JES

My friend's mother is a traveler at heart and is now single. All of her friends are either married or don't like to travel. Does anyone have a suggestion on how she can find a travel partner or probably preferably a travel group where she will feel comfortable?
She's a wonderful woman who will and has gone anywhere and everywhere.

gracejoan3

I'm at least the age of your mother!! I have been traveling alone for years!!

I found that making my plans to depend on someone else could really make a mess out of trips. What I now do, is make all my plans , tell friends, if they want to join me, fine. That way it does not spoil my trip in any way.

My trips are well planned, I do a great deal of research, know the areas well and pretty well know what I want to see and do. I make all my lodging arrangements and car arrange,ents wa ahead of time, along with the air.

I have a wonderful trip this Sept/Oct and have a place rented for a month mid Sept-mid Oct in 2007.

She will do well.........

tomboy

Is she aware of the Elder Hostel programs and trips?

weber6560

I'm in that range and have found that enrolling in a school of some sort immediately gives you a circle of friends at the foreign location and also someone [the school] to call on should you run into a problem. I sign up for language schools but there are many different types. Just got back from a school in Spain and there were several people in my age range there. Don't rule out hanging with those younger - everyone can have fun

Eloise

You might suggest that she look into the Elderhostel tours:

http://www.elderhostel.org/

They are not "if this is Tuesday, it must be Belgium"-type tours but generally concentrate on a small area, emphasizing, as the Web site says, "in-depth and behind-the-scenes learning experiences for almost every interest and ability."

I know someone who has taken many Elderhostel tours and enjoyed them very much.

suze

another vote for Elderhostel. i have a dear friend, 62 or so, who has done many many interesting trips with them. they are usually fairly long in duration (2-3 weeks), well-paced with nice accomodations, educational, with a good mix of people (55+ or their guests).

Rick Steves tours would also be a good one to check on.

Neither of these are cheap but I think fit exactly what she is looking for by your description.

For me, I would prefer to join a small tour group or travel solo, I would never want to chance going with a stranger ("find a travel partner&quot.

JES

Thank you...I will have her look into Elder Hostel--great idea.
Thanks Grace--I'm looking for her b/c she says she doesn't want to go solo.
It sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned.
She may like the class idea as well.

JES

Suze--I think you're right.
I will pass on Steve's Tours for her too.
I don't think she wants to spend a fortune on a tour. If Elder Hostel is too $$ she may not want to do it.

Eloise

Since your friend's mother is well traveled, I think she may find the people on Rick Steve's tours less than congenial. Most of them will be first-timers and clinging to the tour for dear life, just as those who use Rick Steve's guidebooks follow them as if they were divinely inspired.

At a price that is probably comparable, I think Elderhostel would be more to her liking.

nwtraveler

I take exception to the by Eloise remark. I have been on 3 Rick Steve's tours and I have found the people very friendly and very outgoing. People who were fun to hang out with during my free time. As a single traveler I never felt left out or excluded. On each tour there were people who had either taken previous RS tours or traveled on their own. The age range was early 30's to early 80's depending on the tour.

If your opinion is based on actual experience with an RS tour, it's unfortunate that you had what sounds like a bad experience.

nwtraveler

I meant to say "to the remark by Eloise."

Carrybean

Many times a city's museums or organizations like symphony societies sponsor tours. You might check into that. She'd meet some new people but also folks from her own area so she'd have the double bonus of making new friends.

enzian

Eloise,

Have you actually BEEN on a Rick Steves tour? Everyone I know (or know of) who has gone on one was very happy with it and enjoyed the other tour members a lot. And many of them are repeat customers---specifically choosing a Rick Steves tour because they enjoy the other travelers as much as the tour.

I fear your comments might reflect the common notion of independent travelers who use the Rick Steves books (going around with their noses stuck in the books instead of seeing the sights). I don't think it's true of those folks either.

So I too think this lady would feel very comfortable on a RS tour, if the price meets her budget.

loisco

We are in our 70s and took a Rick Steves tour along with independent travel this last Spring. There were several women of a "certain age" on the trip who came alone and they did fine it seemed to me.

Unlike the poster here we found everyone quite congenial and in fact we ate dinner several times with one of the single women.

Eloise

Nwtraveler, Carrybean and Enzian:

Please tell me how many of the doubtless very pleasant folks on the Rick Steve's tours you have taken would fall under the following definition, quoted from JES's original question:

&quot;She's a ... woman <b>who will and has gone anywhere and everywhere</b>.&quot;

I'm quite sure there were very few, if any.

enzian

Eloise,

I didn't say I had taken a Rick Steves tour, just that everyone I knew of that had done it enjoyed their traveling companions. As for the &quot;has gone everywhere&quot; factor, my recently widowed friend traveled everywhere with her husband. But now that he is gone, she prefers the camaraderie she finds on RS tours to traveling with friends who are all &quot;coupled up&quot;. And she hasn't complained about feeling like she's alone with a bunch of first-timers or people who have no sense of adventure.

I notice from another thread that you feel very positive toward Country Walkers tours. That's fine, but it doesn't mean you need to be judgmental about Rick Steves tours, especially if you haven't been on one and actually experienced the (alleged) shortcomings of which you complain.

Underhill

My friends who have gone on a number of ElderHostels--and loved them--also travel with Grand Circle tours, both river cruises and land tours. GCT does a very good job, from what I observed on a Danube cruise last December, of seeing that people travelling alone are introduced to dinner companions and to others on their own.

nancy

Check out Grand Circle Tours. There are so many places to choose from. The age group ranges from 50 to 80 but all are reasonably fit and want to be there so no grouches. GCT will try to fit you with a roommate.

I went to both Thailand and Malta with GCT and the trips were wonderful. Great guides, a lot of free time, and very nice people. It's worth checking out. Your friend will feel welcome.

milla

This opinion comes from Argentina, where I met many people coming with Elder Hostel group. I guess it is the same you are mentioning.
All of them were very satisfied with the rest of the group, the background information they had, the places they visited, and I was really impressed by the organization of the tours.
I guess they do it in Europe in the same way. Costs might be high by Argentina`s standards.I think the ones in Europe are as good as the ones they have down here.
Good Luck.

JES

Thank you....GCT sounds like another great option.
Thanks for all of the great advice!