toedtoes, Good ideas! Thanks. Hey I know (this is a joke) we could go back to the title of the forum a couple Fodor's make-overs ago when it was called "Other Topics" before THAT branch got turned into the "Lounge".

trave2teach, Thanks to you to. But I do have to say that the thought of someone else's honeymoon being "discouraging" to me personally made me laugh. Living solo is not a pity party, some of us do it by choice
;-)

I don't find being single discouraging either. I am thinking of all the posts from people saying they are trying to work up the nerve to go alone. My thought is just that for some people, trying to work up to solo travel, being grouped with honeymooners and families might discourage them from trying to go solo.

On another note, I like the idea of a re-naming the forum. I'm not sure what a good name is, but we're a creative lot so I'm sure we'll find one.

Hmmm, forum names:

Special Travel

Travel Outside the Ordinary

Special Needs Travel

Creative Traveling

Travel for the Rest of Us

Travel for the Best of Us

Travel by One, Two and Three (solo, honeymoon and handicapped)

Singles, Doubles and Quads

Anyone else??

A thought occurred to me while reading this thread.

Honeymoons, multi-generational family reunion cruises, and traveling with toddlers are arguably as much "special interest" as solo travel. The honeymoon planners will probably ignore the posts about cruising with teenagers and vice versa; and both will ignore the solo travel questions. So there should be no problem posting a question about "Solo Female in Montevideo" right alongside "Most Romantic B&B For Our Anniversary?" Once you create a solo traveler forum (or sub-forum under "special interests&quot, why not one on "honeymoons," "romantic getaways," "girlfriend getaways," or "traveling with toddlers"? Where does the proliferation of "special interests" stop?

I think what it comes down to is that almost nobody would consider anything that concerns "traditional" couples and families as "special interest." So it the honeymoons get merged with the family reunions and the teenage travel troubles and nobody complains. It's all "normal travel." But "solo travel" is so far outside the "traditional" norm-- and apparently of so little interest to all those honeymooners and family vacationers-- that it clearly belongs in its own special place, along with the disabled, the gays and lesbians, the seniors (perhaps), and anything else that doesn't concern "normal" travelers (i.e., couples and families).

That's something to think about. The only specific recommendation I can offer is that "Smart Travel Tips" isn't the right approach. This seems to be degenerating into a "miscellaneous grab bag" forum for things that don't fit anywhere else.

toedtoes, I think "Travel for the Rest of Us" is your best suggestion. It succinctly sums up the focus better than "special interests." But it would need a tagline to explain that it's for "special interests" other than the usual couples and families.

It's official. Gone for good.


(It's a week between postings now, it's just too far buried in Smart Travel Tips, which doesn't get much action either btw.)

There were stretches longer than a week before the change. I think the bigger issue is trying to think up new questions and surveys, etc. to post in the first place to justify that the forum is needed...

You're absolutely right. But if amount of traffic is what it takes to "justify" the need for a particular forum, then they can get rid of this one too.

We have a chicken-and-egg problem. The "solo travel" topic has to be sequestered in a sub-forum in a cryptically named grab bag because the Editorial Powers That Be (correctly) decided that the traffic isn't sufficient to merit its own forum. But of course, a topic sequestered in a sub-forum in a cryptically named grab bag is now even less likely to ever generate sufficient traffic to leave this oubliette. What to do?

The only solution I can think of is to let this sorry little corner die the death the editors apparently intend for it. We should thus assert the very same rights as those who post "specialty" questions about honeymoons, romantic getaways, and travel with teens and toddlers in the destination forums. Maybe prefixing the thread titles with "SOLO TRAVELER:..." would help keep them from getting lost in the more "normal" traffic.

I just posted a new Solo Travel thread. I'll think of some more questions, etc. I just can't help thinking about when I started frequenting the Solo Traveler board and was told it was a "dead board". It wasn't dead, just not frequented often. The more we posted threads, the more folks came to check it out. This board is the same. It will build if we help it.

Just a thought, so many people travelling on their own post on the Forum where they are travelling to or in..US, Europe, Australia, Latin America etc.

Maybe I am missing something and if I am please excuse me. But if a solo traveller has a question about hotels, restaurants, sites or sights, transportation or whatever what is the difference between them and say a couple, a family, a couple of friends or whatever planning a trip? I sincerely do not understand.

Say I wanted to go to NYC for a week. I would post on the US Forum not here. If I wanted to go to Paris by myself I would post on the Europe Forum, not here.

Not trying to be argumentive or dense but seriously I do not understand. Thanks.

LoveItaly, I agree. And think it's fine for solo posts to go back on the destination boards instead of here in the future.

As a bit of Fodor's history... when Solo Forum got created (not all that long ago btw) we argued on many threads why not leave those topics within the destination forums where they'd get greater readership. But since it did exist, as Toedtoes is doing now, a few of us got behind it and supported it as a viable forum and I think got some good discussion going.

Specifically helpful questions and answers that are applicable only to people traveling on their own. And that skill set applies whether you're going to Europe or Africa solo... about personal safety, eating in restaurants alone, tips for dealing with loneliness, etc.

It's no big deal to me, truly, even though I keep posting about it (lol) but interesting to watch how Fodor's choses to shape the forums over the years.

Good morning suze, yes I do remember and I do agree now that you mention it that there are issues relating to travelling solo compared to with a travel partner.

Believe me, I know. I, for example, would never use Priceline for a SF hotel as if I am in SF by myself I want to know the hotel I am staying at is where there are people around after dark and that it is right around restaurants I like etc. If my husband were still alive using Priceline would be fantastic.

Well perhaps with good effort the Solo Travel can get active but I rather wonder if that will happen in that one has to go to "Smart Travel Tips". I thought ALL our travel tips on Fodor's were smart ones, lol. Actually, I think the title of this forum needs to be changed perhaps although I don't have a great idea for a different title. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions suze.

What happened to all the thread on tips for solo dining?

Someone on the U.S. branch was seeking information, and I sent them to Smart Travel Tips, but now I can't find the old posts myself!

????

Is this the one: http://tinyurl.com/5qs8cr

Yesterday I was reading a young woman in the Caribbean forum whose travel companion bagged out and she's nervous about going to Puerto Rico alone, worried she won't have any fun. I would have loved to had the old Solo Traveler forum still in existence to be able to point her to.

So.

I guess we're still waiting for it.

and waiting.

I just stumbled on this topic. And it doesn't seem to be special interest at all. I have so many friends, we are in our 50's and considering traveling solo, for various reasons, sick spouses, no spouses, our own special interests..we would love to have a place to come to discuss issues. I hope it comes back. But I didn't even know it existed in special interest.

Thanks gretzmom~ Yes Fodor's made it as a new forum a couple years ago... just like Europe, US, Canada, was Solo Traveler. No one used it at first because before people just asked in the destination forums... I'm going solo to Paris I ask under Europe.

But since it WAS here a few of us put some effort and I think gave the topic some life. It took awhile, and not a lot of people posted, but those who did were very thoughtful. It was a great little forum. Then they got rid of it again -haha.

I think you can still find older posts by clicking onto the solo topic or searching under that word. There's some good reading about different challenges and opportunities that come with being on your own somewhere new, how to handle various situations or emotions. Like that.

Thanks for your post, suze