Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond

Puerto Rico

My flight from Houston to San Juan was delayed by 8 hours as the copilot did not present for work. United Airlines provided a $250USD credit for accommodation but I have requested it for a future flight credit. Once on the flight at 8am I arrived in San Juan without a hitch.

As I have been to all 50 States of the United States I am now trying to tick off the territories. Although Puerto Rico is on my list because I love salsa dancing and this is another must go to place for latino dancing. An example of this is the local bus has “loud” salsa music playing. As I mention in the clip, the bus fare is very cheap, 75cents US but there is an election coming up and all fares have been scrapped until August for everyone. So free bus rides!! First off I did the free walking tour with Old San Juan Free Walking Tour and if you get Carmen you will get the best tour guide in Puerto Rico. You will even get a salsa dance class with her. She is fabulous. She also does private tours Explora Daily Tours. Th e weather was great, 32degrees, felt like 38degrees. I find it amusing that I am often the oldest in most events I go to (I am not that old) and everyone was always checking I was ok. Mainly because they were sweltering in the humidity and heat. I was fine. They do not realise that Sydney heat is exactly the same in summer.

I went searching for sea turtles at Escambron Beach. I was hoping I might see some turtles come up to the sand but these turtles remain in the water and you can only see them snorkling but I was not prepared. It was pouring with rain. I was so drenched I could have gone into the water though. I caught the bus, free of course and walked through the Luis Munoz Rivera Park.

The highlight of the Puerto Rico was a kayaking bioluminescence tour with Eco Action Tours. I was prepared for disappointment as I was warned that I may not see much luminescence as it was close to the full moon. However, it was an enchanting experience kayaking in the dark, seeing the flickering of fireflies and the splash of the luminescent water. Once again I was the oldest and the organisers were impressed with me keeping up with the “young” ones. I gave up long ago reacting indignantly. I am pretty lucky I am able to travel and do things no matter what my age. I did have a tandem kayak and Dee was my partner and she was pretty strong. I will say I was the steering and control strength of the team. It was wonderful to have met Dee on the Host a Sister Facebook site.

I stayed in the Condado area which is a bit pricey but I stayed in one of the cheaper style apartments La Mona Loiza. Very clean in a great area with easy transport, lots of restaurants bars and cafes and a 24 hour supermarket 2 minute walk. My room was at the front so on the road and Puerto Ricans drive with their car windows down and their music “loud” so it is noisy but nothing that earplugs didn’t fix. There is a wonderful community library right out the front.

I finished off the trip with looking for dancing at La Placita where there are so many dance venues to choose from. This area is a market through the day and then opens up to dancing at night but true to latino style does not start until 10pm. This video above was just around 10pm so still very early.

Mexico

Had a wonderful day in Tijuana with a walking tour through Border Tours. I first tried to do this tour 6 years ago when on my roadtrip but when I parked my car at San Ysidro at the USA/Mexico border I actually cancelled as I found the area so seedy I got worried and did not go ahead with the tour. I was concerned about leaving my rental car with all my belongings for my roadtrip in this area. This time a friend dropped me off at San Ysidro. Border Tours met me and the other clients at the front of McDonalds, they provided us details of the tour guide who would meet us at the Mexican border and then walked us to the USA side of the border entrance.

Once through immigration we were met by the tour guide, Carlos, at the Mexican border and were escorted by local bus to downtown. We were taken through some wonderful markets and food venues. Of course the famous home of caesar salad.

But the best was the Tequila. What a shame I cannot take the Mescal home to Australia

Mystery Island Vanuatu

I am on the Carnival Luminosa which has a stop at Mystery Island. I have been to Mystery Island many times and it is one of my favourites in the South Pacific. An island belonging to Vanuatu and it has no inhabitants. The locals come over from nearby islands to sell their wares, braid locks and provide massages. You can have some “kava” a local hallucinagen which tastes like dirt. You can hire snorkeling gear and check out the lovely fish, rays and turtles. Get a photo in the cannibal pot, walk around the island which takes 45 minutes. There is an air strip which was used during WWII.

