That’s impossible to answer. Everybody’s travel preferences are unique. In this thread alone, we’ve had everything from chess tournaments to photography to sitting in a chair reading books.
The first question is, do you want to travel alone? If not, there are oodles of group activities and singles tours and god knows what else in which to partake. So even if you’re unattached, you don’t have to travel alone if you don’t want to.
If you do want to travel alone, then go for it! It’s the easiest thing in the world–just do whatever you want to do! (And can afford, of course.)
It’s way easier than traveling with a group. I don’t like the music? I leave. I’m getting tired and cranky? I go to my hotel (or park or whatever I want to do to sit down and rest) and don’t worry about whether everyone else is ready for a break. I’m having the time of my life and want to listen to or see or do more? I keep going.
No checking around or taking temperatures or compromising (or feeling guilty because you apparently starved someone who failed to say “I’m hungry” when you didn’t stop for lunch as originally suggested earlier that morning when you apparently also rushed her through breakfast.)
The ideal is asking yourself “what do I want to do?” and then doing it.
Oh, if you’re alone, people will offer to take photos of you. Whenever I’ve been standing around with a camera in front of some landmark or monument or something, some one else in the same area has asked if I wanted for them to take a picture of me. People are remarkably friendly when you’re solo traveling (and in general).
Are you male or female? If I were single I’d find the prospect of trying to pick up a cute foreign chick while I was on vacation pretty exciting. Especially if I was vacationing in say, Japan.
Male here. Well, the idea of knowing someone from a solo-trip is quite tempting.
Perhaps one of the problem is that while I am introverted, I don’t really like to be alone and have anxiety problems (so back-packing solo sounds scary! Oops, I guess I forgot to mention that, but I do enjoy reading the responses here).
I do like ‘familiar company’, but extremely uncomfortable about strangers. I’m always the “So where you’re going? Okay, I’ll follow you”. But now I do have an idea or two in mind, such as going down to Australia to catch a particular concert
I’ve done some camping trips alone - mostly in national parks. I tend to talk to more strangers when I’m alone.
The only bad things about camping alone, is at night it can get lonely. And hiking alone is generally discouraged (especially if you’re like me - female with a bum ankle). If you do hike, let a ranger know where you are going and when you’ll be back. Or do what I did and stick to the more popular trails. On popular trails I’d usually never go more than 10 minutes without seeing others.
Hell, my SO and I get along incredibly well and I still go places alone. Not so much vacations but day trips, definitely. I went to Mass MoCa last year by myself and was able to spend just as long as I liked on each art piece. I go to Shakespeare shows by myself and just revel in the atmosphere. I go to faires and sit and watch the plays for two hours on a hard bench with nary a complaint because I love that and he doesn’t.
Decision making alone or in small groups is easier too.
A few years ago, I was travelling with a group of 13 to, among other places, Key West. Two of us split off in the morning and did our own thing. We found a cute place for breakfast. I ordered eggs benedict with crab cakes and key lime hollandaise sauce. Then we checked out a couple of museums, then found a fantastic beach. For lunch we found a place that had conch fritters, apparently an island specialty. Then we went to another place for key lime pie.
The other 11 people in the group? They argued for hours about where to have lunch. They finally settled on pizza.
I’ve gone on solor road trips and kayaking jaunts. My fiancee still goes solo camping once in a while (well, the dog goes too). It’s fun! You get to do whatever you want and cater to your every whim without needing a consensus.
I’ve done many solo vacations, mostly to different islands in the Caribbean. They were some very good times. The only downer would be begging off joining folks who, thinking I must be lonely, would invite me to share a meal or something.
The opposite applies…I love window shopping and when I’m with other people I feel like I’m taking too much time looking at shiny shiny, and they feel like they are taking me away from an enjoyable activity when I cut my shopping short.
I went to Las Vegas alone a couple years ago. It was my first solo vacation and I couldn’t have had a better time. I did what I wanted to, ate wherever I wanted and didn’t feel guilty about somebody else paying for an expensive meal, stopped at whatever I thought was interesting, slept when I was tired, etc. It’s such a liberating experience. Sharing a vacation with someone is nice too, but your vacation is exactly what you make of it when you go solo.
I personally like going to a city and living like a local. I’ve done London and Hong Kong like this. I like being settled when I travel. I don’t go all over the place, but I do get to know one place well. Traveling to many locations in short periods of time just results in a blur of memories and stress and I don’t like that. I also don’t like being tied up on planes, trains, and automobiles, either.
I find the cheapest place that offers what I want like a private washroom and just stay there. I’m not in the room much, so I don’t care how big it is. A place like HK is great as it is a 24 hour city and great for walking day and night. There are times I’d like to have been with someone else, but there are times I preferred to sit by the harbour and watch the boats go by. You don’t have to think about what another person wants to do in moments like that, so you don’t feel guilty for just sitting, or walking, or staying up until 5am at an all night bar, or sleeping in until 2pm.
You get to meet locals and actually have a relationship lasting longer than a few minutes if you like. Some would think it boring. I find it relaxing.