Traveling Solo? You’re Not Alone
January 30, 2012If your New Year’s resolution includes more travel, yet you worry that you can’t travel alone, fear not. Latest data from leading travel company Grand Circle show that traveling solo has never been more popular or more satisfying, particularly for women.
As we all know, with advancing years, comes the likelihood of more serious and unexpected life changes – death of a loved one, divorce, and ill health of your regular travel companion – and that very often these challenges blind side us. Grand Circle understands this better than most having served more than 500,000 Americans travelers over 50 in the last 5 years alone. But this doesn’t mean that personal desires and life ambitions have to come to an end, too. “Absolutely not”, says travel expert and Grand Circle Vice Chair Harriet Lewis. ‘I’m in my early-sixties and in the last 12 months alone I traveled thousands of miles. My husband is not always available to come with me – and like most women, I sometimes prefer the company of other women, so I travel with my daughter and my girlfriends. I also like traveling on my own but in an environment in which I know I’ll meet travelers and be safe and have access.”
Harriet finds that traveling the world gives her enormous personal satisfaction, and believes that it makes her a better person. “Climbing Egypt’s Mount Sinai at night, so that I could see the sunrise at dawn, is a life changing experience I will never forget. The Middle East was an area of the world I had explored before, but not in such depth, and experiencing the people, cultures and places of Syria, Jordan, Israel, and most recently, the Sudan—all of which are in the midst of great change has shifted my worldview. Travel changes us. It makes us more curious, more thoughtful, more tuned in to our world.” Harriet advises other women who are considering traveling solo to ask themselves the following questions as part of their preparation:
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