Solo Trip in January
 

Hi Folks,

I'm looking to get out of the cold in NY and take a long weekend or possibly even a week to go somewhere a bit warmer. I'd like to lay out by the beach or pool during the day and be somewhere that I'm comfortable going out at night even if I don't know anyone (I'm early 30's, btw). I'm not on an extraordinariy tight budget so I'm open to ideas. Would prefer to keep my flight within 5-7 hours if at all possible. Thanks for any suggestions!

Just about anywhere in the Caribbean would do for you. Check which islands have direct flights from where you are. Usually there's a lull in hotel bookings the first 1/2 of January.

Meant to add, the Bahamas might get chilly in January so you possibly might consider the Caymans, Sint Maarten, St. Thomas or even San Juan, all of which should have direct flights.

Thanks Carrybean, I'll check it out!

I go either to Puerto Vallarta Mexico or Waikiki/Honolulu in the winter. I often travel solo. Both places are very fun & comfortable for that.

Not sure that the flight times might be too long for you coming from NY (I'm in Seattle).

That would be a lot of travel time for a long weekend coming from NY.

Thanks Suze..I think Carry's right but I'll look into Mexico anyway.

The possibility was mentioned this can be stretched to a week, right? So not Hawaii, but Mexico is doable.

I agree that there are lots of good options in the Caribbean. I am female and have traveled solo female to Anguilla, Barbados, Grand Cayman, St. Lucia, and Turks & Caicos and felt comfortable going out alone at night (usually just for dinner or an occassional after dinner drink, because I'm not into late night bar-hopping) all these places. Being able to venture out on my own and feel safe is an important considertation for me with solo travel, and personally, I feel more comfortable in English-speaking countries with less crime and poverty, so that was a factor in my choices.

If you are in the NYC area, you probably will have nonstop flight options to most of these places, with the exception of Anguilla. Even with a connecting flight, you can get flights to many of these islands that will be within your travel time window. GC and T&C are closer to the US so these will involve less flight time, and once you land, the main resort areas are not far (15 - 20 minutes) from the airport.

The BVI's are another safe option. Tortola can be reached via San Juan by air or St. Thomas by ferry & you can fly from NYC to SJU or STT nonstop.

Interesting..thanks to you both. I'll keep researching :)

what did you decide on? Im curious as am always looking for ideas for warm destinations too!

I found out that a friend from Miami who'd moved to Africa was going to be back in Miami to see family so I was going to go down there and then to Key West. Unfortunately, my boss put the kibosh on the whole thing today when he told me that he could only approve a long weekend at best. This just happened two hours ago, so I am back to trying to figure it out. A long weekend is doable, but is always rushed.