Solo travel - intrepid travel perhaps?

Sulcp

Hi,

I am a female in my 30's and considering doing a bit of traveling on my own in the new year. I'm looking at tour companies such as intrepid but was wondering if anyone has any advice or used any companies like intrepid before? I'm a bit out of my comfort zone as have never traveled alone. I am hoping to go for 2-3 months and thinking Asia but open to any suggestions on destination as well.

Thanks a mil

braddun

some parts asia are cold now and some hot


http://www.lonelyplanet.com/vietnam



https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/travel-on-a-shoestring/topics/first-backpacking-trip-solo-south-east-asia-little-advice?page=1#post_20696550

http://www.accuweather.com/en/asia-weather

J Mysterio

Tour some of Europe instead.

Italy is a great place to start. You've got Venice, Milan, Lakes Garda and Como and Cinque Terra up North, maybe Turin. Then Florence, maybe Sienna, and then Tuscany and Bologna. Then Rome. Then Napoli and the coast with Sorrento and the islands like Capri and Procida and also Pompeii and Herculaneum too. Mt Vesuvius. You can go further South and you have Sicily too, which is almost the best bit, Palermo in particular being an amazing city.

You've got Greece or Spain as good onward journies and then anywhere from there. Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam.

Stay in nice hostels, take your time and make it up as you go along! Probably handier 'first solo trip' holiday and you'll meet a load of people in hostels.

HazelBee

I used G adventures to travel to India and Nepal a few years ago. I had an amazing experience. They pair you up with someone of the same gender to share a room with and then generally everyone eats together in the evening. For your first time in a country like India I'd definitely reccommend something like this, it's somewhere I always wanted to go but would have been a bit intimidated travelling solo.

That said if you are travelling around south east Asia, this can easily be done solo. Find highly rated hostels in lonely planet or on hostel world and they'll all have a tour desk where you can organise day to day activities and arrange travel to your next destination. I travelled in this way around Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia with a friend but met plenty of solo females along the way.

HazelBee

Intrepid/G adventures also do South America tours. This is another trip I did independently but a friend did with intrepid and had a great experience.
You'll get more for your money in Asia but A lot of South America is not TOO expensive either.

lisasimpson

ive gone solo on two holidays the last few years. had no choice I used Gadventures the 1st time and Intrepid the 2nd. found both good and they are a great introduction to solo travel and its nice to have the company. still things can happen on them which would be beyond the operaters control. ie when I was in Cuba half the group got a vomiting bug but sure these things happen

Sulcp

Thanks for the replies all very helpful. Am hoping to tour Asia in Feb and then Australia in March (I have family & friends
there so should be ok for that part). Was thinking of possibly doing another trip after that in April and South America seems like a possible option. I guess I just have to make a plan and start booking :-)

HazelBee

Sulcp wrote: »

Thanks for the replies all very helpful. Am hoping to tour Asia in Feb and then Australia in March (I have family & friends
there so should be ok for that part). Was thinking of possibly doing another trip after that in April and South America seems like a possible option. I guess I just have to make a plan and start booking :-)

Enjoy! Planning is half the excitement!

glassdaisies

Depending on your exact age, Contiki is really great! It's for people ages 18-35 I believe. I went on a tour of Italy with them when I was 19. I've never been much of a party person, so I was worried it would just all be out of control teens, but most of the people were over 30 and everyone was really nice! There were several solo travelers, and they give you the option of getting your own room or sharing a room with someone else of the same sex to save a bit of money. If you're 35 or under, definitely check them out!

Bowandarrow

Hi
im looking at going to cuba with either gap or intrepid next year. i did a trip with gap peru and bolivia a couple of years ago and loved it. I think a lot probably depends on the group of people on the tour. Im a bit nervous about cuba because i think the profile of people going to cuba could be very diverse but I want to go before it starts to get opened up too much. In a bit of a dilemma at the moment, hoping to go in april. Dont think i would chance travelling solo over there as have no spanish.

Sulcp

glassdaisies wrote: »

Depending on your exact age, Contiki is really great! It's for people ages 18-35 I believe. I went on a tour of Italy with them when I was 19. I've never been much of a party person, so I was worried it would just all be out of control teens, but most of the people were over 30 and everyone was really nice! There were several solo travelers, and they give you the option of getting your own room or sharing a room with someone else of the same sex to save a bit of money. If you're 35 or under, definitely check them out!

Thanks had never heard of them just checked them out on line and they have some good options will definately be considering them.

lisasimpson

Bowandarrow wrote: »

Hi
im looking at going to cuba with either gap or intrepid next year. i did a trip with gap peru and bolivia a couple of years ago and loved it. I think a lot probably depends on the group of people on the tour. Im a bit nervous about cuba because i think the profile of people going to cuba could be very diverse but I want to go before it starts to get opened up too much. In a bit of a dilemma at the moment, hoping to go in april. Dont think i would chance travelling solo over there as have no spanish.

I did cuba with intrepid march 2013. there was a nice mixed of people late 20s to 40 somethings. lovely group of people

rockthecazba

Hey guys,

Thinking of doing a two week trip to nepal and tibet with either g adventures or intrepid. Wondering if anyone has been on a similar trip with them (there's a few on offer) as I can't find any reviews online. Thinking of a tour as I'm heading solo and although I've done solo travel before I'm not sure I'd like to do china without someone with the language.

Thanks folks

Meathlass

I've done a G adventures trip to Antaractica but that's different I suppose as there's a fixed itinerary. Very impressed and would definitely use them again for similar cruises.

I suppose my opposition to group travel is that the itinerary is dictated by the majority. The end visit for a day might be a trip to a historical site that you really want to see but if everyone is tired and a vote is taken to go on to the hotel early then you can miss out on some things.

My understanding for Tibet is that you need to enter on some kind of organized trip though.