Female solo travelling

mountainofdebt

Richard53 wrote: »

I never thought you were anything else. Perhaps a PhD, I dunno. Was I wrong?

oh richard....and there was me trying to be modest!

Seriously though if anyone was going travelling on their own, I think I would be leaving some sort of plan as to where I was going and when - as I say to my OH when he goes walking in the Beacons, if anything goes wrong, and we need to come looking for you, telling them you're somewhere in the Beacons would be a fat lot of use -you need to give them a starting point and some idea where to look

Also I would keep a list of card numbers, and emergency contact numbers in a little book that I never carried out with me.

zagfles

Richard53 wrote: »

I don't think it's so bizarre, really. In the culture you grow up in, you learn all about how people communicate, all the tiny cues they give off when lying or pretending, all the signs that tell you something isn't quite right. If we do it well, we call it 'good with people' or 'streetwise', but it is pretty much specific to our culture. Outside that limited zone, these cues are lost and we are on our own. Think of the gestures that can mean OK in France, but an extreme insult in Sicily - if you're not from there, you haven't a clue. Even a smile or a wink can mean subtly different things in different cultures. And it gets worse the further you are from your home ground. I would have thought the Far East was just about the furthest from familiarity you could get. So when someone comes up to you smiling and acting humble, how do you take it? Is it genuine, or a scam to relieve you of all your possessions? You don't really know, and people probably try to think the best of other nations and assume it is genuine. Nothing worse than a Brit abroad, who is suspicious of the food, the drink, the hotel staff, the taxi driver, and even a smiling stranger! I wouldn't blame someone who got it wrong, probably for the best of reasons.

I've never noticed any significant differences - yes there are few differences in meaning of gestures just as words, but there's not a lot of difference in body language as it's not really cultural. Personally I feel safer travelling in the Far East than I do in some parts of London!

mandragora_2

My 76 year old mum travels solo all the time - my dad died when she was 70 and it seemed to liberate her to go all the places she'd always wanted to go, but he'd got set in his ways and hadn't wanted to travel. Her first trip was a round the world jaunt taking in a trip on the Orient Express, spending NYE in Australia, and included stop-offs in Malaya, Singapore and goodness knows where else along the way. She's not made of money, but is happy to spend what she has, while she can - and I love to see her so fulfilled and busy. She uses reputable travel agents that she feels comfortable with and stays in the nicest hotels her budget will stretch to. She's on her way back from a fortnight in the Canaries as I write this, but I know she'd tell you to go, enjoy it and try not to let worry dictate your decisions about how you will live your life.

AlsioHx

Been travelling on my own abroad for years but always with a travel company. Been all around the world. I prefer to let a experienced company make all the arrangements, deal with the inevitable cancelled flights and crises, provide local advice on safe and unsafe places to go and be there if you get sick - i might sound like you mother ! ....but you can still do your own thing if you want but i've seen more of the places than if i'd just taken a guide book, you get free time and usually you meet like minded single travellers in your group.

wik

When I was in my 20's I wanted to travel, and had a few amazing adventures on my own...
One of best was a summer holiday I took to Slovenija when I was 24, I had been there the previous 2 winters to ski with family members and had made some friends in the village.
So I went for a summer visit... I managed to get a flight only package, was collected by one of my friends - who also happened to manage one of the small hotels , I was staying in the hotel he managed, it had a lot of coach parties from UK staying there, but I would eat in the Bar with the people I knew from skiing, and during the day I went off on the bus on my own to some of the surrounding towns. I went on hikes up the mountains and just really chilled out

I also went to France a lot to ski, I liked to travel alone as I had been a very shy teenager, and one day decided that the only way to overcome it was to do things out of my comfort zone (and 20 + years later I still do so!) I spent 5 months in France as a Chalet Chef - which was an education!

When I was 25 I went to Australia for 3 months, I travelled all over meeting up with people I had worked with in France. I am so glad that I did all the travelling I did before I settled down and had my family, But as they are now almost grown up, I am once again thinking about where I can go to visit!

I would say to anyone who is going to travel alone - it must be so very much easier in the year 2013! When I went off on my travels there was no pingning peeps on FB or sending a tweet

When I was in Australia I phoned home once a fortnight to let them know that I was ok
wik x

Richard53

zagfles wrote: »

I've never noticed any significant differences - yes there are few differences in meaning of gestures just as words, but there's not a lot of difference in body language as it's not really cultural. Personally I feel safer travelling in the Far East than I do in some parts of London!

I'll put it a slightly different way. If someone approached me in the UK, all smiles for no reason, I would be suspicious and rather cautious with them. I would know that this was unusual behaviour for the UK, and I would be asking myself why it was happening.

In Thailand (where I have never been, BTW) if someone did the same, I would have no way of knowing if this was normal or not. I would probably accept it in the first instance, mainly from not wanting to be negative about something without good reason. I'd say you would need to be immersed in a culture for a while before you could accurately read body language and behaviour like that.

All of which is to say that I don't think it is bizarre for people to be taken in, in a foreign country, by behaviour which is unusual by British standards. I think it's pretty normal and understandable.

This is not to disagree on your last point. There are many places in the world where I feel far safer than in the UK. Most of Europe, for a start.

duchy

AlsioHx wrote: »

Been travelling on my own abroad for years but always with a travel company. Been all around the world. I prefer to let a experienced company make all the arrangements, deal with the inevitable cancelled flights and crises, provide local advice on safe and unsafe places to go and be there if you get sick - i might sound like you mother ! ....but you can still do your own thing if you want but i've seen more of the places than if i'd just taken a guide book, you get free time and usually you meet like minded single travellers in your group.

Oh dear
Like minded interesting single people are usually savvy enough to make their own arrangements and not want a bog standard what the travel agent offers trip....plus travel agents are not what they were ....and frankly there's few I'd pay (and pay you do make no mistake) as they can't get deals as good as the ones I can find myself. In my experience the reason why travel agencies are a dying breed is because the only people who use them now are the very travel timid and the non internet users-everyone else books themselves !! Someone is paying the agent's wages and frankly it is not going to be me-In these days of nett rates it's rare an agent is cheapest by the time they've marked up their profit onto your flight or holiday.

As for trusting an agent to sort out a cancelled flight when you are away ....feel free. By the time you've called them (at your expense) to rebook and they've called the airline and decided your best option and then called you back..... I'll have made my own decision on the best alternative -agreed an upgrade or miles as compensation and be back to enjoying my trip., A agent has no emotional investment in your trip and will do what is easiest for them or what they think is best ......which may be very different to what you would choose............and is far more prone to errors than you booking it yourself !

Southernman

I mentioned it to my mum and she said how I'd be lonely and bored at night because I would have to go back to my hotel room for 8pm.

The location I'm looking at is quite safe and while I wouldn't go clubbing I may head to a bar or have a wander around the streets during the early evening. Doubt I'd be out any later than 10pm as I'd be shattered from walking all day!

duchy

As the restaurant and cafe side of almost any European town is livelier and starts later than the same in the UK-eight o clock sounds like she's thinking in UK terms.

peachyprice

AlsioHx wrote: »

I prefer to let a experienced company make all the arrangements, deal with the inevitable cancelled flights and crises, provide local advice on safe and unsafe places to go and be there if you get sick -

Had to laugh at this, I can't say I've ever had a flight cancellation or a crisis, but the only time I've had a bad experience was on the rare occasion I used a travel company. Never again. :rotfl::rotfl: