Europe Summer 09

[ntonguy]

Hi
I'm a 24 year old guy from England and i'm looking for people for a trip. Looking to go for maxium of 4 weeks (work issues )

I'm pretty open for suggestions on routes but mainly just want company as the last time i tried traveling alomne it overwhelmed me


Please get in touch with to discuss plans and to get to know me

Chris

[e-mail]

[Libby02]

Hey there,
When you say you were overwhelmed, what do you mean? Looking back, you had a pretty big trip planned. How did the first one go?

[ntonguy]

i underestimated the lonliness during travel and the fear brought on by lack of experinace. I made it to Paris after a 12 hour coach drive and luckly i met some americans, a scotsman and an austrailian at the hostel. Apparently what happened to me is common with guys traveling alone but not so much with women

I spent a few nights in Paris until they moved on then i went home to rethink and plan better

This time its gonna be perfect but i am going to hopefully have company

Care to join me?

[floridagirl]

hi there! I am planning on traveling western Europe for a month around May. I could probably use some company as a girl all alone in a foreign place. Let's talk some more? Where were you thinking of going?

Thanks!
Cat

[Eagle]

ntonguy, I have a few thoughts on the topic of your last post.

I'm also a male traveller (age 50+) who often travels "solo" these days (when I'm not with a tour group) and I also have to deal with the issue of loneliness. There have been a number of posts here in the past regarding the pros & cons of solo travel vs. travel with one or more other people and there are always a variety of opinions on the subject.

I prefer this travel method as I like to explore, visit sites that are interesting to me (but may not be as interesting to other people, such as military history sites) and photograph the places I visit without anyone pressuring me to "hurry up, I want to go" or "I'm not interested in this, let's go". I figure if I'm not able to see the places and sites that interest me, talk to the locals or other travellers and fully enjoy the travel experience, what's the point of travelling. I may as well just stay home.

Based on the information I've seen so far, most feel that solo travellers tend to be more outgoing and reach out for company. I've found that to be true in my case, as I was at one time somewhat "shy" but when I'm travelling the exact opposite is true. Also, individual travellers are more likely than a couple or group to be approached by other people.

I agree that planning well is very important in order to travel well, and I always plan at least the transportation and lodgings very carefully. You might feel more confident on future trips by reading some Guidebooks, so that the amount of "unexpected situations" is greatly reduced. The topic of which Guidebooks are best has been debated here at length, so if you're interested do a search of previous posts. Unfortunately, the only way to get experience and gain confidence is to travel, even though that means dealing with occasional and unexpected problems at times.

If you're staying primarily in Hostels, you'll have lots of company and at times a ready pool of other people to go day touring with. You may also find someone that's heading in the same direction as you, and can travel with you for at least part of a trip. However, it's a good idea to develop at least some ability to "read" other people, in order to make sure that you choose a reliable person to tour with, and not someone that may cause problems along the way.

I wanted to mention these few points to illustrate that solo travel can be the preferred travel method for some people for a variety of reasons. However, if others feel more comfortable with a travelling companions, that's certainly acceptable too.

Good luck with your future travels!

[ntonguy]

thanks for the replies and advice, especially eagle and i will think on what you said. At the moment i think its a confidence issue but as my confidence grows i may travel alone

[Eagle]

ntonguy, yes, confidence (which is probably related to "life skills") is definitely a big factor in travelling alone.

If you can find a copy over there, you may find it helpful to read the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door.

Cheers!

[mslibrarian]

My first, and so far only, solo trip was back in 2005. The first few days I was alone but didn't mind it. I guess I was still a bit jetlagged and sleepy. Then I joined a 7 day tour and had a blast. But the day the tour ended and we split up ...wow, that was a rough one. I was all by myself in the Edinburgh hostel and it was overwhelming. I didn't think I could do it. Then a girl in my room started to talk to me, we went for supper and that was it. I started to feel way more comfortable. Maybe it is differfent for men, but I found most women very eager to make friends while on the road.

I had a ball with the gang I met in Whitby and London.

[WillTravel]

ntonguy, maybe a two-week trip would be better? Day tours are one good way to get some company, with English-speaking people. Also, if you do two weeks instead of four, you may be able to spend more, and it can help if you do not feel like you are scrimping constantly.

[Mikul]

If you aren't one for traveling solo, you may consider one of the youth touring companies, such as Contiki. Spend a few weeks or a month travling over Europe with a bunch of other kids that are 18-25.

[ntonguy]

i just checked them out and contiki sound perfect, its like a training wheels approach to travel and if it all goes well then i may have confidence to go solo next time but i believe if it sounds too good to be true it usually is. Anyone have any downsides to using this method?

[Mikul]

I believe that Contiki has a message board, so you may want to check them out and see what people have said about their trips. I was interested in doing a month long trip, but for that trip, you are on the bus for hours a day, you arrive in a new town for the night and able to see one or two highlights and then the next day you are off again to a new city. Sometimes accommodations are one on the edge of town or may not be that high of quality. However, there are 3-4 week trips where you spend 2 or 3 days per city in nicer hotels. The longer trips keep prices down by placing you in Contiki owned camps, which are like cabins, outside of town. But they have different packages depending on how much money you are willing to spend. You might want to request a catalog just to compare trips and prices. You can also check youtube to see other people’s videos from their trip.

[madamtrashheap]

ntonguy, it sounds like a Contiki tour might fit you well, and you could even consider doing a two week tour then doing another two weeks by yourself so you have the best of both worlds.

Mikul's point about travel time on the tour is a valid one - be aware that you'll have early morning starts, travel for a good part of the day (you'll have stops though, sometimes in other cities/towns along the way) and arrive late afternoon at the next city. You will have time to see some things, but not everything, so as long as you'll OK with that you'll be fine on tour. Plus, you have the bonus of your accommodation, transport and some information organised for you, and you'll certainly meet people on the tour, some of whom might travel with you afterwards.

As you're in the UK, you could do a bit of online research, then maybe contact their booking office for further information. If you're travelling between May and August, that's their peak time so tours will be full and there will be lots going on.

Once you've done your tour, you can either revisit any places you felt you didn't spend enough time in, or visit other ones that weren't in your itinerary the first time around.

Happy travels!

[ntonguy]

thnaks to everyoe here fopr their advice. I ma going to go with contiki as a crash course and then go from there in my traveling life

[Eagle]

Mikul,

Thanks for posting the great suggestion about Contiki. For some reason, that never occurred to me.

Cheers!