{"id":474,"date":"2015-12-04T20:57:32","date_gmt":"2015-12-05T01:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/?p=474"},"modified":"2015-12-06T19:10:31","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T00:10:31","slug":"its-okay-to-go-solo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/?p=474","title":{"rendered":"It’s Okay to Go Solo!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traveling is\u00a0a\u00a0rewarding experience.<\/p>\n

Deciding where to go and what to do is of the utmost importance in whether or not you will get what you want out of that experience. \u00a0Deciding whether to travel alone or with a partner\u00a0or group\u00a0is an even bigger task.<\/p>\n

While in Koh Samui, Thailand, a young gentleman from Switzerland, introduced himself to me one evening. \u00a0Alex and I began a conversation that led me to find that he was traveling alone…until April. \u00a0I was so curious, as to what his travel plans were for the coming months and what he had already experienced, that we talked for almost two\u00a0hours. \u00a0Although this year, \u00a0I had made the decision\u00a0to travel with others, I suddenly found that I was very excited for Alex but actually also a little jealous.<\/p>\n

Last year, after my initial travel arrangements had fallen through, I decided to proceed with my plan to visit Thailand anyway…alone. \u00a0Nervous as I was to travel halfway around the world by myself, I pushed forward and found that the experience of traveling by oneself is actually quite different than I expected. Certainly, on layovers, I’ve taken the train to other cities and wandered by myself, knowing that my crew members or my employing airline was a phone call away if I ever needed help. \u00a0That knowledge gives one a great feeling of security. \u00a0Here, I knew no one. \u00a0Well, almost no one…<\/p>\n

Amazingly, October seems to be a popular month for flight attendants to travel to Thailand. \u00a0While in the Narita airport, I ran into two of my friends who were also traveling to Bangkok. Plans were made to keep in touch and to get together for dinner or sightseeing. \u00a0Another flight attendant and a\u00a0friend were traveling on the same flight, but traveling to the south of Thailand. \u00a0We were able to meet up one night in Koh Phi Phi, a week later.<\/p>\n

After a couple of\u00a0days of settling in, though, what I found that I loved (more than the elaborate temples, more than the delicious food, more than the Chang Beer)\u00a0was that each morning, I made the decisions…what time I would wake each morning, what to eat for breakfast, where to go, what to see, how long I stayed. \u00a0I could meet up with friends…or not. \u00a0What I enjoyed most, though, was that my itinerary was open. \u00a0If I wanted to go somewhere else, booking a last minute plane, train or bus ticket, was easy. \u00a0And that’s just what I did.<\/p>\n

After five nights in Bangkok, I decided that I wanted to head south. \u00a0Booking a ticket the night before, I headed to the airport and boarded a flight to Phuket. Knowing virtually nothing about the area, I headed to the ferry terminal, booked a hotel while en route to Koh Phi Phi\u00a0and arrived an hour and a half later. \u00a0Deciding to stay for three days, I then bought a ferry ticket back to Phuket and spent a couple of days in the Patong Beach area, before heading back to Bangkok.<\/p>\n

What I remember most about traveling to these places\u00a0was the spontaneity of it all. \u00a0It was such an adventure and I had no preconceived notion of what to expect or what I was going to do. \u00a0Walking along the beach one day, I instantaneously decided to hire a longtail boat for a snorkeling adventure. \u00a0Later, on another walk, I signed up\u00a0to go diving the next day. \u00a0Another\u00a0evening, I decided to have\u00a0dinner with a group of divers that I met. \u00a0Getting to my room in Phuket and spotting a flyer, I marched downstairs to the front desk immediately and booked a tour which included elephant trekking, whitewater rafting, ziplining, waterfall hiking and a visit to\u00a0a monkey temple. \u00a0The group of fun-loving\u00a0Australians that I met on this tour\u00a0insisted that they be\u00a0my dinner companions that evening…and I obliged!<\/p>\n

The exuberance\u00a0that I felt after my trip was\u00a0over was indescribable! \u00a0Wanting to recreate it, I almost immediately began to research a trip for the following year.\u00a0\u00a0Deciding that since I had visited the Andaman Sea on this trip, I was going to venture over to the Gulf of Thailand and check out the islands there. \u00a0Another thing\u00a0I wanted to do was\u00a0to hop over to\u00a0Cambodia. \u00a0Visiting Angkor Wat had been a dream of mine for a very long time.<\/p>\n

Hearing of my plans, many of my friends, expressed interested in traveling with me, however, I plodded forward and decided to leave things open for the time being. \u00a0A few months prior to my departure, I decided to ask a friend that I’ve known for many years, to travel with me. \u00a0Slowly, I began thinking of what my general itinerary would be. \u00a0Again, I wanted to leave things open and book tickets at the last minute, and\u00a0I decided that two people should still be able to\u00a0make last minute plans as there were many options for travel and only one room was required. \u00a0 Cambodia would still take a bit of planning\u00a0since visas were required and tour guides would need to be hired. \u00a0So, I decided Cambodia would be on the program\u00a0first and then the relaxing beach vacation for the second half.<\/p>\n

About a month prior to departure, I received a text from my friend\u00a0asking if I minded that another flight attendant travel with us. \u00a0Even though I knew that it would present a few problems with the hotels and travel, I agreed. \u00a0The more the merrier, right? \u00a0I soon realized that since we were arriving in Thailand on a major holiday weekend, getting three people both around the country and out of the country was going to take airline reservations made in advance. \u00a0Additionally, hotel reservations were going to have to be made\u00a0prior\u00a0because of the holiday and because some\u00a0hotels\u00a0do not have triple rooms nor do some allow three people in a room.<\/p>\n

