Are you sick of reading about other people’s New Year’s resolutions yet? Well, don’t worry, I don’t believe in resolutions. But I do believe in planning out my travel for the year in January, because otherwise, it wouldn’t happen. After all, I’ve got to get the time off from work, coordinate my vacation schedule with those of my coworkers, save the money for my trips, research destinations, etc.

This year, I reviewed my travel bucket list and decided to go to the places at or near the top–the places I most want to visit. Unfortunately, that means I’ve got two very expensive destinations planned this year. Gulp. How do I plan to pay for these very expensive trips? That’s a subject best left for a future blog post. The question of today is: Where am I going?

Honolulu, Hawaii

I had to postpone this trip from 2011, so I decided to make it a priority for 2012. It will never be a cheap trip for me, since I have to fly from Vermont, but it’s much cheaper to go there any week except Christmas. (For example, airfare was almost exactly 50% of what it would have cost to fly there Christmas week.) So at the end of February, I’ll be winging my way to Waikiki. God help me, I’m not looking forward to the long flying days to and from (roughly 20 hours each way, including sitting around in airports), but I think it will be worth it. On my itinerary are things like Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach, the North Shore, the Dole Plantation, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and more. I want to sample some local beers from the Kona Brewing Company. I want to try Hawaiian specialty foods like shave ice and the Dole Whip. I want to learn a few words and phrases in Hawaiian, see how leis are made and maybe take a ukelele lesson. Will I have time for all these things? Who knows. But since Hawaii is one of the most culturally unique states in the US, I can’t wait to learn more about its history and culture in person.

The Norwegian Epic in the Port of Barcelona

The Mediterranean

In early May, I’ll be headed to Europe for a Mediterranean cruise aboard my old friend, the Norwegian Epic. Squee! I have already booked my Studio Stateroom. This is the trip I considered taking last year, but one thing held me back: I just didn’t know how I could possibly stand only having one day in Rome (can you imagine trying to see Rome in one day?) and having to choose spending time in Naples, Pompeii, or the Amalfi Coast during my one port day in Naples. Seems unfair, doesn’t it?

Well, this year, the schedule has changed enough to work for me. In addition to the Sunday-Sunday cruises that sail out of Barcelona, Spain, the Epic is now offering the opportunity to sail Wednesday-Wednesday out of Civitavecchia, Italy (near Rome). This means I can fly in early and spend a couple of days exploring Rome before my cruise, and another day after. I’ll still only have the one day in the port of Naples, so I’ve decided I’m going to have to throw Naples under the bus (or the boat, as the case may be) and go on a combination Pompeii/Amalfi Coast shore excursion during that day. And now that I’m getting the days I want in Rome, I’m okay with that. Other ports of call are Livorno, Italy (from which I can get to Florence); Nice, France (from which I could also go to Monte Carlo if I prefer); Provence (Marseilles), France; and my favorite Spanish city, Barcelona.

Would I prefer to travel slowly across Italy? Sure. But I honestly don’t have the time for that right now. And there’s no law that says I can’t go back to any of these places if I find I like them so much I’d like to experience them on a deeper level later on.

Mountains around Las Vegas

Las Vegas

I’ll be making my annual sojourn to my favorite city during Labor Day week in the fall, same as always. I’ve already started collecting a list of “new things” to do while I’m there. But I really, really have got to make it a priority this year to get out and see Red Rock Canyon or Valley of Fire—or maybe even take a couple of days to visit the Grand Canyon, which I’ve only seen via helicopter, never on foot. I’ll also be hosting the 2^nd Annual Vegas Solo Meetup that week, if anyone is thinking they’d like to come. During the summer, I’ll post details about that meetup at The Vegas Solo.

Road Trips and Miscellaneous Travel Daydreaming

Those are the major trips I’m taking in 2012, and they are plenty expensive enough that from a practical standpoint, I should stop there. But. . .but. . .but I can’t. Because I’m also considering a Thanksgiving weekend trip (if I can identify a place that’s inexpensive at that time!), a possible weekend in New York City (if I can get cheap airfare), and 2-3 weekend road trips as well. I don’t know if I can squeeze it all in, but I’d sure like to.

So in 2012, you’ll have those trips dominating the pages of this blog–along with my backlog of material I still haven’t written about my trips to San Diego and Orlando. I’m also reviewing my old journals for stories of people I’ve met from my travels. I have some I’d love to share, as soon as I can figure out how to write them up so that they’re as meaningful for you as they were to me. As always, I’ll try to insert some posts that address various aspects of solo travel as much as possible. If you have topics you’d be interested in reading more about here at SoloFriendly, please shoot me an email at gray[at]solofriendly[dot]com.

