August 17th – Solo Travel Club
We just had a great gathering this past Wednesday with the 4th meeting of the Solo Travel Club – this time at Heart & Crown in downtown Ottawa.
Twenty-five solo travelers came out on a Wednesday summer evening to learn about options for solo travelers, and to learn about trips, and perhaps find a new solo travel partner.
It was an interactive evening as folks shared their best ever travel experience, talked about the style of travel they enjoy most, and talked about which trip is #1 on their bucket list.
We talked about the older options of cruise lines charging 200% for solo travelers, but that more and more, companies are starting to pay attention to this growing demographic and either reducing or waiving solo supplements.
Of course, some prefer to travel solo, so we talked about how to determine whether you should travel solo, or travel with a buddy. We had fun doing a quiz or two – like this one https://frayedpassport.com/quiz-should-you-travel-solo-or-with-a-buddy/
We talked about river cruising being a good option for solo travelers, and how companies like Tauck waived the solo supplement on all category 1 of their river cruises; but also how companies like Uniworld and Scenic, as well as AMA and Avalon were offering waived solo supplements. River cruising is a great option for solo travelers.. Seehttps://www.scenic.com.au/news/2016/04/5-reasons-for-solo-river-cruising
But ocean cruises are also paying attention – with companies like Crystal having reduced solo supplements (125%) on most cruises, and will often waive solo supplements on other sailings -plus they have ambassador hosts onboard to dance with solo female and male passengers.
We also talked about companies that were friendly to solo travelers – such as Exodus and World Expeditions, who have 40% of all their travelers being solo travelers, and 60% of those are solo females. These companies offer same sex share rooms, or have reduced solo supplement for single rooms.
And, I highlighted several trips for solos (and others) to join me:
a. Lindblad Circumnavigation of Newfoundland (see below article) has 2 cabins available on a same sex share basis, as well as a solo cabin
b. Arctic Kingdom’s Northern Lights tour of September 23-26, 2016 offers reduced pricing for a 3 night getway to Nunavut
c. Rocky Mountaineer trip from Vancouver to Calgary on June 19, 2017 offers both double occupancy (same sex share possible) or solo cabins.
In addition, we discussed as a group possible trips that the solo travel club might be interested in setting up for traveling together. There seemed to be a lot of interest in South America – particularly Chile, Argentina, and Patagonia; and particularly a walking holiday. So, I’ve undertaken to do some research on this trip, and I’ve already been in touch with Pat Rochon of World Expeditions to assist me in putting together a group – perhaps for Feburary 2017. Stay tuned for more info! (This will be open to singles and doubles, of course.)
Sheila Gallant-Halloran
613-837-06999