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Today I experienced another “first”. Born and bred in Sydney, only 15 minutes from Sydney Harbour, I finally attended my first Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race start . It is known as the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race for the past 77 years. This race commences in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day and finishes in Hobart on New Years Eve. I normally am too hungover on Boxing Day to get to this event. Not this year though. A friend, Brian, purchased a ticket for me on the Sydney Princess Cruises MV Jerry Bailey. It is ticketed as a Boxing Day Cruise so most may not realise that it goes to the yacht race starting area. The race is across 1,000 kilometres (628 nautical miles) and there is no prize money. Many of the sails are now black as they are made with carbon fibers, the strongest material for sails. I will try to do this again as I don’t need a reason to sail on Sydney Harbour because I love it so much, but it is quite the experience watching this race start and all the boats trying to get a great spot. It is very dangerous and you need to be on a boat with an experienced captain as there are many small boats on the harbour who are so inexperienced they can cause havoc. I highly recommend Sydney Princess Cruises as the ticket was $75 for 3 hours and included a lovely hot buffet of pasta, beef stew, chicken, salads, tea, coffee and dessert. The boat only had 70 people (can take 150) but everyone had a table allocated. There is a top deck but you could view the race from any part of the boat. This was a very unexpected surprise.

Solo Traveller

Today I bought the Magazine That’s Life Mega Monthly, an Australian publication. I had a personal reason, I have an article in this month’s issue!

I was approached by the Editor, who has been following my blog, to do a story on my travels. It was decided to start with information for solo travellers. So, as my niece stated “you are a published blogger!”. How exciting is this! “Travelling Solo”

In my travels I meet so many solo travellers who inspire me and then I find I inspire them in various ways also. I never thought that my travels would inspire others. I love how Peter Nicklin, a fellow solo traveller I met on the Norwegian Jewel in 2019, on a B2B (that is back to back in cruise talk), 26 days Transpacific cruise, would include me in his first book he wrote during Covid.

Seen by Peter Nicklin at 20:34 — Peter Nicklin

I am not the main character, just a mention, but it is very flattering to be included in a book. “This Girl: The adventures of a fun loving twenty something in the seventies”

And then I was the inspiration for a character and a couple of cheeky events in “Bob and Sofia: Bobs chaotic travel adventures with Sofia”. Again, I am not the main character, although some of my friends may think so.

I hope you get to enjoy my article, Peter’s books and my blog. Perhaps I will see you on one of my future cruises. I’m already booked on another for November.

How Easy Is It To Travel Solo

“You must be rich!”. This is something people often say to me.I don’t even get a pension yet and as a mum working several casual jobs, I didn’t even get much of a superannuation package. I have worked up to 3 jobs most of my life while juggling children and a home. Now I have a home which provides me an income. Many questioned why I would purchase a home in the flight path of a capital city airport. That was all I could afford at the time but it is in such a sought after location for travellers to Sydney due to its proximity to the airport, easy access to the City, lots of nearby restaurants and entertainment venues, it has turned out ok for me. I am happy to share some of my “strategies” but mostly I have a four bedroom house and I Airbnb or rent out my rooms. I go without total privacy to allow me to travel the world.

As a solo traveller I have to be resourceful and research to stretch my dollar. Cruising is my favourite form of travel and I actually don’t really care where the ship goes to, I just love being on the water. Other pluses are meeting people from all over the world, not having to drag my bags onto buses or trains, being able to unpack and not live out of a suitcase and being allowed more than 20kg of luggage. I am looking forward to being able to cruise around the world, not on one cruise, but to do what is known as B2B (back to back) cruising.

I try to keep my luggage minimal but as I never know where I will go, I need to have clothing for all types of climate. My last trip I went from -5 Celsius in London to 40 Celsius in Cyprus. I was very proud of myself keeping my luggage to 20kg check in and 10kg carry on. I am not sure how much longer I can lift these bags up stairs onto trains, up and down escalators, up stairs (the stairs in UK homes are killers). I do find people are very kind and many assist me with my bags but it takes a lot of psyching up to keep going. Particularly I have to be prepared to carry my bags up station steps if there is no lift and if noone is around to help me.

Walking into a restaurant or nightclub alone can be daunting when everyone looks at you. I often need to take deep breaths before entering and saying to myself “you do this or go back to your room and stay alone”. I do enjoy my own company but also do get lonely sometimes. Luckily I have lots of friends around the world who are a phone call away and they give me my fix to perk me up.

Travelling alone you meet many more people than if you are a couple. I do like people and will talk to anyone on the plane, on a bus or train and I often wonder if being of a mature age whether this helps me. I was thinking the other day if a 70 year old man approaches someone to ask for assistance whether he would get the same assistance and response I do. Being female can be an advantage as we are seen as vulnerable, but that vulnerability can also attract danger. When travelling around Columbia my son (who was on exchange at George Washington University in the USA), told me that his university colleagues told him that I was in a very dangerous country and that I shouldn’t be there travelling alone. My son’s response was “my mum will walk around like she belongs there”. I try to take care and be aware of my surroundings, try not to look anxious, walk purposefully, hold onto my shoulder bag loosely but ready to react if needed. I don’t know how I will react if someone tries to rob me but I walk with awareness. When people ask if I am scared to travel alone, I recount the time that my home was broken into while I was sleeping. Luckily I was not harmed but it makes you realise that you really are not safe anywhere.

