I am divorced and don't have any children. I just took off 5 days from work and I am trying to decide whether I should just make it a staycation, or go somewhere for 3-5 days.
I have been looking at Groupon, but it seems all of their deals are for two people. I was thinking about doing a cruise to key west and mexico. I also thought about doing an all-inclusive in Bahamas, Jamaica, or Dominican Republic.
Now my question is: Have you ever cruised or went to an AI by yourself? Did you feel safe? I'm just a little nervous because I look very young and I am partially disabled, but I don't have anyone to go with me.
Are you interested in joining a travel group or arranging a meet-up, or would you prefer to go solo?
I know that the Rick Steves website includes some tips for solo travelers and female travelers, and there's also a message board where people can arrange a meet-up in a specific travel location so that they have a small group. He just covers Europe, but maybe there's a similar site out there for the Caribbean.
I've traveled solo for business, but just to major US cities. I actually like it a lot - I get to explore on my own schedule. I've got no interest in a beach/cruise vacation whether it's solo or with a companion, so I can't comment on that.
Most cruiselines and AIs also price themselves based on double occupancy, similar to the Groupon deals, so keep that in mind.
However, I've run into solo travelers on cruises before, and with all the organized activities going on, it's easy to meet people and be social when you're done being by yourself. Unfortunately, since most cruise ship cabins are designed for 2 people, the single supplements can be quite high. A few ships have started offering single cabins (mostly on Norwegian, I believe), so that might be something to consider. CruiseCritic has a few articles dedicated to solo cruising that might be useful: www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=21
If you're just interested in a beach holiday, since package deals tend to be based on double-occupancy, your most cost-effective option may be to book a flight and hotel yourself and just factor in the cost of food and drinks at your destination. I did this for a long weekend last spring and just picked one of the cheapest flights I could find, and then booked an inexpensive single room at my destination. I will say that while sunbathing and walking along the beach were pleasant, I got annoyed with dining by the end of the week. I normally have no problem going out to eat alone, but when I was in a small touristy beach town, most other diners were couples and groups, and as a solo diner I got a lot more stares and weird looks than I ever do dining in my home city. For this reason, I would suggest a bigger city, where you're more likely to mix with locals, so solo people are more common.
Personally, for solo travel, I prefer more active trips, where I have plenty to do. Hiking or active pursuits, museum hopping, etc. And if you're interested in a more social trip, my favorite solo travel was an organized tour with GAdventures. Since they don't charge a single supplement, there were lots of other solo travelers to hang out with, and I met a lot of great people.
I am almost divorced with no kids and have started traveling by myself. I did two trips solo in the past 10 months since separating, but both were to the UK and involved cities for the most part. City or more active solo trips are great - there is plenty to keep you busy during the day, and at night, I found that people were willing to be social by chatting with me when I went to restaurants and bars.
I think between a cruise and an AI, if I were going solo, I would do a cruise. Cruises bring families, groups of friends, and couples, while AIs, for the most part, are more couples than solo travelers or group of friends. I think a cruise would, in general, be more social and with more things to do for a solo traveler.
Whatever you plan, I think it's great you are willing to travel solo. I know some people who are just not that confident to do it alone.
I think I'd be hesitant to do an AI or cruise for some of the reasons GilliC stated -- they're priced for double occupancy so there's not much value in them for a solo traveler. I'd also be more inclined to a city versus beachy solo vacation, but that's probably just me. I've enjoyed it when I've traveled alone, but we've moved around a lot and my husband has crazy hours sometimes, so I've learned to be OK doing stuff solo.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. Mark Twain
I would do it. I can't speak to a cruise or AI, but I have gone to Malaysia alone and to Norway with just me and a 1 year old. I wouldn't let being alone stop me from going on a trip that I was excited about.
I've traveled alone a lot - it's one of my favorite things to do. For me personally, I like places where I can sightsee vs. a relaxation trip. I would much prefer to walk around Paris than sit at an AI where it's all geared towards couples.
I've traveled alone a lot - it's one of my favorite things to do. For me personally, I like places where I can sightsee vs. a relaxation trip. I would much prefer to walk around Paris than sit at an AI where it's all geared towards couples.
I agree with all of this. I love traveling alone. It sounds selfish, but I think it's awesome to be able to plan a trip without having to take someone else's opinion into consideration. City vacations are probably better for solo travelers than a beach/cruise/AI. Those places will most likely be crawling with couples. I've gone to Seattle, Boston, London and Paris by myself and they were some of the best times of my life.
I won a solo trip to Club Med Cancun from a site dedicated to empowering women to travel on their own and it was fantastic. I made a friend during that trip that is still in my life (the trip was almost 9 years ago). There's so much structure and stuff going on with an AI that it's pretty easy to meet people.