How about you? Do you know where you’re going in 2012 yet? What are your travel plans for the new year? I love living vicariously through others’ travels, so please share your own travel excitement for the year!

2012 Travel Sneak Peek is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

For the past 3 months, my friends and family, coworkers, people I know on Facebook and Twitter and total strangers on the street have been asking me “Where are you traveling this year, Gray?” and “What’s your next trip?” I’ve been playing it coy, building suspense, saying “it’s a secret.” Truth is, until last week, I had no idea where I was going.

As I wrote earlier this year, after the revolution in Egypt, I was experiencing some regret about not focusing on my travel priorities. In the past decade, I’ve traveled to destinations that were lower on my priority list because they were often easier and cheaper to get to.  This year, I decided to refocus on the places I most want to visit before I die. At the same time, I had some limitations because of my job, where we are understaffed and quite busy, and I have to coordinate vacation time so we’re not left shorthanded at a critical time. Also I’m not made of money, so there are budget considerations. What have I decided on?

Puerta del Sol, Madrid

Spring in Spain

First up is a trip to Spain in late May/early June. I wanted to go back to Europe again this year, but after experiencing how bone-chillingly cold it can be in the late fall, wanted to do it during a warmer time of year. I also wanted to avoid peak tourist season during the summer. So it had to be spring.

My first choice for this trip was Italy (my #1 destination following Egypt). But within a week of asking for the time off, airfares had climbed to ridiculously high levels, and it would have cost me between $1500-1800 to fly to Italy from Burlington. As I sought itinerary advice from Italy experts Jessica Spiegel and Robin Locker Lacey, even Robin advised me to wait; the price was too high.

Unfortunately, the prices were high everywhere else on my Europe list, too.  I checked airfare every single day to multiple cities, promising myself that as soon as one of them dropped below $800, I’d jump on it–no matter where it was. Last Friday, it happened. Round trip flights between Burlington and Madrid, Spain fell below $800.

The cynic in me was immediately suspicious. What’s wrong with Madrid? I thought. Surely there had to be a reason flights there were so much lower. Indeed, I quickly learned that airline workers in Spain had voted to strike for a number of days between April and September of this year. They kindly posted their strike dates online, though, and none of them coincided with my trip. So I booked it. (Now it appears there may not be a strike after all.) As a happy coincidence, Spain was #2 on my Europe hit list after Italy, so I’m very pleased to be going there.  Madrid (and Toledo and possibly Barcelona), here I come!

Unfortunately, because of the Europe trip, I had to cancel my plans to attend TBEX (the travel bloggers’ conference) this year in Vancouver. I just couldn’t manage two trips back-to-back like that. I will miss seeing all my travel blogger friends (and meeting new ones). I’ll probably be reading #TBEX tweets on Twitter obsessively and crying in my beer every night during the conference with regret that I didn’t go. But I’m going to try like hell to meet up with travel bloggers everywhere I go this year to make up for it. Anyone want to come visit me in Vermont?

Mirage Pool

Summer and Early Fall

After this, I plan to enjoy my favorite season in Vermont, summer, though I may take some weekend getaways during that time.  In September, I’m headed back to Las Vegas. Now that I have a Las Vegas website, I can’t even consider skipping a year of going there. Vegas changes very quickly, and I need to stay on top of those changes. And to be honest, though I had fun in Vegas at Christmas, I prefer to go during pool season. To mix things up a bit, I’m hoping to split my week between Vegas and San Diego, another US city that’s high on my list.

Beach at Disney's Boardwalk

Late Fall

In November, I’m headed to Disney World’s Food & Wine Festival. I blame this trip on my friend AJ at the Disney Food Blog, whose posts about the Festival last year had me salivating every single day. I plan to stay at least four nights at either the Swan or Dolphin hotel on Disney’s Boardwalk because as it so happens, last fall I won four nights at a Westin hotel in North America or the Caribbean in the Travel and Be Well with Westin Sweepstakes, which promoted the idea that Americans need to take more of their vacation time every year (a philosophy I wholeheartedly embrace in theory, though it’s sometimes hard to put into practice).

Right now, the plan is to take one day to visit Universal’s new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park and spend the rest of the time eating and drinking my way around Epcot, sampling treats from different cultures around the world. I know, it’s not as cool as eating your way around the real world, but until I’m prepared to quit my job, eating my way around the real world is going to have to wait. I figure this is the next best thing. That said, I’d skip it if something more intriguing (in either North America or the Caribbean) came along between now and then. I’m fickle that way.

Sunset at Waikiki

Holidays

Finally, if I get the week off between Christmas and New Year’s as holiday time as I have for the past few years, I will probably take the opportunity to go to Honolulu.  I know that’s a horribly expensive time to go, but it’s also a great time to get out of Vermont and go somewhere tropical and warm. Then again, I might just go to Egypt after all.

So there you have it, my 2011 travel plans in a nutshell. Of course, as I mentioned recently, the best way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans. We’ll see at the end of the year if everything–or anything–worked out the way I intended. Do you have suggestions of things I shouldn’t miss during any of these trips? I’m open to them. Please share in the comments below.

Photo credit: Puerta del Sol by Tomas Fano and Sunset at Waikiki by hitachiota.

2011: Where Am I Going? is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

Here’s what happened:  I was out having cocktails with Diana Edelman and Abby Tegnelia last night when I received the robocall from Jetblue about my flight cancellation. I immediately tried calling to rebook, but kept getting the message that basically said “We have an extremely high call volume, please try again later or go to our website.”  Abby tried helping me rebook on the website via her Blackberry, but there was no obvious link for rebooking the canceled flight.  I was able to book another night at Treasure Island at a casino rate (thank you, TI marketing!) so I re-checked in there and got on my computer in the room.  Still, no obiovus link to rebook my canceled flight. In desperation, I tried booking a new flight. The first available flight it showed was MONDAY, six days after my canceled flight.

I texted my friend Chiro, who was also in Vegas with his wife Melinda during the holidays. Their flight had been canceled the previous night, so they were still in Vegas, but had rebooked on a flight out today (on Continental).  They were driving up the Strip, and he offered to take me to the airport so I could talk to a live person to see if they could get me on a flight earlier than Monday.  Thank God he suggested this, because there was no line at the Jetblue counter at 11pm and  the agent there was able to get me on a flight Saturday.  Still not great, but better than Monday.

I’m very disappointed with the way Jetblue has handled the aftermath of this storm.  I think everyone would agree that Jetblue is not responsible for the weather. How it handles the aftermath of a storm–including rescheduling canceled flights and customer service–is another matter.  The first place where it fell down on the job is with the inability for people to reach a live human being by phone to reschedule a flight.  “We have an extremely high call volume, please call back later” is unacceptable. People should be allowed to join a queue on hold until they get through to a live human being.  By forcing people to keep calling back, there’s no order and it’s a complete crapshoot as to whether someone will get through or not–EVER.

Step two:  If your flight is canceled, there should be a link to click to easily rebook a flight at the website, but “easily” wasn’t an option either. In desperation, I booked an entirely new flight (for $600+ one way!).  At the Jetblue website, they have issued a notice telling people NOT to go to the airport to rebook a flight.  In reality, though, that was the only way I got any kind of customer service (and a flight earlier than Monday).

Meanwhile, I’m stuck in Las Vegas through New Year’s Eve, when hotel prices are outrageously high.  The cheapest thing I could find (that I’d be willing to stay at) was Imperial Palace for $332 for 3 nights (a screaming deal by Vegas Strip standards, when you consider it includes New Year’s Eve). Is Jetblue going to reimburse me for the next 3 days of food and hotel expenses I incur here?  I doubt it.  I’m just glad I had this week off from work, so I don’t have to explain to an employer why I’m missing an additional few days.  Imagine all the people who are missing work–or who are trying to book tickets for more than one person on a future flight.

You’d think an airline would have a better plan in place for how to deal with this sort of thing. My situation could have been worse, certainly. I could have been Jason Cochran, who was stuck at JFK for 32 hours, thanks to Virgin Atlantic.`

Stuck in Vegas is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

Are you single?  What do you do for the holidays?  This has been a dilemma for me my entire adult life. I’d say 80% of the time, I’m pretty content being single, but there’s something about the holidays that just makes me feel like the odd woman out in a game of musical chairs.  Generally, my family has a big “family Christmas” gathering around Thanksgiving, so we all get to see each other, but then spend Christmas in our own homes.  When my cat was alive, that was fine with me.  She was my furry “kid”, and I wanted to spend the holiday with my kid.  After she passed away in 2006, I’ve been a bit at loose ends. I spent two Christmases with my ex-boyfriend’s family. They were lovely people, but the emphasis that was placed on expensive gift-giving at a time when I was having financial problems was stressful for me.

The following year, I discovered the joy of traveling during the week between Christmas and New Year’s (when my office is closed anyway).  I went to New Orleans that year and loved it.  I got to explore a city I’ve always wanted to visit, which kept my mind off the fact that it was the Christmas season.  Somehow, I feel less alone when I travel than I do if I’m at home for the holidays.

