Solo travel abroad?

[Techniquest]

It's not just a case of learning a language for travel, if that was the case I'd have made a real effort to learn Japanese before I went there in November 2019, or Hungarian for the September 2019 trip for just two examples.

What about learning a language for the personal challenge, the desire to learn something new, the desire to speak the language with friends whose native tongue is that language?

I've started learning French recently, as I have a trip to Nice and Monaco planned. Only doing a bit every day on Duolingo, but I have to say so far it is a darn sight easier than Polish! That's not to say I won't go back to learning Polish again, just not yet. Even if it's just enough to be able to understand announcements on a train, or to walk into a Polish shop and be able to speak to the person on the till, that sort of thing, that would be nice.

 

[OldandRambling]

I visited Warsaw and Krakow a few years ago by train from Berlin. The "Old Town" in Warsaw looks amazing, but even more amazing is that it was reconstructed 100% from old records after WW2 destruction!

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Learning any language is difficult enough, but being able to read books and poems in original (German) is worth it. I fancied learning Polish, but I think the brain (my brain) only has so much space, some of it is occupied by French from school and a bit of Welsh.

 

[YorkshireBear]

I visited Warsaw and Krakow a few years ago by train from Berlin. The "Old Town" in Warsaw looks amazing, but even more amazing is that it was reconstructed 100% from old records after WW2 destruction!

Along with many of European cities. Incredible when I first visited Berlin and learnt that. Really is a hell of an achievement.

 

[sonic2009]

The "Tricity" - Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot - is basically a Polish Merseyside with a similar seafaring and port heritage. It even has its own "Merseyrail" (SKM). Sopot is basically...strange coincidence on the name...a Polish Southport!

Gdansk is in many ways a bit nicer than Liverpool though

Sorry to jump onto this thread, my mind is telling me to do a flight from Newcastle to Liverpool via Gdansk on the 1st Ocotober , how does the ticketing system work in this area? I've looked today but found very confusing, around in Gdansk for 8 hours.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sorry to jump onto this thread, my mind is telling me to do a flight from Newcastle to Liverpool via Gdansk on the 1st Ocotober , how does the ticketing system work in this area? I've looked today but found very confusing, around in Gdansk for 8 hours.

Not fully integrated. I have no idea about buses, but SKM (basically the same thing as Merseyrail) is walk-up, you can buy singles at the booking office or I think there's a 24 hour ticket of some sort though forget how you get it, whereas PKP IC is sort of reservation only* (easiest to book online). I don't think you'll come across the regional operator which I can't spell, and I suspect the airport train is its own thing (it hadn't opened yet when I went there), again buy when you get there.

If you're just going into town for a wander round I'd just buy a return (or two singles if there isn't one) from the TVM at the airport station, the rest won't apply to you. You're not really going to have time to do much more than that in 8 hours.

Of course, check if COVID things might prevent this trip being viable!

* EIP is properly reservation only, same as TGV. The others have some level of flexibility but I've never quite understood to what extent. Tickets are only sold with a reservation.

 

[185143]

Do it.

I pretty much always travel solo (with the caveat that the only place abroad I've been solo was to the island of Ireland, both North and South) and mostly wouldn't have it any other way. I've got talking to all kinds of people on my travels and heard some brilliant tales, most of which actually seemed true as well. I suspect liking a good drink helps with that one, at least partly. It's been one of the main things I've missed in the last two years.

 

[sonic2009]

Not fully integrated. I have no idea about buses, but SKM (basically the same thing as Merseyrail) is walk-up, you can buy singles at the booking office or I think there's a 24 hour ticket of some sort though forget how you get it, whereas PKP IC is sort of reservation only* (easiest to book online). I don't think you'll come across the regional operator which I can't spell, and I suspect the airport train is its own thing (it hadn't opened yet when I went there), again buy when you get there.

If you're just going into town for a wander round I'd just buy a return (or two singles if there isn't one) from the TVM at the airport station, the rest won't apply to you. You're not really going to have time to do much more than that in 8 hours.

Of course, check if COVID things might prevent this trip being viable!

* EIP is properly reservation only, same as TGV. The others have some level of flexibility but I've never quite understood to what extent. Tickets are only sold with a reservation.

I've just checked on the COVID rules and Poland is still on Amber. But the rules are confusing, if your going for the day, do you get your test before you leave the UK?

But i've seen that Poland may go from Amber to Green in the next few weeks, so lets wait and see tonight/tomorrows announcements,

 

[TravelDream]

* EIP is properly reservation only, same as TGV. The others have some level of flexibility but I've never quite understood to what extent. Tickets are only sold with a reservation.

