Solo Travel
It’s not booked yet but I’m planning on taking about 5 days this summer to gallivant around Southern California.
Those that know me well know that I love baseball, and especially baseball stadiums. The stars (and schedules) have aligned, and the Phillies will be in Los Angeles and San Diego, and the Angels will also be home. I plan on seeing games in all three parks.
Sounds awesome, except, I’ll be by myself.
It seems like a great opportunity to do things that nobody else would want to do (i.e. get up at sunrise and ride a bike along the beach), and not be a slave to anybody else’s schedule or interests. I might even learn a thing or two about myself. But at the same time it feels like it can be horribly depressing and lonely.
Who has done the solo travel thing before? What did you like, and what did you not like? Did you find it easy to meet new, like-minded people?
Comments
I have not, but I always thought it’d be a fun thing to do. Travel solo, that is. Things is, I get lonely easily. I love having people around. So I can’t imagine not wanting to blog every little thing I saw or thought.
You should set up a video blog of it!
I never did it for a full on 5 day vacation but in my early 20’s when I was single and living with my parents I would do solo weekend trips a lot just to get away. Mostly up and down the east coast. Just go and do the things you talked about. Catch some sunrises, take pictures of stuff, and just see where the weekend took me. I loved the spontaneity of not having to factor in what anyone else wanted to do. I loved the freedom of it, and the independence. As for the loneliness factor I can’t speak to that since I’m probably one of the most anti-social, loner, misanthropic people you’re ever likely to meet and I was even more so when I was younger. I can’t be around people for too long a period of time before I need to leave and go away or be by myself. But there’s a lot of self reflection to be had so that’s the great thing about it. More people need to do things like this so I applaud you.
I went to Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia by myself in January 2004 and had a super time. I wasn’t really interested in meeting other people because I was a girl traveling alone and in a decent anti-social phase, but the people I did encounter were easy going and friendly and offered suggestions on what to do. It was really nice getting up when I wanted and just feeling completely in charge. A lot of people don’t understand solo travel but I think everyone should try it once, even just for a weekend like Kevin did.
Have you been to California before? A friend of mine just did a partially solo Arizona/California trip and he didn’t run into any problems except that he had to do all the driving. My parents live in California and the whole state seems so laid back. I think the west coast in general is a great place to try a solo vacation. Have fun!
Assuming you’re going to be in the Los Angeles area there’s so much to do solo. That’s a great place to do it. I used to visit my friend who lived out there once a year and spend a week or so and he would be working all day so I got the best of all words and able to do whatever I wanted by myself during the day and there was never any shortage. Beaches, restaurants, the desert, stores..just great stuff.
I’ve been to Southern California a bunch of times before (this will be the 3rd time since 2005, and the second time in ten months). The one thing that will definitely suck is not having anybody to split hotel/rental car costs with me.
I should also mention that moving to California has crossed my mind a lot in the past couple of years so this would be a good solo test to see if I am up to it. I don’t really know anybody around there anyway.
I’ll be flying into San Diego, which seems to be a little cheaper than LAX, but at any rate I will be in San Diego, LA, and all points in between.
Other than the traffic, I could totally live in Southern California. Even that, coming from NJ it probably wouldn’t be as much of a shock to the system as it would be moving from a lot of other places.
That’s the one thing I haven’t done yet — sit through god awful freeway traffic. Last time I was out there, I had my GPS and purposely drove on arterial streets that looked like they ran parallel to the freeways.
I should block out a morning and afternoon to drive the freeways at rush hour. I need the total California experience!
Yeah, honestly it’s not as bad as it’s made out to be. Probably more so because so many other parts of the country have gotten worse with traffic more so than LA getting better. The problem is more that you HAVE to drive everywhere and have to use the freeways most of the time.
i flew out to the west coast for two weeks all alone about 4 years ago… san francisco up to british columbia. i was probably a different person then, because honestly i don’t know if i would do it now. but i had a great time and met lots of new people seeing bands play and things like that. i also walked up to the final game of a 5 game seies in oakland with the a’s playing the red sox… pedro vs. zito
Luke I forgot all about that trip.
Did you know anybody out there to at least hang out with you?
This whole thread is making me nostalgic for those days. I wouldn’t trade my life now to go back to that at all, but I seriously hope of all the things I stand the outside chance of instilling in my kids for when they get older, that independence and freedom and emotional self reliance is one of the ones that seeps through so that they’re able to enjoy doing stuff like travelling by themselves.
I’ve never traveled alone, but I’ve always wanted to. I do not get lonely easily, and after a few days on a trip with anyone I tell them I need alone time haha.
You should see if there are any stupid tours you can go on, for like a day or two. That’s an awesome way to meet people. Or try to find a hostel to stay at instead of a hotel, that’s another good way.
Also, I have a friend who lives in San Diego, but lived over here for like 5 years, so if you want I could ask her what’s cool to do out there, especially for people coming from the East Coast.
I travel solo semi-frequently for work. In fact, I was just in San Diego on my own a couple of months ago and I had a great time. Not having someone with you to defray the costs sucks, but I think you’re going to find the solo experience to be really fulfilling.
I have a great group of really close friends, so close in fact that it is actually pretty hard for me to meet new people. Traveling alone is a great way to get over this because you are literally forced to talk to people that you probably wouldn’t otherwise. When I was in San Diego I ate at this really cool little Mexican restaurant/bar in Old Town. I took a seat next to this older looking dude and ended up striking up a conversation with him and the cute bartender. The guy had a ton of great info about the town, told me about some great places to check out, and really just helped to convince me that the human race really isn’t the awful waste of matter that I sometimes think it is.
P.S.
Can you do me a favor and check out this place for me? A full review would be much appreciated.
Get on TV at the Phillies games! And keep score! And I’ve never really solo traveled, I’ve always known someone where I’ve gone. But I have had to travel to get to those destinations alone and I actually enjoy it. But that’s not really the same.
Actually, as a burger enthusiast, Hodad’s is already on my list of places to eat. Last October, I made it a point to drive to In-N-Out as soon as we landed, and this time I might make Hodad’s my first stop. I wanted to check it out last time I was in San Diego, but we couldn’t fit it into our schedule.
Sweet. I look forward to you enjoying the shit out of that burger.
Reggie said:Luke I forgot all about that trip.
Did you know anybody out there to at least hang out with you?
no man, i didn’t know anybody out there. it’s definitely something i’m glad i did, especially because it was so spur of the moment