Las Vegas

So this year, I’m doing something I’ve wanted to do for the past 10 years:  Spending Christmas in Las Vegas.  Las Vegas doesn’t shut down for Christmas, which makes it a great place for people to go who want to “opt out” of the traditional holiday.   I’m hoping to do some live tweeting and blogging from Las Vegas while I’m there.   If, between opening presents, visiting family, and stuffing yourselves silly with Christmas ham and cookies, you would like to follow along on my Vegas trip, you can follow my tweets at Twitter.com/VegasSolo and look for blog posts at my Vegas blog, The Vegas Solo.

What do you think about singles opting out of a traditional Christmas and traveling for the holidays?  Have you done it?  Would you?

How I’m Spending My Christmas is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

At a beer festival at Lake Las Vegas

I never tire of the reaction I receive when I tell people I live in Las Vegas:

“Really?”

“People live there?”

“What do you do there?”

In response to those questions, I answer as follows:

“I live at the top of the Stratosphere, of course.”

Seriously though, if you want to know where to find the two million people who live in Las Vegas, look no further than our local dog parks, movie theatres, schools, grocery stores and libraries. We live and work just like anyone else. We just do those things in an eclectic, bizarre and interesting city that people assume is solely a vacation destination.

Hiking at Lake Mead

If you’re wondering what we do for fun when we want to avoid the crowds, traffic and overpriced drinks on the Strip, that’s a different answer all together.

So where to find us? Look no further than the following places:

Locals casinos – There are a smattering of casinos around Las Vegas that are far off the Strip but still serve as all-inclusive resorts. The Station Casinos family includes nearly a dozen casino hotels, and three in particular—Green Valley Ranch, Red Rock and Aliante—are jokingly known as “locals casinos.” They have oversized casinos, but they’re also outfitted with pools, movie theatres and concert venues. I’ll let you in on a little secret: For Thanksgiving and Christmas, many of us hit up the buffets at the locals casinos. It’s cheaper, more convenient and offers more variety than anything we’d make at home.

First Friday – On the first Friday of every month, local artists converge in downtown Las Vegas to sell their goods, perform in on-the-spot acts and open their art-related stores during the evening hours for the rest of the community to enjoy. This is essentially a monthly block party that ties together local shops, boutiques, galleries and restaurants that fly below the mainstream radar. A free trolley runs between all of the participating areas of downtown so that we can park somewhere simple, then enjoy our local arts scene without worrying about traffic.

Kegs at The Yardhouse

Town Center – This open air plaza is just a couple miles south of the Strip and is very accessible to visitors, but most of the people you find here are locals. Sure, we hit up the shops, but what we like most are the open children’s play area, movie theatre and restaurants. The Yardhouse and its incredible selection of beers on tap is always busy, and the Blue Martini is a popular locals lounge.

Red Rock – We like to encourage visitors who have rented a car to spend a day exploring Red Rock Canyon, but by and large the majority of people there are locals. Las Vegas is ideal for outdoor activities, and hikers and climbers frequently spend time at Red Rock. On weekend mornings, cyclists and runners flock to Red Rock to work out as the sun comes up. That’s when you see the most wildlife.

Hiking at Red Rock Canyon

Local Businesses – We have just about anything that any big city has; in fact, the joke is that the only thing we don’t have is an IKEA. But in addition to the mainstream stores, there are several local businesses in Las Vegas, and we like to support our neighbors by patronizing them. There are a handful of fabulous pizza places to chow down at, and I recently discovered an awesome fro-yo shop that I hope sticks around. Locals also own music stores, comic stores, bars, used bookstores and a variety of other businesses. There are a couple weekly magazines in town that do a great job of highlighting these businesses, and many locals make an effort to go out of their way to check them out.

JoAnna Haugen is the Las Vegas travel guide writer for WhyGo Las Vegas, which provides information on airfare, hotels and attractions in Sin City. She also writes a personal travel blog called Kaleidoscopic Wandering.

Photos courtesy of JoAnna Haugen.

Las Vegas Vacations

Hide and Seek: Finding Las Vegas Locals is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

I’m having a website party, a “coming out party” of sorts, and you’re invited.  Last fall, a seed of an idea germinated in my head that it might be a good idea to separate out my SoloFriendly Las Vegas content from my blog and house it on its own separate website.  I’ve been nipping away at this project since Christmas time and after much blood, sweat and tears, I am finally ready to give birth to it.  So without further ado, I would like to formally invite you to join me over at The Vegas Solo, a resource to help travelers plan their first solo trip to Las Vegas.

What content will you find there? Most of what you found at my Vegas pages before, and a whole lot more, including tips on planning your solo trip to Vegas, when to go, what it’s like to be alone in Las Vegas, safety tips, tips on solo dining, how to get around, and what to do while you’re there. 

