Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Anyone else have to resort to traveling alone?

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My wife doesn't really get much from travel unless it's to a beach . . . and she's not much for more than a 4 hour flight in coach-size seats. I like Europe and the Far East. There is no "handling" it, as you put it. I say "I'm thinking about going to <insert country here> because I saw some cheap fares" and she will say "OK" in which case I pack and leave as fast as I can. I call each morning and each night. If she says ANYTHING other than "OK" I drop the issue, wait a week or two and mention it again. There's quite a bit of interesting stuff in these posts (Sgt Single in particular) but I don't think any of them are in the situation we are in and cannot do anything more than poke fun or sympathize. On a bad day, my wife will ask me why I want to get away from her . . . I have been taking Kenpo Karate for several years so I usually respond to the effect that Im not taking Karate to beat her in the same sense that Im not going to Europe to get away from her. I do things with the family, take care of the kids, make sure that I keep a good relationship with her parents, and for a 2 or 3 weeks leading up to asking about taking a trip I suggest that we both get away . . . to a beach. She's pretty much figured out this tactic, but I am sincere and she knows it. Good luck.

I feel no love or passion in your relationship. That is a pity. Find someone who loves travel too.

While I personaly enjoy the travel I do alone, I am single. I agree with travellady, travel to places you can both enjoy. Keith

Repeating this part of a message listed above. Traveling with a small group may be the alternative you are seeking. Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/differentgrouptravelagenda/join Several new members recently. Building interest slowly. Maybe Spain on the horizon.

How old are the children. My mother is not too big on doing anything that is not in her normal routine. They will drive from Missouri to Florida to see me but any other travel is out of the question. She thinks every plane is going to crash and every ship going to sink just like the Titanic. My Father would love to travel but his first trip out of the country was with me when he was 64. We made a pretty good traveling pair. As the children get older you might consider them as your traveling companions. Your wife sounds like my mom. She will probably never be a good traveling companion. She might understand you spending some special quality time with your children a little better than you traveling alone. Good luck. When I met my husband I let him know right away that travel was my passion. If he didn't think that he would enjoy traveling with me that our other option would be separate vacations. Luckily he loves it as much as I do.

Rex is the founder of the first group he mentioned and often posts anonymously to promote it, just as he's done here. He WAS a member of the second group but was booted by the site administrator after numerous complaints about his arrogance, his unsolicited e-mails to members and his efforts to take over a forum that did not belong to him - much the same way he behaves on Fodor's. He was trying to drum up travel customers for his own group - much the same way he behaves on Fodor's. He is not a tour guide, just some desperate dude who thinks he can get people to pay to travel with him. Can cite numberous examples of his penchant for offending people, should you be interested.

Solo, I'm curious as to why your wife is "too stressed to really enjoy" travel. Any way to address those issues? Is she afraid to fly? Does she not like to lug luggage around? Does she hate hotel living? Was she simply not interested in the places she visited? Good luck to you, and happy travels!

If you are obsessed with travel and your wife is asking you to just stay at home and be happy - is that really going to occur? I think you need to consider if this would just make you resentful and then how happy would that make everyone? I'm not with the "divorce your wife crowd" but I think if she will not join you then she needs to understand that you might need to take a trip alone for your happiness. I don't think that is too unreasonable. I am traveling alone for the first time to France this June and frankly I am excited about it. My previous boyfriends have made remarks like "ugh you could never get me to go to Paris" or "why not just go to the Keys." Those comments are part of the reason that they are previous boyfriends. I did not want to deal with someone who would complain about taking the stairs up the Eiffel Tower or who could not understand why I might sit in a garden for hours. I think this is a lesson for others that if you love traveling and your partner hates it, you need to work out a compromise or move along.

I have been following the travelcheap2000 group for the past month. I can't tell if anything is going to happen there or not. But I have been unable to log on to it for the past few days. I don't know if this is a Yahoo problem or if they have shut it down for some reason.