The Bottom Line
Pros
- Lots of inspiration for reluctant solo travelers
- Great travel tips and vignettes from a travel pro
- A great travel read
Cons
- Oddly formatted vignettes interfere with the flow of a good read
- The bias is toward women as solo travelers
Description
- A book offering encouragement to folks looking toward traveling solo hits the mark.
- Tips abound, including author Lane's favorite activities and destinations.
- Non-soloists can test the solo waters. Sample dialogs show you the sensitive way to "break away."
- Lots of resources for specialty travel, including web resources.
Guide Review - Solo Traveler - Tales and Tips for Great Trips - Review
Once I made the mistake of telling my mother that I enjoyed being alone. She reacted as if I had informed her of a snap decision to become a gay ax murderer. "How did we go wrong in raising you!" she replied in wide-eyed horror.Enjoying one's own company, and the freedom that goes with it, has always been seen as a deep character flaw. Lots of arguments against the horrors of traveling alone have evolved, most of them complete and utter balderdash. Lea Lane does a great job of dispelling these unreasonable myths, while filling you full of ideas of how not to be alone on your trip when you don't want to be. Yes, you can solo with others; there's a whole chapter on the practice.
A successful solo trip depends on a shift of mindset away from the idea that the solo traveler is likely to be shunned like a leper with bells on. Solo Traveler offers countless reasons this is not so and follows up with tips on how to dress and act so that your solo entrances into, say, a glamorous restaurant will turn the gawking into envy and the raised eyebrows into looks of wonderment.
Lea Lane is an award winning travel writer who writes with authority and humor on a topic you might not think should take up 266 pages--but Lane's tips, tales, and enthusiasm for solo travel are eminently readable, useful and enjoyable. (One nit: if only they hadn't decided to winnow her interesting tales so that they interrupt the flow of the chapters.)
Bottom Line - Want to solo? Need prodding? Buy this book.
