“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. Â
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.
Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond 