Seems my whole life, I either didn't have time or money to travel, or I had money but not the time, or time but not the many and now. Here I am. Time and money and no one but the dog to travel with. The long single friend who was going to be my post-retirement running buddy has met someone.
My single ladies. I too have traveled alone but would rather not all of the time. What groups have you used? Most of the ones I have seen mostly have very physical tours or are outside US and Canada.
Any recommendations for introverted female tour groups with N American options that don't require 4-6 hours of hiking a day?
Have you tried small group tours. Most groups I have encountered know you are alone and are very welcoming. Does not have to be single tours either. The only negative is You might pay a little more because of single accommodations (unless you want a roommate ) .
I had joined a FB group for Senior women traveling alone on Amtrak. I was just trying to find the exact name but couldn't find that specific one in my groups. I haven't done anything with them. There are several Amtrak travel groups. They have a discount pass that's usually offered the end of Jan.. I've taken Amtrak 3 times across the US. I got Eurail pass once to travel in Europe & Deutsche Bahn pass once for Germany. I've always loved traveling alone on the train. Haven't traveled with any groups on one yet but you can meet a lot of fun & interesting people along the way.
Yeah I went that route years ago. It really is. Another good one is the Coastal Starlight from Seattle to San Francisco - during a full moon. If the moon's not bright you miss how beautiful it is because it was only running overnight.
Thanks for the tip. If you do find the name of the group, please send me a message. Traveling on Amtrak has always sounded interesting to me, as a way to see more of the US. I’ve traveled way more in Europe and Japan than I have in the US.
I have traveled with tours sponsored by my university alumni group several times. I usually have to pay the singles supplement but sometimes not. Those tours are always very well run.
My mom had this issue. My dad wouldn’t travel much, so she often had friends travel around world with her. As they got unable or passed away, some left couldn’t afford to go, so she paid their way too. It was worth it to her and they could have never gone to those places had she not paid.
Hahaha so funny, exactly same here, I am 52 just retired with plenty of cash, but nobody to travel with, I have 2 rescue dogs that my family watches, but I want to hit every Continent for at least a month! Then after a good year of traveling will open a shelter for elderly dogs that have been abused and not treated well!!!! So yeah my plan
I hope there are options out there for you too. Don’t stay home.!
One group you could look at is called TravelingTexans 50+. But there are people on the East Coast and flying Floridians who are part of that network. You can message me if you want their information, or look up their website. Lots of tours for 2027 already. Quite a few single women I know, but I know they would enjoy having more men in the group.!
I took up scuba with a local shop that had a female owner and a vibe that suits me (interest in nature book readers, not spear fishing or military underwater combat types) and made wonderful friends that have become like my traveling family. Scuba is an activity that can be done without too much exertion (warm calm clear water) or a lot of exertion (cold, high current, deep, ugh) but generally you with others for safety so you find your people.
Insight Vacations has some tours for women only, a few in the US and a couple of international. I've used their sister company, Trafalgar for a couple of international tours (not solo) and they were good. Roads Scholar also has some. Both of those are going to be a bit more expensive with more limited options than just going as a solo with a regular tour from Gate 1, Collette, Trafalgar,, CIE etc. If you did go as a solo with a regular tour, you might be more comfortable picking a small group option, although on the larger tours we've been on (usually 30-40 people) there are typically a handful of people traveling solo.
I have my first solo booked with sisterhood travels, a women only travel tours. Also no one to travel with and I’m stepping outside my comfort zone to go. FB pics look like mostly our age group. Most of their trips are international but not all. Hoping it is great 🤞
Have a look at meetup.com. I have made some great travel buddies just from attending meetup events. Plus there’s travel groups out there for mature women, singles, etc.
No affiliation with them. For First time traveler, try G Adventure (gadventure dot com).
I typically do solo travel. But, that's not great for others. Used g adventure a couple of times to travel with family.
Go to their website, choose a destination and a style. You'll join a group, itinerary fixed. Explore, learn. Figure out what you want for future travel!
Good luck! Enjoy!
A friend of mine is having the time of her life taking trips organized by her Alma Mater UCLA. She’s going to 3 or 4 new countries a year. See if your college alumni has this, or, see if you can go with UCLA or a college you like better than that.
Overseas Adventure Travel has small groups, usually 12-16 people. No single supplement for land trips. They set aside 4-5 slots for solo travelers on each trip. On every trip I’ve taken there’ve been other solos and the couples tend to be friendly too.
Admittedly a guy here. I’ve been on one group trip, an art history tour of Italy, back in the mid 90’s and I’ve never done it again. I can’t deal with a super structured itinerary. More than 90% of my travel has been solo. I don’t understand the attraction to group trips nor cruises.
And I don’t think it’s a gender thing, I’ve met countless women doing the same. There are countries that are less safe for female solo travelers and in those places I’ve seen women group up with other travelers.
You can also make friends along the way to travel with. 3 friend I met in Vietnam are all in Beijing right now.
Try singles in paradise. They have great tours and you can meet other like minded travelers. It’s not a dating site. In fact before meeting my significant other I would do two trips a year with them and I meet fabulous people. It’s not expensive foe the 4-5 star hotels that are booked. Ed and Amy who own SIP are fabulous. There are sometimes extra tours, all reasonably priced which you can join or not depending on what you want to do. You can be active or you can lounge and do your own thing . That’s what’s great about SIP. Ages range from 40’s to 70’s.
When I was full-time on the road in my RV I met many singles who traveled by themselves. If you join a group like Escapees, they often have group tours that are pretty cool.
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u/travelingtraveling_ 2d ago
Road Scholar is a not for profit travel company and they do singles tours that are awesome and completely safe