What won’t you find there? A blog.  I only have time to maintain one blog, and that’s SoloFriendly.  So VegasSolo.com is intended to be a resource site only.  Obviously, I’ll update it as necessary with new information, but I’ll still be blogging about my Vegas trips over here on SoloFriendly. 

What else won’t you find there? Comprehensive listings of every hotel, restaurant, show, attraction, car rental company, etc. in Las Vegas.  I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, and there are plenty of other sites out there with comprehensive listings.  My website is more of a “how to” and general planner that discusses what being alone on vacation in Las Vegas is like–along with some reviews of places I have personal experience with.  Eventually, you may be able to book hotels, shows, rental cars, etc. at the site, but we’re not there yet.

I’d like to send a shout-out to East Coast Gambler, who graciously served as my beta-tester, and was the first to confirm my suspicions that my original WordPress theme (which had a black background with white text) was not going to be eye-friendly for visitors.  I have fixed that with a new theme that is basic and simple, but hopefully easier to read and more pleasing to the eye.  I also want to thank JoAnna Haugen for providing me with some additional feedback on content.

I would love your feedback on the new site! If you have a question about solo travel to Las Vegas that I haven’t yet answered over there, please let me know what it is.  If you have some suggestions about how to add to or improve the site, I’m open to those as well.  Any website is a work-in-progress, and this one is no different.  So don’t be shy. I’ll take any idea under advisement.

In the words of Ferris Bueller: “Why are you still here?”  Go check it out!

Introducing: The Vegas Solo is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

Pete Contino

Do you like going out to hear live music when you travel?  I do.  I rarely go out for live music at home, because I have to get up pretty early for work and our local music venues tend to target a much younger demographic (it’s a college town). So going out to hear live music is a treat for me, and a priority when I travel.   Several Las Vegas resorts have lounges featuring live bands.  Most are cover bands, and most will never be more than that.   The Fontana Lounge at the Bellagio and Margaritaville at the Flamingo are just two of the better venues.  But I like the blues.  What’s a blues lover to do when she wants to hear live music in Vegas?   You could go to the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, or the newly-opened BB King’s Blues Club at the Mirage.  But during my September trip, I headed off the Strip for a change to Brendan’s Irish Pub at the Orleans to catch the Pete Contino Band.

Brendan’s Irish Pub lends itself to the solo traveler fairly well.  It has friendly bartenders and a very long bar (although there were fewer stools than there should have been–quite a bit of real estate in front of the bar is wasted on trash receptacles). There is a wall of television sets for the solo who wants to catch the big game, live music for those of us who are music fans, a pool table, and plenty of good drinks.  It’s a lovely pub, with lots of dark wood, a huge mirror with stained glass above it, and old-fashioned lamps hanging from the ceiling.  It seemed to be trying to recall a past era.  The Pub has two drawbacks:

• No bathroom.  You have to go out to the casino and use the closest bathroom out there.  It’s not far away, but it does present a logistical difficulty for the solo traveler.  I had to keep letting the bartender know where I was going and that I would be back, and hope that no one took my seat while I was gone.
• Their food is not made in the Pub.  It’s made over at Fuddruckers (around the corner) and is brought to the Pub by a runner. I saw that in New Orleans once, too, and I just think it’s the strangest practice–ordering takeout from one establishment to eat in another.

These drawbacks fade into the woodwork once the Pete Contino Band takes the stage.   (If the name Contino sounds familiar, it’s because his dad, Dick Contino, was a famous accordionist.) Pete also plays the accordion, which gives his particular brand of blues a cajun or zydeco spin.  It was like being back in New Orleans again.   He is backed by some very talented musicisns–one of whom played slide guitar and harmonica simultaneously. They played some covers, but also some of Pete’s orginal songs.  I was in music nirvana.

I was perplexed by the fact that the Pub was only about a quarter full.  It was a holiday weekend, the Orleans casino was packed.  Couldn’t people hear the great tunes coming out of the Pub?  But then, the night was young.  I stayed until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any more, but left before midnight, which is  considered “early” by Vegas standards.  I was still on East Coast time.  I left happy, though.  I got my fix of good blues music.  I think I might just have to make Brendan’s a regular stop on all my future trips to Vegas.

A Solo Night at Brendan’s Irish Pub is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

Treasure Island has fast become one of my favorite hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.  The quality for price ratio is pretty high, in my opinion. The rooms are very nice, the casino has pretty much everything you’d want a casino to have including more than one video poker bar, the location is outstanding, and it has a popular show (Mystere) on-site. But one of its better features is the sheer number and variety of dining options for a smaller hotel.  (“Small” being relative in Vegas, of course, but this is no MGM Grand or Caesars Palace. You can easily walk the perimeter without getting blisters.)