All PKP intercity services (EIP/EIC/IC/TLK) are now fully reservation only. Though you can board and buy from the conductor for an additional fee (you have to find him/ her - you will be fined if he/ she finds you) so I am not too sure what happens if you board and there are no seats left to buy. IC and TLK have fixed fares and TLK is no longer cheaper than IC as it once was, but the trains are still worse. EIP/EIC use an airline type ticketing system with cheap fares which go up in cost as more tickets are sold to a ceiling fare. PKP has no comparable ticket to UK open fares.

Other trains like PKP owned SKM in the Gdansk area, those operated by Polegio like Interegio (basically crap trains which charge pennies less than PKP), as well as those run by the provincial governments have no reservations.

The ticketing system in the tri-city area can be a bit confusing, however, there are fully integrated options.
Firstly, SKM and the two separate municipal bus/ tram companies (Gdansk's which also serves Sopot and Gdynia's) have their own separate ticketing systems. However! There is also a type of ticket called a MZKZG ticket. One type of MZKZG ticket is usable on municipal buses and trams in Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia (and a few other nearby cities) whilst another type is also usable on SKM trains. A 72 hour ticket for just the municipal companies is about £6 and for SKM too it's about £10.
More confusion comes when you find out British students can buy a discounted ticket with the municipal companies or the MZKZG ticket which doesn't include SKM, but can't buy a discount MZKZG ticket which includes SKM or basic SKM tickets.
I do talk in jest though. It's not too difficult to get your head around and tickets are cheap by UK standards.

The airport train is run by SKM so you would need an SKM ticket or the MZKZG ticket which also includes SKM.

Do be aware though practice varies across the country. If you go to, say, Warsaw, the municipal bus/ tram tickets are also valid on the trains operated by the provincial government. However, if you go to Krakow, the municipal tickets aren't valid on provincial run trains apart from one short stretch on one line and there is no joint ticketing system.

 

[johncrossley]

Some people are put off foreign travel because they don't know the language, and they think that should apply in particular to British people because they are notoriously poor at learning other languages. But what if you came from a country with a reputation for learning languages, such as the Netherlands or Sweden? It would be no different. A Dutch person is very likely to know English, possibly German, and maybe French (but considerably less likely than English or German). Almost no Dutch people know Polish, so when they go to Poland they are no better off than a British person who only speaks English.

 

[DanielB]

Almost no Dutch people know Polish, so when they go to Poland they are no better off than a British person who only speaks English.

That's not completely true however. You're right that a lot of Dutch people will know English, although it depends a bit on their education level (there's actually a book, with two parts of 150 pages each, full of "Dunglish" thanks to many Dutch people thinking they can speak English)
But speaking more than one foreign language definitely has significant advantages. For example in countries which have been occupied by Germany in the past there's a good chance of people being able to speak German when they don't speak English.

Or, in my case as a native Dutch speaker being trilingual: my German is significantly less fluent (due to using it less frequently) than my English. But as a matter of politeness it's always useful when travelling in Germany to be able to ask in German if someone does speak English. Or to be able to understand German announcements.
By the way: due to the way the education system works here it's probably around 50/50 if a Dutch person speaks Dutch/English/German or Dutch/English/French. At most levels English is mandatory and one can choose between German and French in later years... So I just remembered how to say "I don't speak French" in French

 

[miklcct]

But speaking more than one foreign language definitely has significant advantages. For example in countries which have been occupied by Germany in the past there's a good chance of people being able to speak German when they don't speak English.

Some people are put off foreign travel because they don't know the language, and they think that should apply in particular to British people because they are notoriously poor at learning other languages.

It's unfortunate that the education system in Hong Kong does not teach foreign languages in general, except in a very limited extent (e.g. in international schools, or in schools with significant ethnic minorities), therefore I know no foreign languages from the education system. And I missed the chance to learn Swedish in university so I'm really put off getting a working holiday visa to Sweden because I am really scared not knowing enough Swedish to actually live and work there, and eventually I only dare moving to a place where one of my languages (e.g. English) is an official language.

 

[camflyer]

Some people are put off foreign travel because they don't know the language, and they think that should apply in particular to British people because they are notoriously poor at learning other languages. But what if you came from a country with a reputation for learning languages, such as the Netherlands or Sweden? It would be no different. A Dutch person is very likely to know English, possibly German, and maybe French (but considerably less likely than English or German). Almost no Dutch people know Polish, so when they go to Poland they are no better off than a British person who only speaks English.

