and wouldn’t have it any other way. Although it’d be nice to have someone hold the umbrella while I’m taking pictures in the rain.
My husband and I sometimes travel together, but we also travel separately. He is often interested in visiting places that I don’t want to go. In addition, I like to take a week and go off by myself and do nothing except completely veg out. He gets bored with that after about two days. Another contributing factor is that during the last several years he was working, he had as much as 5 weeks paid vacation, whereas I had only 2 or 3. Now that he’s retired, of course, he has 52 weeks a year off! No reason why he should have to stay home just because I can’t accompany him.
On the plusses and minuses, I think cormac262 summed it up precisely.
MLS, that vacation issue is what I have now. I get 3 weeks a year, but the boyfriend only gets 1. I could take days off and stay home, but…
Naaaaahhhhhhh!
Even if you set off on your own, you are rarely forced to travel on your own. In just about any place on earth, there’ll be a few other tourists like you who’d be keen to travel with you for the day / a few days / a few months.
The options are all yours. Feeling lonely? Head to a touristy hostel or bar. Don’t like your travelling companions, or prefer to be on your own? Dump them, or arrange to meet them somewhere else in a week’s time.