I haven’t said much about TI’s dining options yet, and as my Vegas trip is rapidly receding in my memory, I thought I’d roll my thoughts on them all into one blog post.

Fine Dining

If you’re looking for a high-end dining experience and cost is no object, TI has three choices for you:  Khotan, the Steakhouse, and Isla Mexican Kitchen.  The only one I actually tried was Isla, which I already reviewed here.  However, I did eyeball Khotan and the Steakhouse and can report that both have sizeable bars for solo diners looking to make friends while they dine.

Casual Dining

My budget kept me hovering around the casual eateries here.  Again, there are several choices. The only two I did not try were Canter’s Deli (the sandwiches looked a little overpriced to me) and Pho Vietnamese, which is located at the back of the coffee shop.  Here’s where I did eat:

This place has really gone downhill

Kahunaville

There is a fine line between love and hate, and Kahunaville and I crossed it during this trip.  I have had dinner there a couple of times on previous trips and had above-average experiences.  I found the food and customer service to be great and the atmosphere fun.  This trip, though, I had one disappointment after another.  My room at TI came with a coupon for a $7.99 breakfast at Kahunaville which I took advantage of one morning.  It sounded like a great deal: 3 eggs any style with sausage, ham or bacon, breakfast potato and toast.  I was disappointed that the terrace wasn’t open, as I’d hoped to dine overlooking the pool area.  But these things happen.  The food, however, was very mediocre and the almost undrinkable $2.95 coffee came in a paper cup.  Worse, they had “lei girls” going table to table selling leis, supposedly for cancer research.  Whether or not that was true, I do not like being solicited while I’m trying to enjoy a meal. That is just in poor taste.

Speaking of poor taste, I decided to stop by for the flair bartender action and a late-night dessert one night. I grabbed the last open seat at the bar.  I sat there for easily 15 minutes and none of the bartenders acknowledged my presence.  Meanwhile, three young drunk couples were dancing to piped-in music and acting like complete asses (one girl’s idea of “dancing” was to pretend to give her partner a blow job on the dance floor).  Nobody on staff seemed to notice what was going on, let alone try to put an end to it.  What the hell happened to this place???  Look, I realize people like to cut loose in Vegas, but this was just out of control and tasteless. I got up and left.   I will not be back.

The Coffee Shop

24-hour cafes are a godsend when you’re starving at midnight.  I was seated at a two-top table (of which there are plenty) with a view of the casino.  I wish they hadn’t seated me next to a large group, which made me feel a bit conspicuous as a solo diner.  But I was too tired to care much.  While the late-night menu is limited, I’m sure everyone could find something to eat off it.  There are breakfasts at around $11-12, sandwiches, salads, even a steak and shrimp dinner for around $25.  I got the BLT for $10 which came with half a platter of really delicious skinny fries.  The tomatoes and lettuce on the sandwich were fresh, the bacon plentiful, and the price was good for the amount of food. Service, however, was rather slow.  I don’t recommend eating here when you’re in a hurry.

Parfait at TI Buffet

TI Buffet

I only had breakfast here one day, and it was a revelation to me.  The space this restaurant occupies is really pretty. I wasn’t expecting anything like that.  It’s got a very contemporary decor, a bit nicer than your average buffet, with dark wood tables, lots of red and orange and large overhead lamps.  I can’t recall if there were any other solo diners in there at the time, but I had a table in a cozy nook, so I didn’t feel out of place at all.  Service was very efficient and the food was above average, with plenty of variety.  (Take that, Flamingo buffet.)  The highlight of the meal was a yogurt parfait with granola and diced fruit. As the Spanish say, beuno y sano (good and healthy). I would happily eat here again, solo or otherwise.

Francesco’s

I had a nice lunch at Francesco’s, but there’s no point in reviewing it, since it has since closed.  I hope my waitress found a new gig. She was cool.  RIP, Francesco’s.

Other Dining Options

Room Service

I know a lot of solo travelers like to rely on room service so they don’t have to face dining out in public alone.  I tend to avoid it, because I’d rather be around other people when I dine.  Also, the prices tend to be ridiculously high.  TI is no different.  I ordered some late night chicken tenders one night. Cost: $18 plus a $5 room service charge (before tip!).  Good grief.  The tenders were very good and came with two delicious dipping sauces, but come on–$23 for chicken tenders?  Vegas needs to get over itself with its inflated prices. On the bright side, service was quick; the food was delivered in 15 minutes, hot.  If you don’t mind paying for quick service and you’re too tired to get dressed and leave your room (which I was), it’s an option.