Actually, due to recent immigration, Polish is one of the most spoken foreign languages by people living in and born in the UK. In fact, I think it may be the second most spoken first language.

You are right though, English is the international language of travel, business, education and a number of other sectors. When someone from Finland meets a Greek person the most likely language they will have in common is English. The chances of one of them knowing the other's language is very low. Having announcements in English is common on trains throughout Europe.

In all my years of foreign travel I can think of only a handful of cases where I've had problems despite by language skills being limited to a few words of French, Spanish and German (mostly "Hello, a beer please, thanks. Bye!"). I once got stuck in rural Italy due to a rail strike and that involved a lot of handwaving and pointing.

 

[D6130]

I once got stuck in rural Italy due to a rail strike and that involved a lot of handwaving and pointing.

That's quite normal in Italy....especially the further South you travel. The spoken/written language is only one part of the game....the subtle nuances of the language and their contexts are largely communicated by hand, arm and facial gestures!

 

[Sm5]

i’m a bit late discovering this thread…

August 31st 1997, the night Diana died, was the first time I cut loose.
Until then i’d only travelled with friends and family.
I was in Chicago, back packing, attaching & detaching from groups of summer camp employees (Bunac) across the states.
Before then I was Bolton born and bred.

Most had plans for a beach, or days at a time exploring a city, As a life long rail enthusiast, I had a more ambitious plan, that differed to others.
I decided to stay to the end of an Aerosmith concert in Tinley park and miss the last train, that the group I was with all took.

So all night alone at the station, Tinley park is a but of a dump, until the first Metra, back to Chicago, I then went the next 5 weeks solo on Amtrak to the Pacific NE, right down to the south, back east then North… 6500 miles Covered.


(Near Boeing Field, Renton, Seattle).

1998 I finished my masters at Salford, got a job out in San Francisco, the company wanted a travelling employee, I had no family ties and a big student debt.. I did 45 States solo, then 60 countries and some cities more than 60 times, today I am more than 2 million miles and 2000 hotel nights under my belt, almost all of it solo travel, Until Covid19 (and Brexit) have cut that to near zero.

ive never lost my hobby, and used my business travel to cut loose for personal travel in whatever place I found myself, most of which werent the most glamourous of places.

I’m far more solo than most, indeed its hard for me to travel with others, even work colleagues as i’m too used to bearing the road solo...
ive solo’d through Russia, Ukraine, Malaya, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Egypt, Alaska, all Eastern Europe, Southern Brazil, large parts of South Africa, Argentina etc.


[Fairbanks station, Alaska]

Ive done mad trips like South Africa for 1 day from London, or Australia for 3 days.
On one occasion I flew to Johannesburg, with a ticket bought that morning, without a hotel to stay, not even knowing who (at work, or customer) I was meeting, and agreed to meet the unknown person at the roadside in Hillbrow (Disclaimer: Do not ever do this yourself, ever if you don't know SA !).. he turned up in this old beauty, stopped and asked if I was the English guy.. he was the retired taxi driver, friend of a customer sent to find me..


(somewhere in South Johannesburg )

if you want to travel, dont be bound by being solo.. the advantages are you will find like minded doing the same, and your decisions are your own, not a herd. The only thing to fear is the first day, then you learn that the fear is actually exciting… afterwards you will get memories like you wont believe..

I spent the weekend near George (Mossel Bay Railway but its now closed), so instead went to join this guy for lunch..


(He brought his own lunch)

You also find places you like and want to return, Ive been to Singapore more than 30 times, Johannesburg more than 20, Poland probably 50 times.

Poland is one of the most welcoming non-english speaking countries for English people there is.


and not all steam is in Wolstyn.. this is Msana Dolna.


in 1999 I found myself on a trip to Budapest, on Saturday with a day off, for $20 I negotiated myself for this..


60mph footplate ride, and firing turn to Szentendre from Budapest, 4 years before Hungary joined the EU.

When I know I have free time, i’ll always pack my camera, and a Steam Railway, and Rail Mag (giveaways).. always have some past trip photos on the camera to show off.

Most of the world’s people I find are instinctively helpful to a foreigner, even in more hostile places, you will get friendly interest. I also finds each countries newspapers are no different to ours.. (inflation stories, government inefficiency stories, commuter horrors etc.. much of the world lives the same).



Ive done Trier in both 2010 and 2018, and couldnt grasp why hundreds, if not over 1000 made the trip with Railtrails, considering it was pretty much a Eurostar to Brussels, a train to Luxembourg and a pass to do your own thing, I did the exact same for a few hundred euro, even stayed in the same hotels.

