I’ve lost the riding buddies I’ve always gone away with so it looks like I’m travelling solo from now on.
Unless you can find yourself some new ‘riding buddies’, it looks like you are indeed on your own from now on. So, you might as well get used to it. Or, better still, use it as a catalyst for change.
This sentence changes from a reasonably positive:
I don’t mind this too much as I’ve gone solo before…
To a somewhat woe is me:
….never whole-heartedly enjoyed the experience.
If you start off believing (or determined) that you’ll not enjoy it, then you’ll not enjoy it. It is that simple.
….When using BnB’s I find the experience a little more depressing and lonely. You’re locked behind a door and somewhat cut-off from others.
That is no doubt because you have either chosen ‘Bed and breakfast’ accommodation in a place where there is nothing else to do or you’ve just gone to sit in your room all evening. Change your location and / or don’t just go and sit in your room, staring at the walls. Use the time to do something that interests you. We don’t know what that might be but until you make an effort, things will not get better on their own. ‘The Lord helps them, who help themselves’ is a pretty apt saying.
What are your top tips for the solo traveller when the sun starts setting?
1. My opening tip is in the paragraph above.
2. You tell us that you don’t experience the same ‘Woe is me’ when camping. Camp more often, perhaps? That at least is simple.
3. B’n’b is maybe an out of date concept, from a time when the roads were full of travelling salesmen. The rise of the air b’n’b, often in places of some interest, have replaced or at least expanded the choice of locations available. Start to look at them. Likewise, a hotel is (once you get over that it’s not run by some bustling housewife) the same as a b’n’b except that they usually have more going on. Things ‘going on’ can make life a bit more interesting.
4. Make a simple list of things that interest YOU not us. If architecture or history bores the pants off you, then don’t do it. Or, if you haven’t really ever tried walking around the city walls or into the local church or cathedral or down the canal that runs through the town, try it. If you like (or think you might like) taking pictures, a half decent phone will do just that; give it a go. If nothing else, it forces you out of the door. The internet is full of ideas. Google ‘10 best things to do in…..’ and see what comes up. Take a local train, bus or taxi to something or somewhere, perhaps? In other words, shape your now solo holidays to suit you. It’s a great opportunity to be selfish….. doing what YOU want to do.
Just recently, in the Trip Reports section, there have been quite interesting reports from bods who have gone away to see or experience something that interests THEM. This might be just obscure football grounds (I use it only as an example) but it was enough to give their otherwise possibly pointless ride across the countryside some purpose. There must be something that sparks YOUR imagination, surely?
In short, make an effort….. or go and sit in the bedroom of your b’n’b, bored rigid. The choice is yours.
PS Most years, bods on UKGSer very kindly offer up trips they have arranged. Of course it’s pot luck as to whether you’ll enjoy them (or them, you). Have a look at some. If one says to you, that might be fun….. give it a go. What’s the worse that can happen?
If nothing else…..