I have lost a lot of friends through accidents and illness and I am at the age where this is happening more, so this also spurs me on to live every moment I can. I will slow down my travel when I have grandchildren so for now, while I can I will try explore as much of the world as I possible.

As a solo traveller I have learned many ways to stretch my travel dollar. One of the down sides of solo travel is that the cost is often double. A cruise cabin is normally priced for two people. However, cruise lines such as Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and recently MSC often drop the solo supplement. There are several cruise sites which can assist you work out if the solo supplement has been dropped. Vacationstogo is one of my go to sites. Another solo travellers’ travel group is PassionForCruising who source amazing solo pricing.

As I do not have any set time to travel I take advantage of last minute pricing. This is not recommended for cruises around peak times such as Christmas as these cruises book out quickly. Sometimes as a solo traveller you might get a last minute booking for just one person but it can be rare. I find that booking cruises in Australia can be much more expensive than booking through an overseas travel agent. Some people are hesitant to pay with a different currency because of exchange rates but I find that USA has cheaper cruises than Australia even after factoring in the exchange rate. USA, UK and Europe offer travellers cheaper flights with their fly cruise deals. I have never seen a fly cruise deal from Australia. Not even if a cruise is going from a different state in Australia. Repositioning cruises are another way for solo travellers to get good deals. An example is a Transatlantic cruise. I have done 2 and my second one was in April 2022 from New York to Barcelona and the cost was $AUD3000. This was for a balcony cabin and included premium alcohol package, internet package, 2 speciality dining, $50US off a tour in each port, flight from London to New York and bus from airport to port. The price I was quoted in Australia was $AUD4000 which did not include flight or bus transfer.

To save money I book most of my travel myself, all my flights, trains, buses and accommodation. You need to be flexible to get the best deals. The way I travel I have no fixed agenda so look for the cheapest flights. An example was when I could not decide whether to go to Budapest or Prague. Flights to London were cheaper from Prague so I went there for a week. I took a train from Berlin to the border of Czech Republic as at the time Germany had a travel ticket for 9 Euro for the whole month no matter where you travelled and how often. This was the German government response to the fuel price increase caused by the Russian attack on Ukraine.

I have learned a lot from other solo travellers around the world. Everyone gives you tips on the latest deals for car hire, cruises, train apps, accommodation booking and best places to stay. I have friends who pay thousands for a holiday for 2 weeks and I can travel for 2 months for the same budget. The difference is I prefer to stay in areas where the locals live and not where tourists stay. I book everything myself so I do not pay for an agent’s booking fee. I join Facebook groups and Cruise Critic is a website which also has great information for cruise travel. This link is the USA site which is my preference but there is also a Cruise Critic Australian site you can check out.

Someone asked me how old the solo travellers are on cruises. My response was that solo travellers are ageless. They are a culture of people who are adventurous but most importantly want to travel. I have found that if I waited for every person who has said to me “I want to travel with you”, “I want to meet up with you on your travels” I would not have gone anywhere. I, like all the solos I have met, do not wait for anyone. Most of us start off anxious about travelling alone but if you start with a cruise, you can learn from other solos and also learn that there are many many solos travelling the world. I have a giggle when someone says “you are going on a cruise alone?” Well, alone with up to 6000 other people is not really alone. NCL cruises have a great program on all their cruises for solos to meet. It is a daily solo travellers meet up, not a pick up group, although sometimes people do pair up, but more often than not, solos are free spirited to meet other like minded travellers. Or they are travelling because their partner is working or they do not like cruising. I would like to point out that as a solo traveller I still make friends with couples and families whom I have made lasting friendships and communicate with regularly. Cruising is a culture of people and I love that I bump into people on cruises around the world whom I had met on a previous cruise or connect with their friends.

I am happy to share my travel experience with anyone who is thinking about the solo traveller experience or any general travel advice. We definitely are a culture which I am so happy to be a part of.

End of UK Trip

Well what started as a 6 month trip around UK ended up being a UK trip with many diversions. My previous trips to Europe were planned to meet family in Italy or a Transatlantic cruise from Florida to Barcelona which was a diversion from my USA roadtrip. This time, knowing I had 6 months so close to Europe, it was difficult to not experience places so close. I also needed to leave UK several times to not overload on the magnificent history of the place. I had to have a break and that was something I am glad I did so every time I returned I appreciated their historical magnificence even more.

