What’s the best time to book a flight? Search the internet for guidance on buying an airplane ticket and you’ll get all sorts of advice. Buy early on a Tuesday. Buy two months before your planned travel dates. Buy during a full moon on days ending in “y.” Okay, I made that last one up. […]
Perspectives
Thoughts about solo travel and life in general.
The Best Time to Book a Flight
What’s the best time to book a flight? Search the internet for guidance on buying an airplane ticket and you’ll get all sorts of advice. Buy early on a Tuesday. Buy two months before your planned travel dates. Buy during a full moon on days ending in “y.” Okay, I made that last one up. My point? There’s lots of information available about the best time to book a flight, but … [Read more...] about The Best Time to Book a Flight
On Revisiting Destinations
Do you sometimes feel guilty about visiting the same place twice...or more? Some argue that revisiting destinations is a waste, that life is too short to spend time and money going to a place you’ve already been. But this belief implies that the goal of travel is to visit as many places as possible before you inevitably kick the bucket. This simply isn’t the case. Many … [Read more...] about On Revisiting Destinations
Celebrating Small Successes in Yosemite National Park
It’s been said Yosemite National Park is the crown jewel of America’s national parks. I haven’t been to every national park yet, but I believe it. Although my time in Yosemite was marked by disappointment, I still consider the three days I spent backpacking in the park among the most special memories of my life. Gaining Perspective It’s too easy to focus on failure, so when I … [Read more...] about Celebrating Small Successes in Yosemite National Park
Throwing in the Solo Travel Towel?
Somewhere between the silence and the dull brass landscape of a desolate stretch of highway in southern Wyoming, it suddenly struck me: I’m actually enjoying this. We’d been on the road for five days, the “we” in question being me and my oldest brother G*, who’d agreed to join me on a cross-country road trip when I moved to Seattle. A few months earlier, over pancakes and … [Read more...] about Throwing in the Solo Travel Towel?
Coming to Terms with the Urge for Going
I threw my head back and laughed when we drove past a garden center and my mother almost gave herself a case of whiplash trying to see what they were selling. "You have a one track mind," I teased, ribbing her about her passion for gardening. "So do you," she shot back. "You're always thinking about travel." Her words gave me pause for a moment, but she was right. Was it that … [Read more...] about Coming to Terms with the Urge for Going
You *Do* Actually Want to Travel, Don’t You?
I had a bit of an epiphany today when, in the wee hours of the morning--thanks to one more sporadic case of insomnia--I came across a comment in a recent article by Seth Kugel, the New York Times' Frugal Traveler columnist. In the piece, Kugel reviewed reader comments from the column over the past year for a bit of self-critique, using both praise and reproof as a barometer … [Read more...] about You *Do* Actually Want to Travel, Don’t You?
Finding Yourself Through Solo Travel
"Sacramento's a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to travel here." That's what he said. The "he" in question was a young Sacramento resident, roughly my age, who'd shared a van with me as we rode from the airport toward the outer limits of the city. I wasn't exactly traveling to Sacramento, either; it was merely a stop on my way to a backpacking trip in Tahoe National … [Read more...] about Finding Yourself Through Solo Travel