Going on holidays alone-stigma?

shopaholic01

Has anyone ever gone on the group holidays? You meet up and can then decide whether to spend time on your own or with others.

It would be the best of both worlds.

Daveysil15

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Has anyone ever gone on the group holidays? You meet up and can then decide whether to spend time on your own or with others.

It would be the best of both worlds.

Not exactly, but I went to Poland alone for a week and I met up with a couple of guys that I used to work with. I spent a couple of days with them at a concert, and then spent the rest of the holiday on my own. I met some nice Polish birds in a bar, and an old man who told me about his war stories. Twas a great holiday.

Legs.Eleven

I'm on holidays alone right now!! Having a ball!!

bnt

I've been going on holidays by myself for years, and only realised how much I took it for granted when I went on holiday with friends a couple of years ago. I don't drive, so when I go somewhere, I use public transport and walk a lot, and that's what I like. My friends don't like that - they rent a car and drive everywhere. They're just not used to walking more than short distances, so I would head out by myself, just to see places at "pedestrian speed", rather than seeing them in the rear view mirror. :cool:

Tugboats

I'm a sex tourist and holiday alone 3 times per year. Love it

The Backwards Man

Tugboats wrote: »

I'm a sex tourist and holiday alone 3 times per year. Love it

I'm a normal tourist and have sex three times a year. Love it.:)

The Backwards Man

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I'm a normal tourist and have sex alone three times a year. Love it.:)

FYP

Darkwarriorcok

i have tot ravel quite a bit for work, sometimes spend weekends away, alone is grand, nighttime can be somewhat crap at times but then you can find a decent bar and settle in and chill out. Was easier in my younger days, didn't give a fcuk, i was single then too Late 30's now, attached, its alright, miss clubbing though ha

Just go and have a ball, he who worries is a fool, judge them and not let them judge you!

discus

shopaholic01 wrote: »

You sound delightful.

It's unfortunate, but having spent quite a bit of times travelling and staying in youth hostels, there's a large enough proportion of lone travellers who are just weird. Me and my mates have a policy of inviting nearly everyone out with us for drinks, trips, or even to the next country, but there are quite a few who impose themselves on you so much that it can be uncomfortable. One or two we had to lie to, and claim we were doing X and staying with mates, no space etc, just to shake them, if I recall. The weirdest ones are nearly always heavy pot smokers and tend to be shady about their past!

Tugboats

Tugboats wrote: »

I'm a sex tourist and holiday alone 3 times per year. Love it

Can't figure out if you're being refreshingly grown up and honest, or if you're taking the p*ss

Fr D Maugire

If I waited on other people to co-ordinate things so we could go travelling together, I would have been to very few places. As it is, I have traveled extensively on my own.

I have also traveled with other people and done the odd group tour and there are definite pros and cons to each one. It does get lonely sometimes on your own and shared experiences can be better but then I find people in other countries are more likely to talk to you if you are by yourself. Not having bust-up's/arguments is definitely the big plus to doing it by yourself and doing what you want of course.

Groups can be very good but depends on the make-up of the group. I hated the group I was with on the Inca trail as it consisted of sub-groups with yours truly the sole loner. I done another group tour later in the same adventure and they were a great bunch of people.

I don't think travelling alone is strange but do I get the "Are you crazy" or "I could never do that" from other people a lot.

languagenerd

Went to Paris on my own for nearly a month when I was 19, and it was one of the best trips I've ever gone on. I was doing a language degree for which we had to spend a certain amount of time in countries where the languages were spoken. The person I was supposed to go with had made too many other plans already and couldn't sort out a good time to go, so I said feck it and went anyway.

So glad I did it - really learned to stand on my own two feet and not to care what people thought of me. I signed up for French lessons four times a week and spent the rest of the time wandering around with my camera and map, drinking coffee in random cafes, reading in parks and joining walking tours. Even so, I met a few people in the classes, and a couple of friends who lived in other parts of France came to meet up for the day, so I wasn't on my own all the time.

I love travelling with friends too, but sometimes if you wait for other people to get their act together, you'll never end up going. And I'd rather go alone and have the experience than never do it at all!

sadie06

I would literally love to go on holiday alone! When you have a young family and a husband, that really would raise eyebrows!

In all seriousness, it wouldn't bother me what other people think. I went to gigs non-stop by myself in my early twenties and a lot of people thought I was crazy, but I would have missed out on some great nights if I hadn't.

I saw a poster in Gigs & Events lamenting having to get rid of his/her Alt-J tickets a few nights ago coz they had nobody to go with. I just could not get my head around why he/she didn't go alone.

Keep travelling and don't give a second thought to what other people think!

Lucena

sadie06 wrote: »

I would literally love to go on holiday alone! When you have a young family and a husband, that really would raise eyebrows!

In all seriousness, it wouldn't bother me what other people think. I went to gigs non-stop by myself in my early twenties and a lot of people thought I was crazy, but I would have missed out on some great nights if I hadn't.

I saw a poster in Gigs & Events lamenting having to get rid of his/her Alt-J tickets a few nights ago coz they had nobody to go with. I just could not get my head around why he/she didn't go alone.

