Tomorrow, March 1, is “Plan a Solo Vacation Day”. I told this to my husband, and he said:
- Did you just make that up? and
- Where are you booking your solo trip?
Haha, I did not make up this holiday! I saw it on a few online calendars. And while you can certainly plan a solo vacation any day of the year, consider this your official reminder.
Advantages to Solo Travel
I haven’t done a lot of solo traveling. Hardly any, in fact. When I was single in my 20s, I mostly traveled with other friends and family, or I planned to meet friends at a certain destination. Aside from study abroad in college, my most solo trip was a short weekend in San Francisco by myself. But even then, I did meet up with some relatives for an afternoon.
Solo travel has some advantages:
- Book whenever is convenient for you
- You’re in charge of the itinerary
- Eat wherever you’d like
- Change of plans? You don’t need to run it by anyone.
- Opportunity to grow your resilience and problem-solving skills
- More potential to meet other people
Not Just for Single People
Most people think solo travel is for single people, but that’s not necessarily the case. I know married people who love to take solo trips. Sometimes, they have more time off than their family members. Or, they have an interest in visiting a place that their spouse does not.
Currently, my jobs are much more flexible than my husband’s work schedule. In addition, my desire to travel is higher than my husband’s. He likes our family trips and enjoys adding on an extra trip each year to see live tennis tournaments. But, he relishes his home hobbies and misses his routine when we travel too much.
My daughter loves to adventure with me, so we typically add on to our family trips or even take a separate trip with just the two of us (like our fall trip to Hong Kong and our extra summer trip to Hershey PA). However, I know that she won’t always be able to travel with me. Soon she will have more school and then work commitments. So I haven’t ruled out solo travel for me in the future.
My Hangups with Solo Travel
If I have miles and points and a flexible work schedule, why am I not going on more solo adventures? Several reasons:
- Even when using miles and points, solo travel still requires money for food, entertainment, etc.
- Paying a single supplement on cruises or group travel is hard to swallow
- I dislike dining out by myself (although I can deal with it and I realize there are other options)
- My family spends a lot more money when I’m not at home to cook (seriously, they would go out to eat every night!)
- I like having another person with me to help navigate new areas and bounce ideas off of
While I do foresee some solo traveling in my retirement, for now I will only jump on a solo trip if it’s an amazing deal to just the right place. Until then, I’ll stick to my online vacation dreaming/research.
Are you planning to book a solo vacation? Why or why not?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I like to travel more than my wife does so besides 1-2 big trips a year and a couple of weekend getaways I deal with my perpetual wanderlust by doing a couple of points and miles meetups a year. On some years I’ll also do a scouting trip somewhere, like last year when I went to Istanbul and Malta. Also, on a good year I’ll do a guy’s trip with 1-3 friends. I can’t get her to do it as often but I love when my wife gets to go somewhere on a girl’s trip too although she tends to miss me as being the heavy and the problem solver.
Between those we have a lot of travel and it works out for us pretty well.
@Christian I love the idea of a scouting trip!
I’m a dad of 3 kids at home, and both my wife and I do a solo trip each year. We first tried it 3 years ago, when I had just come out of a particularly busy period at work and needed a break, but she was still working, and the kids were in school. I did a two night trip away to go hiking in southern Utah, and came back feeling amazing. She does the same each year, and either does a staycation in our local city, or goes to the beach. It’s a weird feeling, since as a parent you’re so used to focusing on others when you’re traveling, but those few days I get away are something I look forward to now. These trips also don’t take away from our time as a family, since each year I also do a one-on-one trip with each kid, in addition to our family trips that we do for Spring Break, Summer, and Christmas.
@Joe Sounds like a great arrangement!
Ive taken many solo vacations over the years. im an empty-nester and divorced,so no family obligations. It is fun,and I love it for all the reasons you mentioned. I may use official Plan a Solo vacation Day tomorrow to book one.
@Becky Awesome! Happy planning!