Sunflower

Summer is my favorite season in Vermont. People plunk themselves down after work at umbrella tables at sidewalk cafes or find a spot near the lake until long after the sun sets. They line up at creemee stands, play frisbee in the park with their dogs, and bundle their kids into the car to go to see drive-in movies, marveling that the experience still exists.  Every weekend seems to bring a new parade or event or festival (jazz! beer! get it all here!), as we try to cram a year’s worth of living into just a few short months.  We walk and hike and bike and swim and hate the sweat of it and love the sweat of it, because it reminds us it isn’t winter.  We relish the smell of fresh cut grass wafting in through open windows, the tangy, charred smell of meat grilling in the neighbor’s yard, and the greasy sweetness of fried dough at the county fair.  We sit on porches and in front of screened windows at night, listening to frogs and crickets and passing cars and inhaling the cool, green, earthy air. If only it were like this all year long.

Dog at Perkins Pier

Kayak season!

Sailboat on Lake Champlain

Breakdancer on Church Street

Burlington Lighthouse

Swings

Flowers grow wild everywhere

Last week I was playing at the Mohegan Sun (yes, expect some blog posts about that shortly) instead of pulling together my usual column of travel media that caught my attention during the week. I’m not going to feel too guilty about that, because everyone needs a break once in awhile.  But I’m back this week, and I have some really interesting articles to share. Before I get into that, I want to take a moment to do a Snoopy dance over the fact that my new Solo Travel to Las Vegas website was just featured in Be A Travel Bee’s weekly Travel Bites feature. That was a little thrill for me. Thanks, Joya!

And now this week’s Shiny Travel Objects:

Meagan Kelly tackles body image issues that arise when traveling in other cultures in Body Image and Culture: My Watermelon Butt at Matador Abroad. Great. So now we get to not only be paranoid about how people in our own culture perceive our bodies, we have to worry about what people in other cultures think about them when we travel, too.  Oh, the self-consciousness.

Ellen Perlman of Boldly Go Solo writes about one of the greatest joys–and sorrows–of solo travel in Making good friends while traveling solo only to have to figure out how to say goodbye. Obviously, this is not a phenomenon that is unique to travel, but to life itself, so it bears some thought, because we all have to go through this at one time or another (usually many times).

Twenty-Something Travel features a great piece by guest poster Abby Tegnelia about a question facing long-term travelers:  How do you know when it’s time to go home?  Is it when you realize you don’t know your friends all that well any more, as your lives have gone on separately?  Is it when you decide you want to settle down?  Is it when you run out of money?  Check it out, it’s called Time to Go?

Timing is everything.  I happened across this article by Suzy Guese called Mount Vesuvius Wishes You Were Here just as I was deciding that during my trip to Europe in the fall, I’d like to spend a few nights in the Naples/Sorrento area so I can easily do day trips to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii.  So I loved reading about Suzy’s experience there. I have to agree, it will probably feel a little freaky wandering in the shadow of a volcano, especially with the evidence of the destruction it can wreak right in front of you. But that’s no reason not to go, right?

Brooke Schoenman and I discovered a funny connection this week.  Just as she was writing a guest post for Nomadic Matt on 8 Safety Tips for Solo Female Travelers, I was posting about all of the safety tips for solo female travelers  that I don’t follow.  Obviously, many factors come into play as to whether you need to employ certain safety strategies or not, so in the interest of thorough research, I think you should check out both sides of this coin and decide for yourself what you need to do to be safe when you travel solo, ladies.

The word most frequently used to describe the barrio of La Perla  (“The Pearl”) in Old San Juan is “slum”, though oftentimes it is tempered with the backhanded compliment “the prettiest slum in the world”.  It is beautiful in its own way.  It has an enviable view of the ocean and of the forts of Old San Juan, as well as direct access to the lovely Viejo San Juan Cemetery and a beach where residents go surfing.  The houses, while rundown, are colorful and picturesque, stacked as they are in tiers along the side of the cliff on the outside of the city’s wall.  This location–outside the city’s wall–is telling.

One of the first things you learn when you start researching a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, is to avoid La Perla.  It is known as a hotbed of crime, murders, and drug dealing.  Everyone warns you about it, both online and offline.  I’m sure half of those delivering the warning don’t know a thing about it, they’re just repeating what they’ve been told.

