Introduction: Talking Solo Travels!

Bonjour, good readers! Have you ever considered traveling by yourself?

Over the years I have taken the incentive to follow the final line of my favorite comic series, Calvin and Hobbes: "let's go exploring!" In my explorations of this beautiful planet, I have visited four states and eleven foreign countries, spanning through Central America, the Middle East, and Europe. I have traveled by car, plane, and train across these lands; some with family and/or friends, groups, and sometimes, alone.

Wait a minute, who are you?

Oh, silly me! Hello, you may call me Lady Gadabout, and I am a world traveler!

And I love ice cream!

When I'm not traveling, I am a community theater actor with some film and TV credits on my resume, and did both short and long form improv comedy for several years. I have also been modeling for nearly 13 years and recently became an Instragram model for a fitness wear company called Fashion Piata (and if you use the code speakshanaandsave you'll get a discount!), and I used to be a Disney cast member. Ireland is my most favorite country in the world.

Most importantly, I am in my thirties, still single, and have no children.

Why write a travel blog?

It is my solo travels and a TripAdvisor account that has prompted me to start this new blog. Throughout my travels, I have accumulated varying ranges of knowledge of the countries I have visited, travel hacks, and tricks to doing as much as possible with whatever time I had available. After my most recent trip to Europe, I was inspired to share my experiences with anyone who wants to travel.

Ah, Paris!

Keep in mind that since this blog is written by a single, childless, thirty-something California lady, my eventual advice will most likely be best suited for women of similar demographics. But please, don't let that discourage you! If you are looking for information on how to travel, my wisdom is for everyone, regardless of who you are or where you come from.

Throughout this blog, I will be offering pointers and tips for any potential or new travelers with advice on how to prepare for their big trip, how to utilize their time when on the actual trip, and how to adapt when traveling with other people, or completely alone. For more experienced travelers, I hope that I can offer some suggestions so that they can try them out for themselves and hopefully have more efficient and fun-filled travels. I also plan to share some stories from my travels so that you, dear reader, can see what some of the adventures (or mischief!) I encountered along the way so that you can be entertained or inspired.

Now, to start things off, I will use my personal experience to show what I have labeled different levels of traveling that eventually leads to the title of "lady gadabout."

Beginner - traveling with a parent or parents

My first experiences traveling came at ages 5 and 11, when my dad took me to Mexico for a few days, then took me on a full tourism experience to Israel, with a 2-day layover in England.

Hanging outside the Tower of London. This is a family friend, not my dad!

I don't really remember much from Mexico, and certainly not enough to be of any helpful advice for traveling. England and Israel, however, my dad and I were taken all over London for our time in England, then being taken to the major tourist and religiously significant sites of Israel.

Riding a donkey in Qumran

Being just a kid and traveling outside of North America for the first time, I had to stick my dad most of the time. The sites we visited were awe-inspiring, full of historical, religious, and cultural significance, but was also a little intimidating because I couldn't leave my dad's side. By my 11-year-old ways of thinking at the time, if I lost my dad or my group, what would happen to me?

Regardless of age, the beginner level is essentially the "getting your feet wet" type of travel. Going to another country with family provides you with a very secure safety net as you're going through a foreign land. Whether going on a tour or just traveling as a family, this type of travel introduces you to a brand new perspective of looking at the world. Sometimes it can be a little too intimidating for travelers and they don't travel again, which is fine. Travel isn't for everyone.

For those who are changed by the experience and want to continue traveling as I was, go for it! You've just completed the first level of beginner and can move up to the next level!


Intermediate - traveling without parents

This particular status applies when you as a traveler are going with friends, a partner, or a sibling. While siblings still count as family, let's face it, you have more fun without the parents around!

My first experience traveling without parents was when I graduated junior college and they purchased a flight and trip to Disneyland for me and a friend as a graduation present. She and I spent 3 days in Southern California park hopping between Disneyland and California Adventure. While relatively tame, it felt very freeing to not have to worry about my parents hearing about our shenanigans!

Did I enter the world of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, or is this Mickey Mouse's house?

A few years later, one of my sisters and I went to Ireland together. Although our parents did give us some emergency contact numbers for friends and contacts in the country, she and I indulged in the culture and had our fair share of mischief!

At the Cliffs of Moher. This was my first attempt at a selfie with a digital camera instead of a phone. I had a lot to learn.

Whether with only one person or a small group, the lack of supervision opens new and unexplored experiences. Depending on the person or people you're traveling with, the possibilities are endless! Even better is that you often find yourself getting away with things, like walking right along the edge of a cliff just because your mom can't call you back.

