Dear Atlas is Atlas Obscura’s travel advice column, answering the questions you won’t find in traditional guidebooks. Have a question for our experts? Submit it here.
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Dear Atlas,
What advice do you have for a 60ish-year-old single woman who wants to travel but doesn’t have a traveling companion? I feel like half the fun is traveling with another person.
I’m a huge fan of solo travel, but it takes a bit of boldness to get out there. Whenever I’ve traveled alone, I always worry before the trip: What if I get lonely? Will I be safe? Who will I talk to at dinner? But the universe has a way of having your back. On one solo trip through Mexico, I actually had a hard time getting any alone time because I kept meeting people. It’s all just a matter of putting yourself out there. You got this!
Charting the Journey
First off, let’s figure out where you want to go and how you’d like to travel once you get there. Think about the kinds of trips you’ve most enjoyed through the years. Do you like being in a big city with lots to do? Or a smaller city with a slower pace? Do you prefer hiking up a mountain or leisurely walking around town? Do you want to be totally off the grid without cell service or somewhere with wifi so you can relay all your adventures to family and friends?
How do you feel about a language barrier? If this is your first solo adventure, you may want to travel somewhere English-speaking, such as Newfoundland, Canada, or Malta in Europe, or somewhere where English speakers are easy to come by, such as a major city that caters to a cosmopolitan crowd.
If you’d like a companion for your travels, group tours can be a great way to make new friends, and there are tons of options out there. If you want to get off the beaten path, try Atlas Obscura Adventures. If traveling with other women is important to you, check out Adventure Women. If you’d like to travel with other seniors, consider Grand Circle Travel or Elder Treks. If you still want some solo time while on a tour, look at Road Scholar’s Independent City Discoveries. These trips have a group leader but allow for lots of unstructured time to explore at your own pace.
If a tour doesn’t appeal to you but you’d still like a companion, ask around to see if a friend (or even a friend of a friend) may want a travel buddy. You may be surprised to learn that someone in your circle is looking for an adventure partner too.
You can also go à la carte and sign up for individual day tours, experiences, or excursions. This will allow you to meet new people while still giving you time to explore on your own.
Finding Accommodations
For anyone traveling alone, I’d recommend staying somewhere comfortable that also allows you to meet other travelers. Bed and breakfasts or boutique hotels and guesthouses that include breakfast can be great because they prompt everyone to share a meal together. You may learn that someone else is planning the same day trip or excursion you are, and suddenly you have someone to go with.
You may also want to look into coliving spaces, like Outsite or Selina. Both offer tours that leave directly from the accommodation and cater to digital nomads and other seasoned travelers interested in meeting new people.
Another great resource is the Freebird Club, which connects older explorers at home and abroad. Once you become a member, you can find local homestays that cater to older adults as well as meet-ups and advice.
Planning With Flexibility
Unless you go the tour route, you’ll have to spend some time thinking about what you want to do once you reach your destination.
It’s always good to do a bit of research before your trip. You can poke around Atlas Obscura or TripAdvisor to get a sense of what there is to do. Unless an activity sells out, you don’t have to necessarily lock yourself into doing a specific thing each day. Personally, I like to keep things flexible. That way if I learn about an amazing day trip from a tour guide, I still have time to fit it in.
On the first full day in a new place, I always recommend doing a free walking tour, like Sandemans. Walking tours are a great way to orient yourself in a new place, and the guides can be invaluable resources. They’re locals who are happy to give you personalized recommendations on things to do. You could also drop by the local tourism office and pick up brochures for activities that pique your interest or ask a staff member what they’d recommend.
Additionally, you can sign up for interesting group activities on Airbnb Experiences or Get Your Guide that allow you to meet other travelers.
If you don’t want to eat dinners alone, consider signing up for group dinner experiences with Eat With or BonAppetour or sign up for a cooking class for dinner with Traveling Spoon.
My biggest piece of advice is to leave at least one day completely unplanned toward the end of your trip. Inevitably, you’ll learn about something really cool while traveling. And by gifting yourself a day, you get bonus time to do that cool thing or just chill and be on vacation. Either way, it’s a win. Happy adventuring!
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Sarah Durn is a bestselling author and journalist. A former Atlas Obscura staff editor, she regularly contributes to the New York Times, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Wired, Gizmodo, Culture Trip, Mental Floss, and the AV Club, among others. Her book The Beginner’s Guide to Alchemy, published by Rockridge Press in May of 2020, has garnered more than a thousand five-star reviews on Amazon and was a #1 new release on the site. A lifelong traveler, she has called India, Ireland, South Africa, and Japan home. Though her wanderlust keeps her moving, she currently lives in New Orleans.