Starbucks

I tend to avoid Starbucks at home in favor of locally-owned coffee shops, but I have to say, this place became my go-to stop for inexpensive eats and drinks.  There were times when I just couldn’t get what I wanted elsewhere, either because restaurants had closed, or nothing else was inexpensive.  Starbucks saved the day every time.  I knew I could get a good iced coffee here.  I had coffee and an apple danish for breakfast one day for $6.  One night, I had a coffee and a piece of bundt cake for $5.  By Vegas standards, those are screaming deals.

Conclusion

As you can see, TI has a variety of dining options.  I tended to lean toward the cheaper ones on this trip, but look forward to trying Khotan and the Steakhouse next time. If it’s important to you to have several dining options on-site so you don’t have to leave your hotel at night, TI fits the bill.  With so many choices, you’re bound to find something that is comfortable for you.

Dining Solo at Treasure Island is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

Sometimes, I hear someone say that they tried solo travel once and hated it.  It’s usually not because of something horrific like getting mugged and beaten and left in an alley.  No, the reason is usually that they found that it just wasn’t as much fun without anyone to share experiences with.  In other words, they were lonely.  So after that one lonely trip, they decided never to travel alone again–Ever.  Even if that means never traveling again.

I’m usually flabbergasted by such an extreme reaction. You wouldn’t let one sunburn keep you from ever going out in the sun again, would you?  So why would you let one lonely experience keep you from trying solo travel again? Look, even those of us who extol the virtues of solo travel get lonely sometimes.  We just don’t let it stop us from traveling alone.

Maybe solo travel is easier for me because I’m an introvert.  I need some alone time every day to recharge my batteries and be happy. But there are times when I wish I had a travel companion with me.  Like that time in Vegas when I got longhauled and then dumped outside the tour lobby of the Flamingo late at night by my taxi driver, or the time in New Orleans when I was driven out of a bar I was enjoying because this creepy drunk guy kept hitting on me.  What I wouldn’t give for a travel companion–any travel companion–at times like those.  But sometimes, it’s that simple emotional response that what I’m doing just isn’t as much fun alone.

On my last trip to Vegas, I was really looking forward to visiting the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio to grab a drink, enjoy the view of the Strip at sunset, and take some photos.  I’d read so much online about how much fun other people have had there.  The Lounge wasn’t open when I arrived.  I was told I could wait at the bar inside the Voodoo Steakhouse until the Lounge was open at 7pm.  Since that was only about 10 minutes away, I did that. Unfortunately, it was date night at the Voodoo Steakhouse; the bar had only a few seats and was packed with couples. The bartender was bustling around filling drink orders for waitresses and never so much as glanced in my direction, let alone asked me if I wanted a drink.  Everyone at the bar was engaged in private conversations, so I stood there for the longest 10 minutes of my life feeling very awkward with no one to talk to and no drink in my hand.

When the Lounge finally opened, I went upstairs. No one else came upstairs, so it was just me and the staff.  It was too  windy to go outside, and I couldn’t get a clear photo of the view through the windows.  So I couldn’t focus on my photography until more people showed up.  Had I been traveling with a companion, we’d have ordered drinks and stayed in the lounge chatting with each other until other people started trickling in.  As it was, I felt really uncomfortable as the only customer in the place.  I could have gotten a drink, grabbed a table and waited for more people to show up, but how long would that be?  What would I do while I waited? Instead, I left.  Did I get discouraged by this experience, give up for the night, and go back to my hotel room?  No, I just went to another hotel and listened to a great live blues band all night and enjoyed it very much.

A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post on strategies I employ to keep from getting lonely on the road, called The Not-So-Lonely Solo Traveler.  As you can see from the above story, these strategies are not foolproof.  Solo travel is just like everything else in life:  Things don’t always go as planned, and sometimes, being alone sucks.  Occasional disappointment is part of the solo travel experience, and anyone who is considering going it alone needs to get used to being uncomfortable and lonely sometimes.  But the more you do it, the better you get at it.  The more resilient you become to those moments of disappointment.

The good thing about being lonely is that it motivates us to reach out to others.  It pushes us out of our comfort zone.  When we’re in our comfort zone, we tend not to grow at all.  Seen from that perspective, loneliness is a great growth experience.  I’ve become far more extroverted since I started traveling alone.  I try to strike up conversations with strangers instead of waiting for them to talk to me.  If I find myself in an uncomfortable situation, I just move on.  And frankly, since there are way more positives than negatives to solo travel, I’m willing to put up with the occasional pang of loneliness or awkward moment.  If nothing else, it makes me appreciate even more the people in my life back home and the time we spend together.  Even if I don’t want to travel with them.