Embarking on\u00a0the many plans that now had to be made was a monumental task. \u00a0I had to research flights for Cambodia and within Thailand. \u00a0I had to research hotels, spending countless hours trying to find places\u00a0that were convenient to dining and shopping and other activities and that would accept three people within a room or that had triple rooms. \u00a0My “easy going” vacation was no more. \u00a0My plan, to island hop from Koh Tao to\u00a0Koh Samui, was shot down, as I was told that it would be easier if we didn’t have to keep unpacking and repacking. \u00a0Due to airline reservations, Cambodia would have to be at the end of our vacation. \u00a0And, because I had been there before and knew so many people who had traveled to this region, I had the knowledge and the contacts to get information required\u00a0to make the arrangements…I, halfheartedly, became the tour guide.<\/p>\n

After much groundwork, a strict itinerary was finally in place. \u00a0An itinerary\u00a0that included taking a ferry at five o’clock in the morning in order to make a flight from Surat Thani to Cambodia. \u00a0 An itinerary that now included two hotel rooms because hotels that accommodated three people and had the amenities that we wanted, were few and far between. Adding a bed, to a room meant for two, was almost as much as an additional room, not to mention the crowding factor. Because I had done all of the planning, it was very stressful for me, as I knew that all of the stars were having to line up in order for us to be where we needed to be, when we needed to be there. \u00a0Please, I prayed, let there be no bad weather to upset the ferry schedule!<\/p>\n

Although I missed the adventurous, easygoing aspect of traveling alone, there were good parts of this trip, as well. \u00a0One benefit was\u00a0the safety factor. \u00a0There is always safety in numbers and someone else to count on if illness sets in. Another, is that there are activities\u00a0that are more enjoyable, knowing from the beginning, that you will have companions to share it with. \u00a0Overall, I enjoyed myself, but\u00a0there was a\u00a0great deal that\u00a0I learned on this trip that I will take into consideration in the future.<\/p>\n

Here are some questions to ask and suggestions you should ponder when deciding to travel with others:<\/p>\n

First, how well do you know the other people traveling with you? \u00a0When spending a few weeks with other people, you will learn a lot about them, if you didn’t know them well enough beforehand. \u00a0Some things you will like and some things you won’t. \u00a0Lots of patience is required.<\/p>\n

For how long are you traveling? Spending a few days or one week with someone is very different than two or three.<\/p>\n

Be sure that all know each other’s expectations of the trip. Does everyone want to do the same kinds of activities? \u00a0\u00a0Will everyone share the responsibility of making reservations for activities once at the destination? \u00a0Is everyone okay with splitting up at times to do their own thing?<\/p>\n

Don’t compromise your plans. \u00a0If you want to go island hopping…go. \u00a0Make sure that everyone is aware of the plan from the beginning, but, by all means, if that means taking a side trip by yourself for a few days, do it.<\/p>\n

How will you keep in touch with each other when not together? Does the country you are visiting sell sim cards for your phone and do you have a phone that will work with that country’s\u00a0sim cards and plans? \u00a0Don’t count on being together and sharing one phone. \u00a0Even though you think you won’t use the sim card and plan, buy it.<\/p>\n

Be mindful of each other’s time. \u00a0When out touring together, make sure that you are not off\u00a0shopping when others are waiting for you\u00a0with the tour guide to continue on. \u00a0Keep each other posted of your whereabouts, arrivals and departures, when not together. \u00a0Check your phone occasionally.<\/p>\n

Next, when booking airline reservations, unless you are traveling with\u00a0family members, everyone should book their own reservation. \u00a0For the sake of convenience, all of us were booked\u00a0on\u00a0the same reservation, on all legs of this trip. \u00a0It later dawned on me that if the person who had booked the tickets was unable to travel for any reason, the others would not be able to travel as well, as the credit card holder had to be present with valid id and the credit card used for booking. Additionally, when check in was required, this fell to the person who booked the reservation. \u00a0Having to fill in information that had to be\u00a0collected for the other travelers (passport information, addresses, phone numbers) takes a great deal more time than if each traveler\u00a0had done it themselves.<\/p>\n

Additionally, things won’t always go as planned. Have Plan B and Plan C…and even Plan D, readily available.<\/p>\n

Lastly, involve everyone in the planning of the trip. \u00a0Just because someone says, “Whatever you decide is fine with me”, doesn’t mean that they\u00a0really think that. \u00a0Having someone else research the area, whether for hotels, activities and dining options. \u00a0Have others participate in making the\u00a0airline, hotel and tour reservations. \u00a0He or she will be less critical of the outcome if things were not exactly as expected and may be less likely to express their displeasure, saving hurt feelings in the end.<\/p>\n

As for my future travel plans, I most definitely think I will travel with other people again, outside of my family,\u00a0for this type and length of a trip. \u00a0Although not entirely what I expected, there were good times and good memories.<\/p>\n

However…that being said…if I am given the opportunity to travel solo again…I will take it! There is nothing like being at the helm of your adventure and sometimes throwing caution to the wind. You’ll find that you never know what\u00a0you might encounter!<\/p>\n

Thailand, October 2014<\/p>\n

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Thailand and Cambodia, October 2015<\/p>\n

\"L7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"L12\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"L8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Traveling is\u00a0a\u00a0rewarding experience. Deciding where to go and what to do is of the utmost importance in whether or not you will get what you want out of that experience. \u00a0Deciding whether to travel alone or with a partner\u00a0or group\u00a0is an even bigger task. While in Koh Samui, Thailand, a young gentleman from Switzerland, introduced … Continue reading It’s Okay to Go Solo!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cambodia","category-general-travel","category-thailand"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/snappingtheglobe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/L3.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=474"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":507,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions\/507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}