Another reason I did so much, I am not sure how much longer I can travel in this way, lifting 20kg and 10kg bags into trains, up and down escalators, up stairs (the stairs in UK homes are killers) so tried to do as much as I can now. The cruises in between each trip to UK gave me time to reset and not live out of a suit case for more than a week. AND trying to keep my luggage within those weights was a feat in itself. The picture above shows my luggage for this trip and I would like to add that I am very proud of myself that I left London with the same weight of luggage from Sydney. Not sure how many people can do this after a 6 month trip.

A summary of some of my travel is below and I have included some pricing as many have asked about costs.

Flights = 15

I flew with Singapore Airlines from Sydney/Singapore/London return. All internal flights in Europe I travelled mostly with RyanAir.
1 March Sydney to Singapore
Singapore to London
1 April London to New York
24 April Barcelona to London
25 April London to Luxor
2 May Luxor to Cairo
4 May Cairo to London
27 May Copenhagen to Edinburgh
13 June Liverpool to Valletta Malta
23 June Valletta Malta to Paphos Cyprus
13 July Paphos Cyprus to Krakow Poland
18 July Krakow to Berlin
31 July Prague to Stansted London
1 September London Singapore
2 September Singapore Sydney

Cruises = 7

I booked my cruises through vacationstogo or through my NCL consultant in Florida or through Passion For Cruises for solo travellers. All the cruises included alcohol and internet. Some included additional perks such as speciality dining and $AUD75 credit towards a tour in every port. Something to remember when cruising, everything is included: entertainment, meals, alcohol, accommodation and travel. The cruises I did averaged around $200 per night. The most expensive was the River Nile cruise but I think the reason is selfexplanatory.
2 April/17 April New York to Barcelona Trans Atlantic NCL Epic $AUD3000 (Balcony)
17 April/24 April Barcelona Mediterranean NCL Epic (inside)
25 April/ 2 May River Nile MS Emilio $2200 (Balcony)
8 May/18 May Europe: France Germany Norway Denmark B2B NCL Getaway $1500 (Balcony)
18 May/27 May Balkan Baltic NCL Getaway $1200 (Balcony)
1 August/13 August British Isles Emerald Princess $2300 (inside)
13 August/25 August Canary Islands MSC Virtuosa $2230 (inside)

Trains = 15 (these do not include the numerous trains and tube within London and surrounds)
Watford to London/Watford £22 return
Watford to Bletchley Park/Watford £18 return
Watford to London £22 return
London to Canterbury/London $30.60 return
Heathrow to Salisbury £42
Salisbury to Southhampton £10.90
Edinburgh to Newcastle £23
Newcastle to York £13.00
Newcastle to Southport (£48.40
Southport to Liverpool £7
Berlin to Prague (£40)
London to Southampton (£39.00)
Glasgow to Edinburgh (£40 return)
Southampton to Bath (£22.20)
Bath to Chippenham (£6.50 return)
Bath to London (£59.70)

Countries and islands visited 28
England
Scotland
Ireland
Orkney Islands
Shetland Islands
Canary Islands
Madeira
Italy
Malta
Cyprus
Egypt
USA
Estonia
Denmark
Sweden
The Netherlands
Spain
Norway
Sweden
Czech Republic
France
Portugal
Corsica
Poland
Germany
Bermuda
Tenerife
Gran Canaria

My accommodation when not cruising was found either through Airbnb or Booking.com. I will add my accommodation at a later date.

Prague

I took a train from Berlin to Prague. This is my only cross country train I have taken ever on my travels. Wasn’t sure what to expect on a 5.5 hour trip in a compartment with 5 other strangers. What a wonderful trip it was with people from Germany, East Germany, Israel, USA, England and me from Australia. The scenery was beautiful, there were many people who did not have seats, mostly young backpackers. I was so thankful I had prepurchased my seat. The young people were having a hoot of a time, singing songs like Sweet Home Alabama and Country Road. It was quite contagious and I even joined in. The closest I will ever get to karaoke. Although the young people were quite inebriated and the song list did not stretch much further than those two songs.

My compartment friends all wished each other safe travels, I got a Bolt from the station to my hotel. I was thrilled my German SIM card still worked in Czech Republic. Got to my hotel, and was horrified to find that there was no air conditioning. It was 38 degrees outside and my room is a small box and was hotter than outside. I cannot believe I did not do any research for this hotel. I presumed that as it was 4 star that it would have air conditioning. I had a look at moving to another hotel but nothing was in the area I wanted to be in and I have to say in this case you get what you pay for. I did get a fan when I requested one and I can open my window, although I have set up a bunch of objects as obstacles in case someone tries to climb through my window. The hotel assures me it is safe but the window is in a courtyard, carpark area. Ah well, all part of travel. I was to go to either Budapest or Prague and chose this city because of the cheaper flight I could get to London but also because this city was hardly affected by WWII and so all the buildings are intact and not rebuilt as in other cities.