It didn’t take much for me to heed the warnings. As a solo female traveler, I am very aware of my own vulnerabilities when traveling to a new place.  I have no desire to put myself in unnecessary danger.  Especially when the locals tell you that the neighborhood is controlled by the drug dealers and that even the police don’t go there.  Yet, I went as close as I could.  I snuck as many glimpses of it as I could from the walls of El Morro and San Cristobal.  I walked up to the entrance, without actually stepping foot within its boundaries. It fascinated me.  What is it about wanting to go where common sense tells you not to?

Entrance to La Perla

Perhaps it was the paradox of the beauty of the area known as a “slum” that fascinated me.  Last year, Calle 13 produced a video for their song “La Perla” that I found very appealing.  I don’t know enough Spanish to know what the lyrics say, but it seemed to me they were trying to point out the “other” La Perla, the one most people don’t talk about when they warn you not to go there.  The one made up of everyday average people eking out an existence and just trying to live their lives.  How do those people feel, knowing the reputation their neighborhood has? How does  a child overcome the stigma of having grown up in La Perla?

La Perla and Old San Juan Cemetery

I know what 99.9% of all people who don’t live in La Perla think of it.  What do the people who live there think?  What are their lives like if it’s true that the drug dealers control the barrio?  What do they think of this reputation they have?  I wish I could hear their stories.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to narrow in on solo travel, because so many people in my life seemed to think it unusual or brave that I travel alone. Me?  Brave?  Ha! (The solo backpackers and round-the-world-travelers,  those are the travelers I really consider brave.)  I just wanted to travel and got sick of waiting for a traveling companion. Once I tried solo travel, I realized I really liked it.

It took the entire first year of writing this blog to find my way.  During that time, I was rebuilding my savings, so I wasn’t traveling much.  It’s challenging finding things to blog about when you’re not actually traveling, so I relied too heavily on commenting on “newsy” travel stories which drowned out my message of solo travel.  Thankfully, I feel I have found my groove–and my voice–over the past year. 

I love having a creative outlet again, but I had no idea when I started how time-consuming being a blogger would be. It’s like having a second full-time job (only it doesn’t pay as well). It’s incredibly difficult to juggle blogging with my off-line life.  I always feel as though something or other is getting short-changed and that there aren’t enough hours in the day for everything that needs to get done.  I can feel my stamina wavering at times.

So why do I keep blogging?  YOU!  I love connecting with other people who share my passion (obsession?) for travel, and most people in my everyday life don’t.  It’s such a pleasure to be part of the online travel blogging community. Travel bloggers are the friendliest people and the most generous with their time and knowledge.

But what really jazzes me is when people go out of their way to contact me to let me know that my blog inspired them to travel solo.  That is the greatest feeling in the world for me.  If there’s one thing I have hoped for from my life, it’s to make a difference in someone else’s life before I die.  I believe solo travel really does change a person for the better.  It can make us stronger and give us the skills to negotiate unfamiliar territory (literal and figurative) with greater confidence.  So it makes me happy to know that other people are giving it a try because of something they read here.  I hope it’s as positive an experience for you as it has been for me.

And I hope that all of you–solo travelers or not–get as much from my blog as I have gotten from you.  Thank you.

In this week’s collection of recommended reads, we have solo travel articles that describe making friends on the road, overcoming our fears, and appreciating solo travel when it comes our way.  The round-up is capped off with an inspiring destination post on Paris. Enjoy!

Travel Solo for a Rocky Mountain High - People who have never traveled alone are often afraid to try because they think they’ll be lonely, but new friends and acquaintances seem to come into our lives quite readily when we travel solo–as is the case in this personal story byJanice Waugh at SoloTravelerblog.com. If my stories about meeting people on the road haven’t convinced you to give solo travel a try, maybe Janice’s story will.

Solo female travelers shouldn’t let safety concerns put the world off limits – Ellen Perlman of BoldlyGoSolo.com tackles the subject of how solo female travelers sometimes allow their fears of particular places (usually based on media perceptions) prevent them from traveling to those places.  How much of our fear is real, though?

“Finding Myself” as a Mother on an Airplane - by Mona Shand at AnnArbor.com.  Mona’s first experience traveling solo with her baby leads her to some revelations about herself and her prior life as a frequent solo traveler.

Touching Air in Rio – This article put a big grin on my face from start to finish.  Just because my attempt to go parasailing last spring was thwarted, doesn’t mean I can’t live vicariously through someone else’s airborne adventure.  Jeannie’s (Jeannie Mark of NomadicChick.com) motivation to go hang gliding was to face her fear of heights.  I love the idea of taking advantage of travel to face our fears.