Keep travelling and don't give a second thought to what other people think!

Yes, people will find it strange, and two minutes later they'll be talking about something else. I'm in a relationship, but sometimes go on holiday alone, and my OH goes on holiday without me, albeit with her friends.

She does have colleagues who find it strange, but these tend to be the boring "I do everything with my wife/husband" and when you scratch the surface you find out they actually do sod all.

It's actually surprising the amount of people who seem to think that being in a relationship means having to do everything together.

dd972

ElChe32 wrote: »

. I never thought there was much of a stigma attached unless you're a middle aged man off to notorious sex-touristy hotspots.

Oh, there's a stigma attached to that is there? I wondered why everyone keep's avoiding me in the pub

keith16

Sometimes the best company is your own.

I say this as a bindle-wielding hobo.

Quite a lot of positivity in this thread so far. Most ppl seem to agree that it's normal and cool to go alone.

Get the feeling like that reflects the fact that ppl like us are on Boards.ie on a Saturday night

The "mainstream" crowd are out gallivanting tonight, and I'm sure if this were on Monday evening there'd be a whole lot of negativity going on

Oh well, for once at least I feel vindicated in going interrailing on my own a few years ago, as well as a couple of chill out sun holidays.

At the time I felt like a freakshow "table for one" saddo, but now I think I was actually brave to get up and do it.

No regrets obviously I'm glad I did it, but at the time I found it tough

Son Of A Vidic

BillyMitchel wrote: »

I'd give my right ball to go away on my own again for a couple of months.

Out of interest, how did you lose the left ball?

JohnMearsheimer

I've gone on holidays with family, friends, my girlfriend and once by myself. I've enjoyed all of them but I especially enjoyed when I went on my own. I travelled in the US for 3 months on my own. I spent a lot of time on trains and buses going nowhere in particular with all the time in the world to do it. I quite enjoyed having all that time to myself to be honest. Travelling with others means you usually have to make compromises on what you want to see and do to please everyone. Going alone allowed me to do what I wanted when I wanted, it was nice for a change.

BillyMitchel

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Out of interest, how did you lose the left ball?

He's still hanging around but he's my fav because he's that little bit bigger.

Daveysil15

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Out of interest, how did you lose the left ball?

If you lost your left ball, would your right ball still be your right ball?

belcampprisoner

your never alone when you have your teddy

PinkFly

I'm going on hols with my son for the first time , just the two of us in a few weeks, and people keep asking who are we going with, and commenting that they wouldn't like to do it, this thread is comforting to say the least!!

ruthloss

I used to go abroad a lot on my own once upon a time., the only time I felt lonely was when I was in a restaurant having a meal on my own. I have also been on holiday with friends and I ended up not liking most of them.

Spudmonkey

I'm planning a trip during the summer where I'm planning to travel down through the Americas. I'm doing this on my own, not least cause I'm at an age where I'd get no-one to go with me but because I think it seems like a greater adventure on my own. I'm quite a shy person so in a way I'm hoping this will make me come out of my shell a bit more when I'm forced to interact with more people. The loneliness is the only thing I'm daunted over but other than that I can't wait!

Grayson

Spanish Harlem wrote: »

Nothing worse when the "hostel loner" tries to attach himself to your group and insists on tagging along to everything. I actually had to tell one awkward goofball to fúck off last time I was on holidays with my mates.

I've traveled alone loads of times. But I have to agree with this. You will occasionally find an oddball who just latches on.
Most people I've met are lovely and friendly. And they're more than happy to invite you along when they're doing things. But the oddballs are scary.

Grayson

Spudmonkey wrote: »

I'm planning a trip during the summer where I'm planning to travel down through the Americas. I'm doing this on my own, not least cause I'm at an age where I'd get no-one to go with me but because I think it seems like a greater adventure on my own. I'm quite a shy person so in a way I'm hoping this will make me come out of my shell a bit more when I'm forced to interact with more people. The loneliness is the only thing I'm daunted over but other than that I can't wait!

It's great fun. I spent a month in bolivia by myself and made friends I still keep in contact with.

If you're in South America make sure to visit Colombia. It's the friendliest place I've ever been.

Daisies

I love going away on my own. The first time I did it, I was really apprehensive, mostly because people kept telling me I was crazy. However it was the best thing I did, I love meeting new people and wandering around cities soaking it all in.

I'm dying to go away on my own, I intend doing it next year. Too many places to see to be hanging around waiting on other people to clear their schedules.

zumbar

Spudmonkey wrote: »

I'm planning a trip during the summer where I'm planning to travel down through the Americas. I'm doing this on my own, not least cause I'm at an age where I'd get no-one to go with me but because I think it seems like a greater adventure on my own. I'm quite a shy person so in a way I'm hoping this will make me come out of my shell a bit more when I'm forced to interact with more people. The loneliness is the only thing I'm daunted over but other than that I can't wait!

Good for you. I travelled on my own for 6 months, around Asia and Australia and had a ball. One recommendation - stay in smaller hostels a little outside of town. The people staying there will tend to gang together and be friendlier than in the bigger hostels in the city centres.