Explore solo travelling
Travelling alone doesn’t need to be lonely, says sarah parker
it was the most beautiful sunset, the sky turning from a brilliant blue to orange and then pink, with the whitewashed houses and the blue of the domed churches glowing softly in the light. Sharing this amazing scene in Oia on the island of Santorini was Laura, who I’d met just five days earlier, but who already felt like a good friend.
I was holidaying solo in Greece, and she was the tour guide for the travel company I had booked with. Close in age and with similar interests, from music to food, we hit it off almost immediately. We had breakfast together before the rest of the group came down, and when we had free time we would split off and do our own thing together, enjoying bubble cocktails in Mykonos and sharing saganaki with retsina at a local Santorini restaurant after the sun set. Two years on, we’re still great mates.
So I am not surprised that solo travel is on the rise – the latest figures from holiday association Abta show the number of people taking holidays by themselves is up almost threefold since 2011, with 35 to 44-yearolds showing the biggest growth.
Rather than being a lonely experience, going on holiday on your own can actually accelerate the pace of a friendship with people you meet – you’re on a shared journey and seeing amazing things together. It’s an experience you can truly build on. While some travel completely on their own, I prefer to go with an organised group. As much as I like my own space, I also like the comfort of knowing that if I want to do something with someone, I can, and that my transport and other details have been sorted.
To make the most of it, you do have to be prepared to put yourself out there. Sharing a room with someone to keep the costs down can take some getting used to, but it can also be lots of fun as you grab a bottle of wine and have a room party at the end of the day.
When I holiday with a boyfriend, the experience is very different. As a couple, you tend to look inwards; it’s a romantic holiday and often your attention is on each other. I find that when I’m on my own, I’m open to meeting new people, and there’s the promise of new opportunities and surprises.
On my first solo holiday, I travelled around Britain. On the coach I sat next to Emma from Australia. In front of me were Miko from the Philippines and Jenny from Singapore. Within half an hour we were sharing the same sense of humour and taste in music. We had an amazing week together, dancing in Liverpool’s legendary Cavern Club, exploring historic castles and eating delicious food.
Miko and I became particularly good friends. In her mid-thirties, she’s a similar age and, like me, works in PR. As soon as we got back home from that first trip, we booked another holiday for the following year, this time visiting European cities.
On that trip we did everything from drinking under the Eiffel Tower at sunset to wine-tasting in the Bavarian Valley in Germany. Whether it’s experiencing our first ‘real’ Italian gelato in Florence, a canal boat tour in Venice or the crazy night accidentally stumbling upon the red light district in Amsterdam, my memories remain some of the best of my life.
Just this Easter, I went on a four-day trip to the Cotwolds. It was women-only and there were just seven of us, so we got to know each other really well. As ever, I had a great time and I’m already planning my next trip – this summer I’m off to Spain for sun and sangria!