5 Picnic Spots in Paris -  I am starting to plan a trip to Europe for the fall, including Paris, so the timing of this article by Robin Locker at MyMelange.net could not have been better.  If you, too, are planning a solo trip to the City of Lights, why not incorporate into your days a lovely picnic in one or more of these suggested locales?  It will undoubtedly be cheaper than dining in a cafe, and you can soak up the view and the local culture at the same time.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who read my blog regularly for helping to catapult me to fame on Twitter this week when @travelpod announced that I was the week’s fastest riser among their Top 100 Travel Blogs.  I went from #96 to #85 in one week, which was fairly dramatic.  It was definitely the high point of an otherwise sucky week.  So THANK YOU.

Photo credit:  Photo of cat reading by Trinity at Creative Commons.

There were some good contenders for this week’s Recommended Reads.  Whittling it down to just five every week is going to be tough.  Here are my choices this week.  There’s a little bit of practical here, a little bit of funny, some thought-provoking and some daydream-encouraging.  Enjoy!

Going Solo to Mexico and Loving It - By Sarah Treleaven, published at the Vancouver Sun website in December 2009.  Sarah spent a week at a romantic, all-inclusive resort in Cancun. . . by herself.  And had a great time.  So there.

Damn Right, It’s a Table for One – This is a hilarious piece by Geraldine at the Everywhereist. Thanks to JoAnna Haugen for bringing it to my attention.  I read the post Geraldine is responding to, and I agree with her that the title is pretty appalling. The rest of the article is not bad–just standard suggestions to help people who are uncomfortable with the thought of dining alone.  But the title deserves some mockery, and it gets it from Geraldine.

Q&A with 20-Something Travel - Heels and Wheels interviews Stephanie Yoder of 20-Something Travel about her solo travels–in particular what it was like to move to London alone and her future solo travel plans.  Good stuff.

The Dirt on Experiential Travel – This is a marvelous post by Keith Savage of Traveling-Savage.com.  He discusses the difference between just “seeing” a place versus “experiencing” it.  Lots of food for thought here, and do be sure to read the comments section as well, as there’s a good discussion going on there.

Searching the World for Pearls - by Andy Hayes at Sharing Travel Experiences.  STE aims to inspire people to travel more, and this article just might do the trick.  Andy cleverly chose some particularly tempting photos to accompany the article.  The minute I saw them, I started daydreaming about new trips.  Do you need some inspiration to get you off your duff and planning a trip?  Then check this out. Especially if you’re a woman.  You know what they say: “Girls love pearls.”

Photo credit: alicejamieson

Woo! This is exciting news for me.  As I told Louise, I’m pretty lost when it comes to rankings and how to move up and down them, but knowing how many bezillions of travel blogs there are out there in the webiverse–and how good so many of them are–I’m pretty pleased to have any ranking at all, let alone one in the top 100.  I have no idea what I’m doing right, but I hope it continues.

For this achievement, I get to post this nifty badge on my website:

Cool, huh?  If you’re looking for more great travel blogs to add to your reading list (in addition to this one, of course), the leaderboard (which is updated weekly) at TravelBlogSites is a good place to start, and you can read blog profiles there as well to get the “story behind the blog”, so to speak.  (In fact, my blog was profiled a couple of weeks ago.)

And don’t forget to check back weekly for my Recommended Reads, which will bring you more of the best travel writing on the web.

For now, I am calling this regular series “Recommended Reads”, but if I think of something sexier, I’ll change it.  (Suggestions are welcome.  Please use the comments section below if you have one.)

What articles grabbed my interest the most in the past couple of weeks?

Why People Don’t Travel, Part 1: Fear of Going Solo by my friend JoAnna Haugen of Kaleidoscopic Wandering (and Associate Editor of online travel magazine, Matador).  In this article, JoAnna identifies the problem (fear of traveling alone) and offers several solutions, as well as offering reasons why solo travel is actually a great way to go.  It’s a good read. JoAnna is fast becoming one of the best travel writers on the web, winning two prominent travel writing contests lately.  And while you’re at it, please also read the wonderful story that earned her the grand prize in the WanderWomen Write contest, Building a Family in Kenya.  If you love animals, you’ll love this story. Just make sure you have a Kleenex handy.

Gringos in Mexico And That Elusive Quest for Authenticity by Sarah Menkedick at MatadorNetwork.  This is quite simply one of the best pieces of travel writing I have read in many years.  It is literary journal quality writing that reminds me of my English major roots.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been this engrossed in a story.  I love how she captures the tour bus experience in a humorous, yet poignant way.  It’s a “must read”, people.