Interested in long-term solo travel, but not sure where to start? You can now buy The Art of Solo Travel: A Girl’s Guide by Stephanie Lee, which contains all the basic information you need to get started on your long-term solo journey. Read my review of the book here.

Loneliness and the Solo Traveler is a post from: SoloFriendly.com

BLT Burger at the Mirage isn’t your typical burger joint. First, it’s owned by Chef Laurent Tourondel, one of those celebrity chefs Las Vegas is so famous for.  He owns a series of New York City restaurants under the BLT moniker  (BLT Steak, BLT Fish, and BLT Prime) in addition to the BLT Burger restaurants.  So it’s kind of an upscale interpretation of the classic burger restaurant.  Yet, it’s still a casual dining establishment, which I appreciate.  It’s a very attractive space with a sleek, contemporary design, heavy on the color red.

I’ll admit, I was predisposed not to like this place, because it occupies the former space of the Mirage’s White Tiger Habitat, which I loved.  For me, it was a tradition on every trip to Vegas to visit the habitat and watch the white tigers splash around in their pool and pace the fake rocks.  I really hate it when Vegas hotels get rid of things I loved and replace them with new things that are “hip” and designed to draw in the young, southern California crowd.  But BLT Burger came recommended to me, so I gave it a chance.

Back of bar, facing open kitchen

Between the open kitchen, two huge murals on opposite walls, plenty of flat-screen TVs, and the large glass windows looking out onto the walkway into the Mirage, there is plenty for the solo diner to look at here while waiting for food to arrive.  I also really enjoyed the rock music playing in the background.  Overall, it was a great solo dining experience with not an uncomfortable moment in sight.

The restaurant was pretty busy when I arrived at lunchtime, but there were lots of open seats at the very long bar, so I sat there.  My server/bartender was Fred, who was cute as a button.  He was very attentive, and I didn’t have to wait long for anything. In fact, I was surprised by how quickly my food was delivered. . .until I remembered that the kitchen was right in front of me, so it didn’t have to travel far.

The menu has some really interesting choices on it, like a Lamb Tandoori burger, Veggie Falafel, a Salmon burger, Kobe beef, and the Asian “Banh Mi,” a pork and shrimp burger.  You can also customize your burger of choice with whatever toppings you want, from choice of cheese to toppings like a fried egg, homemade chili, bbq onion, and portobello mushroom, among other things. Given that, you might think I would have ordered one of these unique creations, but you’d be wrong.  I was pretty boring that day.  I ordered the #2 combo–a classic burger with fries and a shake.  I guess I’m just a traditional girl after all.

The All Nighter

I upgraded the included milkshake to a spiked milkshake, “The All Nighter.”  The drink was without a doubt the best part of the meal.  It was the best milkshake I’ve ever had.  (I’m thinking that probably had something to do with the Kahlua and Baileys in it.) It also had espresso and was made with my favorite flavor of ice cream–coffee–and was piled high with whipped cream.  Very tasty.  If you’re lactose intolerant, or milkshakes just aren’t your thing, the bar here also has a large selection of beers on tap and a smaller selection of wines by the glass.

Classic Burger and Sweet Potato Fries

The classic burger is made with 7 ounces of Black Angus beef.  By default they cook it medium, but I requested medium rare.  My choice of cheese was Vermont cheddar (naturally).  It wasn’t as good as the Cheeseburger in Paradise at Margaritaville, but it was good.  Unfortunately, they loaded it up with so much shredded lettuce, it was a little messy to eat.  That sort of thing bothers me.  I don’t like making a mess when I eat.  The plate came with a pickle on the side that was more like a cucumber than a pickle (not as salty), and I really liked that.

I also substituted sweet potato fries instead of regular fries.  They were among the best I’ve had outside the state of Vermont.  (I know I’m biased, but I still believe no one makes them as well as we do here in Vermont.)  The only thing these fries were lacking was a good, honey mustard dipping sauce. Please take that under advisement, BLT Burger.  A sweet potato fry without dipping sauce is like a day without sunshine.

All in all, it was a very satisfying meal, and I was glad I tried the place. The total bill (before tip) came to $27.  Yes, that is very expensive for a burger and fries (even allowing that the spiked milkshake drove up the price). That kind of thing wouldn’t fly in Vermont, but those are typical Vegas prices. If you’re not on a tight budget, I definitely recommend this restaurant to solo travelers to Vegas. I’ll be back–to try one of those more creative burger concoctions.

Restaurant Review: BLT Burger at The Mirage is a post from: SoloFriendly.com