The Joy of Traveling Solo

“I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.”
Rosalia de Castro

A few friends have asked to learn more about the kind of traveling I'm doing, so this is mostly about solo traveling.

It's wonderful here in Ohrid. I can only say that we in the US are very misinformed and ill-informed about the rest of the world and perhaps mostly about this region - the Balkans, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe. I met a man yesterday (a philosopher, a teacher and a linguist who speaks 6 languages fluently) and we spoke for a long time. I expressed this same thought to him and he looked at me a little sympathetically and said, "It's known throughout the world that people in the US are very poorly educated and informed." I can only say to you, "Come!" It is so nice here, so fascinating. This is the place where western civilization began. This is OUR heritage, as well as the heritage of the people currently living here. I have only been to this one town in Macedonia. The people here are wonderful.

Because the economy is poor in this region, many people open their homes to travelers. They make little "B&Bs" or hostels out of their home. Throughout this region, because in the past (and the present) extended families often lived together, some of these houses are very large and have plenty of extra, unused rooms. Here in Ohrid nearly every other house offers a homestay it seems. But I also did homestays in Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia. Some may list themselves as a hostel on www.hostelworld.com but they still occupy the house, the family intermixes with the travelers (as opposed to a business hostel which has hired people working there). Armenia has not yet caught on to the idea - a state of affairs I'd like to have a hand in changing.

I generally am greeted warmly. I found Bulgarians to be the least friendly, but that may just be their nature. I think they tend to be more reserved with strangers in general. Most people are quite happy to help me, talk to me, educate me, show me around. Greet the world with open arms and it will hug you back. We are all, after all, just people. I always find lots of people who speak English (again, except in Bulgaria). But even in Bulgaria I found a few. English is the lingua-franca of the world. It is the international language, the language of computers. Young people study it in school and it's impossible to work in tourism/business without any English. In big cities you're more likely to find indifference, be that New York or Sophia. It's the nature of cities - they isolate us from each other. Istanbul was unique in that regard, but I stayed mostly in the tourist section and the city is a tourist city like none other.

When traveling and staying in hostels, as you know, you meet many other travelers. Even in homestays they often host more than one person at a time. Other travelers are your best source of information - they've been there, done that - and they can tell you where and where not to go. Some online sources that I use are www.lonelyplanet.com, mostly the thorntree forum. When you go to the website, click on "community" at the top. That's a pulldown menu and select "Thorntree Forum." You will need to sign up as a member in order to post questions and comments yourself, but you can read through the forum without signing up. This forum is like a great big world-wide hostel. People from all over the world meet and share their experiences here. People just like you and me. If you're going to Podunk and want to know if there are any homestays there, or what it's like, just ask. Someone will know. It's a fantastic source of "on the ground" information. Never, let me repeat that, NEVER go to the US State Department's website to find out information about a country. A second good source of information online is the UNESCO World Heritage center: whc.unesco.org. They list all the World Heritage sites, places that are somewhat protected. If you search for Macedonia, by the way, their "political" name is "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." Archeologists here are currently unearthing perhaps the oldest known university in the western world right now, not to mention the churches and monasteries throughout Macedonia.

I absolutely plan to return to this region and travel/volunteer more. I have only scratched the surface. I feel like I'm only floating past in a glass-bottomed boat, looking through at a rich, deep culture and history that I simply cannot penetrate and can only view fleetingly. My formal education and my life have not prepared me for what I have found here. I literally have no background, no network of information to connect all that I'm seeing, experiencing and learning.

I can't think of anything else to say in the moment. Except (I always have at least ONE more thing to say :o) - Don't be afraid. It only seems scary when you haven't done it. Once you step out there on your own you find out that the world's not a scary place at all. My first experience with solo travel was in Guatemala 4 years ago. I established a connection with a library initiative there, then they set me up with a homestay and language tutor. All very cheap. I volunteered at the library and stayed in that little town (near Tikal, in northern Guatemala) for 3 weeks. Before going there I spent a few days in Antigua to get my feet on the ground, as it's a tourist city with a lot of other travelers. After the 3-week homestay I traveled for 2 weeks throughout Guatemala, even spent 3 days with a family in a very remote Mayan village (that required a guide and pre-arrangement). My second solo was throughout Central America and into Mexico 3 years ago (where I met Jerry). Even after those experiences and after living in Armenia for nearly a year, I was still nervous about traveling throughout this region on my own. I was concerned that the language barrier would be too challenging. But that has not been the case at all.

This is the best way to travel. It's cheap, it's environmentally friendly, it's people friendly, it's rich, it helps local people and local economies, it's fun. When I am alone I reach out to others, I trust in ways I never knew I could.

The morning is calling so I must go see what it has in store for me. It rained on and off all day yesterday. There's still one monastery nearby that I haven't seen yet but if the rain continues into the next few days as it's predicted then I won't be able to visit it anyway so I may as well continue on. However, as my host Goce said, it will be like going to Paris and not seeing the Eifel Tower. I've seen pictures of this place, St Naum, and it is magnificent. So . . . . . I really hope the weather is good. If not, I'll be back. It will remain the bait, tempting me back. ~


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"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure." Helen Keller