Shall I have brunch and a late-afternoon main meal, or tapas here and there? It takes me out of my comfort zone in just the right way, allowing me to have the experiences, the food and the fun that I want.
Deborah Ives, who works in international marketing, is not surprised. Fourteen years ago, shortly before her 50th birthday, Ives split from her partner and decided to go on her own to Borneo, a trip they had booked together. But I had the most amazing time. It gave me a real sense of adventure and freedom. I remember days when I thought: no one knows where I am right now.
It felt exhilarating. Back home, telling her friends about the trip, she sensed some were keen to try solo travel, but had worries and wanted advice. In response, she set up a Facebook group called Solo in Style. She half expected the group to fold during the pandemic, but they kept it going with virtual journeys.
There are women in their 50s into their 80s in the group. One is Kay Johnson, 58, a nutritionist, who has enjoyed solo travel since she hitchhiked around the UK in her teens. She got back into solo travel after her dog died in Alison Henri, 57, lives in Surrey and works in IT. She finds travelling alone easier than with friends. For me, as for others who do it, solo travel is partly about balance. Twenty years ago, that was me; the fact that I can now sit and sip my Campari spritz unencumbered by anyone else feels like a reimbursement.
Netta Weinstein, a professor of psychology and clinical language sciences at the University of Reading, is researching the benefits of solitude, which she believes have been occluded by understandable worries about the dangers of loneliness. In a recent study, she found that there is a big difference between solitude that is imposed and solitude that is chosen. The more she examined it, the more Weinstein discovered the rich benefits of time spent alone by choice. One of the main points seems to be the sense of autonomy that solitude can bring — and solo travel gives plenty of scope for that.