Today, this was my last overseas trip since Covid19 came to join us… A trip to Zakopane, Southern Poland in February 2020 watching ski trains..


Ive amassed over 300k images, and hundreds of hours of video, none of it yet published and when I get time i’d like to write it down So I can share it, but in the meantime if I can inspire someone to not be afraid to buy 1 ticket on a solo journey and discover something new, then i’d be happy.

Right now i’m teaching my little one how to use a camera, and planning steam gala season here…
My 10 year old recently produced this picture.. I think shes got the eye for it…





its a big world out there, youve only 1 life… I hope this inspires.

 

[alex397]

I enjoyed reading that Sm5, fascinating!

 

[OldandRambling]

Very good read, you have travelled very widely!

As Mark Twain says, "It's the things that you didn't do that you will regret, not those that you did do"...

 

[Aictos]

Very good read, you have travelled very widely!

As Mark Twain says, "It's the things that you didn't do that you will regret, not those that you did do"...

Or as Hans Christian Andersen would also say "To travel is to live"

I've been lucky to travel to a few countries with plenty of happy memories, although for now I'm concentrating on Europe as there's only so much I've experienced and I haven't even got started.

 

[Techniquest]

Oh I'd love to read some of the tales you must have to share there! The forum's trip reports section is screaming out for this sort of content!

 

[D6130]

its a big world out there, youve only 1 life… I hope this inspires.

It certainly is a big world out there and your post certainly does inspire. All I have to do now is to convince my lovely, but rather nervous, wife!

 

[camflyer]

It certainly is a big world out there and your post certainly does inspire. All I have to do now is to convince my lovely, but rather nervous, wife!

If she's that nervous then leave her at home. After all, this is a thread about solo travel

 

[riceuten]

I did a huge amount of solo travel in my 20s and 30s. There are advantages and disadvantages. Accommodation is indubitably more expensive solo than with someone else, if you don't want to stay in a dorm in a hostel. Sometimes things like a breathtaking landscape are experiences to share. Quite a few of the advantages are in a way selfish - eating where and when you want, changing plans at short notice. But it all takes an amount of compromise that people feel comfortable (or not with). My partner, whilst unlikely to have ever wanted to go interrailing, did traipse with me around Eastern Europe, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, and Portugal in the 2000s and 2010s by train. I wouldn't have subjected her to the 28 hour journey to Munich from Bucharest that I did, but we did Lisbon to Madrid in a Talgo sleeper with a very pleasant breakfast that was perfectly acceptable to all parties. I find people no more or less chatty with you when you are solo or with a partner, to be honest.

I haven't taken a package holiday in quite some time, and have absolutely no intention whatsoever of taking a cruise (*shudder*). Quite a few people I know who are sociable and crave company quite enjoy the latter, as there is a fair bit of "forced socialisation", if you can call it that. I cannot imagine a worse holiday experience, particularly with guided city visits tagged on as well. The cost of cruises socially selects the passengers and probably their political perspective as well.

Sorry to jump onto this thread, my mind is telling me to do a flight from Newcastle to Liverpool via Gdansk on the 1st Ocotober , how does the ticketing system work in this area? I've looked today but found very confusing, around in Gdansk for 8 hours.

I went to Gdansk just before lockdown, and found it a very interesting city, if slightly on the tacky side - Gdynia is a lot more Polish, although ironically, much of it was built by the Germans in the run up to the second world war. There is a bus (slow) to the centre (210) and a train every 15 minutes, although the airport train station is a bit of a hike from the airport over a bridge. There are multilingual ticket machines at both stops that accept credit/debit cards, and both the bus (and the train ) go to the main train station, which is a bit of a hike to the old town, but not annoyingly so. There was also a bus shuttle at the time that costs about €3 that took maybe half the time of the train. You could get a taxi, but a) it's no quicker than the shuttle, and b) you may well be ripped off. If you want help in Poland (and people are very helpful), younger people tend to speak good English, so ask a young person if you have questions.

Some people are put off foreign travel because they don't know the language, and they think that should apply in particular to British people because they are notoriously poor at learning other languages. But what if you came from a country with a reputation for learning languages, such as the Netherlands or Sweden? It would be no different. A Dutch person is very likely to know English, possibly German, and maybe French (but considerably less likely than English or German). Almost no Dutch people know Polish, so when they go to Poland they are no better off than a British person who only speaks English.

I never expect foreigners to know English and are just thankful when they do. If you're 'scared' of foreign languages, it does bring into question why you're travelling abroad at all.

