Solo but not alone is the way to go
By Lynette Brasfield
Put it this way: if I hadn’t chosen to travel solo, I would never have been in a position in Costa Rica to ask – with a straight face – this question: “Why did the sloth cross the road?”
Was it getting in touch with its inner chicken? Enjoying the warmth of the hot tarmac beneath its furry belly? Just wanting to get to the other side?
The three-toed sloth in question had emerged from a perfectly good rainforest near Manuel Antonio National Park to hang out at a bus stop, where he showed off his Mona Lisa smile before setting forth to crawl unhurriedly across the tarmac, halting all traffic.
Until an impatient driver (who clearly had experience with such matters) picked him up by the scruff of the neck and carried him across the street.
Before I share the reason for the sloth’s intrepid road trip, let me explain: I love to travel solo because it offers so much flexibility, given that I have only myself to please and a whole world to discover. It’s wonderful not to have to worry about someone else’s needs and wants, no matter how much you love them.
None of this: “Well, what do you want to do? I don’t know, what do you want to do?”
Thing is, my husband Bill and I do travel together sometimes, but he doesn’t share my obsession with visiting far-flung places. Also, he’s not into hiking; to me, that’s the best way to see the world. But he loves to golf and is more than happy with a trip a year stateside with his brother.
He didn’t particularly want to go to Costa Rica, and I did. So I went, and I saw sloths and so much more. I’ve traveled quite a bit solo since then.
Fortunately, Bill is the most precious of partners, someone who takes pleasure in my happiness, trusts me completely, and encourages me to live my traveling dreams while I’m still capable of putting one foot in front of another, preferably in some of the wilder places in the world.
I know, not everyone has a Bill. I’m lucky.
But I strongly urge those of you who would love to travel but are holding back because your partner or friends don’t want to or can’t – or because you’re single – or because you think you’re too old – or because the prospect of going solo seems nerve-wracking – to research travel organizations like nonprofit Road Scholar, or Overseas Adventure Travel. You travel solo, but not alone, and you’re in safe hands.
In recent years, I’ve hiked Glacier National Park, Yosemite, Nova Scotia, Marble Canyon, and Death Valley, to name a few places. I’ve eaten an ant in the Amazon rainforest (it tasted of lemon), felt the roughness of black lava through my hiking boots in Hawaii, and heard the coughing of capybaras in Ecuador.
In Borneo, I saw thousands of fireflies light up a tree, mirroring the Milky Way in the velvet night sky.
Travel while you can, I say. You learn so much, experience so much, and often make lifelong friends. It’s a way, if only for a while, to escape ruminating on the dire problems facing the world. I always seem to find people with the same sense of humor and similar values when I go solo. And there’s always something new to learn.
For example, the reason the sloth crossed the road in Costa Rica? I should have guessed. His lady friend lives on the other side.
At the Susi Q, we occasionally have presentations by people who’ve visited interesting places, most recently Machu Pichu. There’s always something new at the Susi Q, so check out our website at thesusiq.org.