Speaking of Matador, Julie Schwietert, Managing Editor, has been working tirelessly on a volunteer project to help the people of Haiti.  You can read the latest on these efforts at Haiti Volunteer Project  Update: Afternoon 1/20/10. If you have the skills needed and time to offer, please consider doing so.  Or please consider a donation to one of the many organizations coordinating relief efforts in Haiti if you haven’t already made one.

Daniel at Two Go Round The World wrote the very thought-provoking How to Burst the Tourist Bubble.  It touches on a topic I am especially thinking of right now, having just returned from San Juan, where my interactions with locals versus other travelers weren’t quite what I’d expected.  I don’t necessarily agree with everything Daniel says, but I appreciate how well-written it is and the fact that it inspires self-reflection about one’s travel style.

And for pure entertainment value, I loved Nomadic Chick‘s 10 Reasons Why I Suck As a Travel Girlfriend.  #3 totally cracked me up. Yeah, sometimes there are good reasons why we travel alone.

When I go to Las Vegas, I always try to catch a show.  During this past trip, I finally saw Phantom, the Las Vegas Spectacular at the Venetian.  I’d heard good things about it for the past few years, but when you only visit Las Vegas once a year and only see one show per trip, it’s hard to see them all, you know?  I purchased one of the cheap seats online for around $64 about a month before my trip.  (They’re actually cheaper now.)  Just so you know, the cheap seats are way, way, way up a long, wide, curving staircase.  Be careful on these stairs; I saw a guy trip and fall on the way down after the show.

As is generally the case in Las Vegas, no photography is allowed during the show, for copyright reasons.  There is, however, a professional photographer down in the expensive seats taking souvenir photos for audience members.

One of the perks of traveling solo is that you are sometimes used to fill in gaps.  Shortly before the show started, the usher told me to move up several rows to fill in an empty seat.  Thank God she did, because once the show started, it became painfully clear to me that my days of being able to see a show from the cheap seats are over.  My nearsightedness is at the point where it’s difficult to focus on tiny figures on a stage far away.

Warning: In case you are unfamiliar with the storyline of this show, you should know that the remainder of this review contains some spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

That said, I really enjoyed the spectacle of this show.  There are three stars of this show–the performers, the music, and the theater itself. Let’s start with the theater, because that is what really draws the audience into the show. Before the show starts, the side walls are draped with gauzy curtains, and then, when the show begins, they are lifted to reveal that the walls are part of the opera house set, complete with viewing boxes.  They were able to change the sets quickly and seamlessly, almost as if by magic, through some technical wizardry. (I had hoped to go on a backstage tour of the theater to find out exactly what that wizardry was, but alas, they’ve discontinued the tours.)  There is also a massive chandelier above the audience that plays a role in the theater experience , as well as some impressive pyrotechnics.  I was most taken by the effect of a boat moving through mist and (nonexistent) water on the stage, though.  What’s fun about this theater is that it feels as though we are the audience for the opera taking place inside the musical, as well as watching the musical itself.

The story of Phantom of the Opera has been edited down to 95 minutes for the Las Vegas version.  This is because a) casinos don’t want you taking too much time away from gambling for cultural enlightenment and b) we all have short attention spans in a city with this much going on, anyway.  This is for the best, because the pacing is much better with this version.  There are very few “filler” scenes.  This version of the musical hits all the high notes while featuring the songs audiences most remember from the full-length version, like the title song and “Music of the Night”.

The performers (Anthony Crivello, Kristi Holden, et al.) had amazing voices, of course.  Crivello’s performance as the Phantom was top-notch, and he did push my pity button.  Had the character not crossed an ethical line, I would have rooted for Christine to overlook his deformed face and choose him over the handsome-but-bland Raoul. While both men want to possess her, only one helps her achieve her true potential, and it’s not Raoul.  I know how the story goes, but I’m always a little disappointed by it.  Someday, I’d like someone to do a version of this story with the ending changed.

If you’re looking for a solid show to see in Las Vegas, you really can’t go wrong with this one.  The music will stay in your head for hours afterwards.

Becoming a fan is an easy way to have new blog posts pushed into your Facebook newstream so you’ll easily see them as they come out.  If you’re not on Facebook, here are some other easy ways to keep current on new blog posts:

• Bookmark SoloFriendly.com (or add to your Favorite sites)
• Sign up for the RSS feed
• Follow me on Twitter

I’ve added Twitter and Facebook icons in the right sidebar for your convenience in locating my Twitter and Facebook pages.

I love social media.  It provides so many easy ways to keep up-to-date on topics that interest you.  If you’re interested in solo travel, why not follow me today?