I do think that "everyone speaks English" perspective is pretty arrogant and also, in many cases, outside cities and towns, completely untrue. I have encountered many, many people in rural Germany or France who speak minimal or no English whatsoever. And no, this is not wilful non-speaking of the language just to wind English speakers up, this is genuine non-ability, either due to age, poor quality of teaching, or lack of practice.

 

[OldandRambling]

Oh I'd love to read some of the tales you must have to share there! The forum's trip reports section is screaming out for this sort of content!

My travel tales as a senior solo traveller in India. Sadly, the photos have vanished...

https://www.indiamike.com/india/journal.php?do=showjournal&j=9707

 

[nlogax]

My travel tales as a senior solo traveller in India. Sadly, the photos have vanished...

https://www.indiamike.com/india/journal.php?do=showjournal&j=9707

Brilliant stories Eddie, thank you for sharing the link!

BTW, many of the photos can be seen on the archive.org cache copy. Once at the url you may need to wait a little while until all the photos show up.

https://web.archive.org/web/2017062...e.com/india/journal.php?do=showjournal&j=9707

 

[EuroRail]

Unless your fortunate to have a partner or friend who enjoys long distance rail travel and wandering around foreign cities and towns while carrying your own backpack (and if you do have consider yourself very lucky),if you want to travel you either go solo or don’t go,I’m sure we’ve all read those travel books were our intrepid author travelling alone only has to walk into some lonely cafe/bar/waiting room etc to be made into one of the family and treated like a local and every minute of every day is full of adventure and fun thing’s happening but what is the reality?
Little things like eating alone in a restaurant at night,not having someone to share the ticketing/which platform/missed connection hassle and I guess just the sheer loneliness of being in a beautiful place and having no one to share it with.
Basically what I’m asking is what are the advantages of travelling abroad alone and even if your comfortable with your own company if there are low times and how you deal with these?.
Thank you.

Sorry to come into this thread so late, new member here.
I'm in my 60s but didn't really start travelling abroad until I was in my late 30s....then became hooked!
I kind of split my travel up - I think it depends on where you're going and what sort of trip you are planning. There maybe destinations that you would love to visit, but your partner wouldn't! There are railway trips that I've been on to China, Bosnia and Java in recent years that realistically could only have been done in the small group tours I went on.
I have also done solo trips. The evenings don't have to be miserable - you can enjoy (treat yourself if your budget allows) good food and drink and read or write. As likely as not (unless it's Valentine's day) there will be other solo travellers. One of the advantages from a photographic perspective is that if you decide you want to spend longer photographing a particular place, you can. You can change your plans for the day. I've been on a few large group tours in the past, but if I'm honest, they are the least enjoyable way of traveling compared to going with your partner, friend(s) or a small group. Particularly if you're a keen photographer.
I also think that solo travel (especially if someone is doing it for the first time) doesn't necessarily have to be difficult or for too long. Long weekends via Eurostar can be fun!!
You asked about "low times". I think in terms of anxiety, it's about missing connections. And yes, it feels more supportive with someone else with you, but that's about any of us telling ourselves we have the confidence to do it, there is a plan B and we haven't made our journey too complex. And making sure we allow plenty of time for connections. Then a drink after!! I must admit that issue has caused me more stress when flying than when travelling by train.
I was interested to see that this thread has included a discussion on language. As a slight aside, twenty odd years ago I travelled to Montpellier and spent two weeks studying French at a language school. It was a fabulous experience and I met some wonderful people.
I hope (covid permitting) that you enjoy whatever future travels you decide to do.

 

[riceuten]

It certainly is a big world out there and your post certainly does inspire. All I have to do now is to convince my lovely, but rather nervous, wife!

I think you can work up to it. My partner was skeptical at first, but a couple of journeys in a comfortable, air conditioned train with amazing scenery and she was slowly eased into more exotic travel possibilities,

 

[OldandRambling]

BTW, many of the photos can be seen on the archive.org cache copy. Once at the url you may need to wait a little while until all the photos show up.

Wow! That is amazing! Truly astonished that there is an historical record of the photos, it makes the whole thing much more readable again.

Thanks so much, and thanks for the nice comment too. Will that url exist forever? Ed.

 

[nlogax]

Wow! That is amazing! Truly astonished that there is an historical record of the photos, it makes the whole thing much more readable again.

Thanks so much, and thanks for the nice comment too. Will that url exist forever? Ed.

No worries It should be there for quite some time though I wouldn't rely on it being around indefinitely, archive.org is the target of one or two copyright-related lawsuits. Now is a good opportunity for you to save the images if you no longer have the originals?