kmorrella

I want to encourage you to take the step into traveling solo. When I first thought of it, I was a bit concerned that I would feel uncomfortable. But then, I do enjoy "my time" alone and am not uncomfortable at home going out alone. So I decided to step out of my comfort zone and visit Europe by myself, with only a backpack and the only help I had for planning my trip was the train travel and reservations that I made through my TA. No worries about someone else's agenda or planning time around them. Since I do not have a significant other in my life, this was the perfect time to travel alone. I went through AirB&B, looked for housing sponsored by other seniors, had the most remarkable lodging and met the nicest people. I toured, spent time with my journal, slept in or not, met other ladies along the way that walked different paths in life. It was fantastic. I visited London, Prague, Austria, Brussels, Germany.....what an adventure. I am now planning my next trip, maybe the Scandinavian countries or south america. Of course, I want to be safe but I must say, I never felt unsafe! The advantage of being older is no one wants to kidnap you and sell you into the slave market!! Do it, it is so totally freeing. We are all so busy with our lives at home, work, kids, grandkids, community, that we sometimes forget to still smell the roses.....let me know if you need encouragement! It is a grand time in my life and I don't want to miss a minute!

thursdaysd

Seems you missed seeing this:

http://www.fodors.com/community/trav...collection.cfm

You appear to have joined to push AirBnB. Please don't.

MmePerdu

"You appear to have joined to push AirBnB. Please don't."

Well that's a snarky &, I believe, unwarranted accusation. I'm also an Airbnb user in my solo travels, I mention the fact, just as others mention their sources for accommodations, and we don't expect to be accused of pimping for the site.

I enjoyed your post, kmorrella, welcome to the traveling-solo-ladies-of-a-certain-age club!

suze

I enjoyed your post and appreciate you encouraging other women to travel solo later in life.

I've always been a solo traveler, so for me it will simply be something I *continue* to do when I have more free time after I am retired from employment.

I won't go the airBnB route, that has no appeal to me at all. I prefer my own space, so will rent apartments or stay in hotels.

suze

And I apologize for the frosty welcome from thursdaysd. I don't understand why some people feel the need to be like that.

thursdaysd

Two posts, both recommending AirBnB...

I live on a very quiet cul-de-sac. The house across from me changed hands recently and is now an AirBnB. I do not want it in my neighborhood. My house is empty for two or three months once or twice a year and I don't want randon strangers here. Nor do we have the parking space. It is also in violation of our restrictive covenants, but that means we can get it stopped.

suze

So you've got a chip on your shoulder against AirBnB. That doesn't prove anything or have anything to do with this person posting their travel experiences here.

MmePerdu

I guess I'll have to go back through the hundreds of my posts and wonder if I'm in violation of the arbitrarily-proscribed number of mentions.

Poor you, there go the neighborhood. I suggest, rather than insulting unsuspecting members here, you do something about your own problem.

suze

And we wonder why membership on these forums is dropping fergoodnessake.

Whathello

'I do not want it in my neighborhood. My house is empty for two or three months once or twice a year and I don't want randon strangers here.'

Too bad you don't own the street... you could then make your own rules and select your neighbours.
In the meantime since you are not alone in this world, let other people live.

Nice post Kmorella. Travel is nice at all age.

mlgb

It didn't strike me as an AirBnB promo posting.

I used AirBnB once in Ecuador (Cuenca) to rent an apartment for a week. AirBnB isn't limited to sharing a room in a stranger's house. So that is no reason to be "against it".

If there are issues with illegal rentals then the local jurisdiction or homeowner's association should be addressing that.

I know New York, Santa Monica, and many other cities with strong appeal to a tourist market and limited housing supply are trying to curtail the removal of apartments and single family homes from permanent housing and into transient occupancy.

schmerl

<<<I prefer my own space, so will rent apartments or stay in hotels.>>>>
Suze, you can go through Air BnB and still have your own space. All the bookings are not just a room in someone's home We are staying in a three bedroom single home in Florida next month and booked through Air BnB. A lot of people who list on VRBO and Homeaway also list on Air BnB. More might start now that VRBO has tacked on a BIG fee.

suze

sorry, I didn't say that well, I prefer not to do that type of a rental myself (VRBO, etc.). But I didn't think that was the focus of this post in the first place.

MmePerdu

"...I didn't think that was the focus of this post..."

No, and a shame it veered off course at the beginning and never recovered. I hope kmorrella doesn't hold it against the rest of us and comes back to tell us more. It's not too late and always nice to hear the details when we do similar trips ourselves.

suze

Nice welcome (not). How to chase off another new poster.

MmePerdu

"How to chase off another new poster."

And discourage participation among the rest of us. Already on my "do I, or do I not, want to get involved here" list, along with several others.

mlgb

Ironic coming from suze who managed to chase off elsiemoo.

tomfuller

For solo travel male or female, I always suggest a HI Hostel
https://www.hihostels.com/en?linkid=...FatxQgod9TEA1g
no matter what your age. Hosteling International has higher standards than the "other" hostels.