And once you've reached this level, you're ready to unlock the next!

Advanced - traveling with strangers

It's one thing to travel with a single family member or with a friend or two. But going to another country and joining up with a tour group? Now that actually can be a little intimidating at first!

Girls night in Ireland! And our tour guide who was helping some of the gals with Tinder tips

Now my personal experience goes two ways with this level. My first time was joining a tour group with older people. I returned to Ireland by myself two years after the trip with my sister and found that I was one of only 3 people under the age of 40 on this trip; the majority of the people were older couples, and the other two young ones were traveling with their families. These people were all lovely and nice, and I had a wonderful time with them, but they spent a lot of their time shopping, while I went to pubs, explored historical sites not on the tour, visited gardens, and even crashed a bachelorette party in Killarney!

They were too drunk to realize I was American, and now they're on my blog!

The next year I found a tour group made up of young adults to travel England and Scotland with. Now these people were my people! This first trip had people from all over the world, and we had a terrific time! I had to throw out most of the separate traveling techniques I picked up the previous year and found plenty of people to tag along with to famous sites.

Two Americans, an Aussie, a Canadian, and an Englishwoman scale a medieval wall in York.

There's no punchline, just a fun pic.

When signing up for group travel, you never know who you may meet on your travels or where they may come from. And some of these people will only be in your life for the duration of that trip, or you may have found friends you would have never otherwise met! As I said before, it is a little intimidating to allow yourself to go to a foreign land with people of all nations and backgrounds, but odds are, a lot of them are in the same situation as you.

This may seem like the highest tier of experience with traveling, but hold your horses! There's still one more level to achieve!

Expert - traveling with no one else

Perhaps one of the scariest means of travel out there, but it's also one of the most fulfilling!

The first trip I took on my own was a road trip. It began in San Francisco, then traversed down the coast to a few cities down in Southern California, continuing on into Las Vegas, and finally stopping over in Stateline/South Lake Tahoe before returning home. 

You know what they say about Las Vegas!

All in all, it was well over 1000 miles that I drove by myself. Part of the trip was in hotels, the rest was staying with family, but the drive was all me. It was a pretty lonely experience, but when I was out on the town, I had some fun experiences, including some decent wins on the slot machines and at Texas Hold 'Em poker!

This now leads to my foreign experiences. On my second trip to Ireland and my return to London as an adult, I spent 2 days by myself before joining my tours. On third trip to Ireland, I was split with 8 days on a tour, followed by 6 days by myself. I was super nervous about this concept because 6 days alone in a foreign country is daunting, but it turned out I had nothing to worry about!

Yes, Temple Bar is essentially a tourist trap. Fun to check out, but best to buy anything elsewhere because it'll be cheaper

Although I had contracted the horrid cold that had been circulating through the bus before I took off on my own, I spent time by myself in Dublin, Galway and Lisdoonvarna, becoming sicker in the process but not letting that slow me down. 

During that time I took tours throughout the cities, visited the Connemara area and the various sites they had to offer, checked out museums, and most importantly, went to the oldest Matchmaking Festival in Europe (more to come on that one in a later post). I traveled by bus and train to go all over the country and conquered my fears of being alone very early on.

Reaching this level is not easy and does take a lot of tenacity and courage. Along the journey of your solo trip, you'll learn self-reliance in a unique way, and automatically become more confident. One thing I will tell you though is that if you do take that step, you'll return home a very different person.

So, this is the different levels of solo travel using the very much abridged version of my traveling history to illustrate!

As you can see, most of my adventures take place in Europe and in my own country. Although I'm always looking for a new adventure and stamp in my passport, I have traveled enough to learn tricks to make the most of wherever I go.

What to expect from here on

I am very passionate about visiting other countries and would love to convince anyone who hasn't done it, or at least never done it alone, to give it a try. Traveling by myself has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, and it's one that so few women ever try for themselves. Now, every solo traveler is going to have different adventures; some full of drama, some full of once-in-a-lifetime moments that could only happen to them, and some going smoother than they expected, but that's what makes travel so wonderful. Everyone will have a different and very personal experience, which is why I chose to blog about traveling with the hopes that I can inspire aspiring travelers to take that chance.

And if travel were free, you'd never see me again

Next, I'll be going over the reasons why women, single or committed, should travel by themselves at least once in their lives.

Until then, I'm off to find more mischief!

Shoutouts to my friends Justin and Heather for their input. Love you guys!!!!

All pictures provided were either taken by friends, family, or me and not for public use.
Gifs courtesy of Giphy.