I went on a walking tour of the Prague Palace and highly recommend the company 1 .2. Tours. The pictures speak for themselves. This city is magnificent. But something which was a surprise for everyone on the tour is the “Echo Circle”. You stand in the middle fo the sculpture circle and you only have to whisper and it echoes straight back at you. It is funny watching how everyone reacts. There is a photo below.

I did a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter and Old Town.

One thing which has frightened me is the speed of the escalators at the train station. I thought that it was me forgetting what they are like but I heard other people around me speaking about their fear. Tell me what you think. Scary escalator. Although the stations are built quite artistically.

One of my favourite spots is the Wallenstein Palace grounds which is also the home of parliament senate buildings with pretty walking park and fountains. There is a Dripstone Wall of grotesque art which is only open to the public during April to October.

Berlin

I don’t normally have an expectation of a city before arriving as I have learned that there is so much more to a place than the tourists and media portray and we all see things differently. So many people tell me that Munich is a much better city. Bavaria is more what you expect Germany to be like. I did come to Berlin for the Berlin Wall and WWII history. People have described Berlin as “a dirty city” but I like my friend’s description “a grunge city”. That makes it sound more bohemian than slummy. There is a beautiful park, Tiergarten which is twice the size of Hyde Park in London and 2/3 the size of New York’s Central Park.

I did the tourist things visiting parts of the Berlin Wall which remain standing, Check Point Charlie, the border of the East/West Berlin, Brandenburg Gate, cathedrals, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Part of the Berlin Wall covered in disgusting chewing gum

The spot where Hitler and his wife Eva allegedly committed suicide has been filled with concrete, buried, never to become a “memorial” is now a carpark and a small grass area with a sandpit.

I went to Potsdam and did a horse and carriage ride around the perimiter of the palace grounds. I didn’t do enough research on this and at 10 Euro, it was ok, but you could not get off to take pictures. I would recommend a hop on hop off for this area.

I walked around a lot of Berlin and there is so much good food here. Great cafes, restaurants and I bought precooked zuchinni fritters, schnitzel and a few nights had these delicious foods instead of going out for dinner.

A surprise event was CSD, Christopher Street Day Gay Pride Parade held in various European cities. There are so many young people in Berlin!! This day attracts around 1 million people from around Germany. Celebration of all LGBTQ+. In comparison to with my beloved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, this is more a rally rather than a entertaining celebration but with no less colourful characters.

I stayed in the Grimm’s Hotel am Potsdamer Plaza which is a themed hotel and I got the Hansel & Gretel room. I didn’t realise this when I booked it though. It is located on the one of the canals which connect to the Spree River. There are lovely parks along the canal and on a sunny day you will find people sunbathing, playing bocce in the bocce courts, table tennis tables, sand pits, play equipment, skate park, basketball rings and I loved seeing people enjoying all parts of the park. It is very close to transport to get you around Berlin easily.

The bear is the symbol on the Berlin’s coat of arms and these art sculptures around the city promote tolerance and peace amongst the world’s many different religions and cultural groups. Here are just a few.

Krakow Poland

This is the first city where verbal language skills are minimal. I speak several languages but do not cover the Eastern Block countries. Thank goodness for Google translate. I find that it makes a big difference if you learn to say “thank you” in the relevant language. Some people speak a little English, not always enough to assist without Google translate. But, I felt safe in Krakow. People do try to help regardless. After my trip to Auschwitz Birkenau and the Salt Mines, I did a Macabre walking tour, a Jewish Ghetto walking tour and today I went to a few places I had accumulated. I am disappointed I didn’t get to Pope John Paul II’s birth place but that might be for another trip. I went to Schindler’s Factory, which is a very informative and fascinating museum. If you have watched the movie “Schindler’s List” you will understand some of what this factory was for. It is one of the good stories of the Holocaust. It is one of the best museums I have been to. There are windows set up with film of what you would have experienced looking out your window during that horrific time. Much more which is best experienced.

I then walked to the Jewish Square of Heroes to the empty chairs of Krakow.The Eros Bendato sculpture which symbolises how you can lose your head over love.

A walk along the Vistula River, through the main square of Old Town, Rynek Glowny Plaza, Stare Miasto, St Mary’s Basilica, Wawel Royal Castle and Planty. There are lots of restaurants and places to people watch and you an also have a horse and cart ride around the town.