LA: And there are experts who are very eager and ready to give that help and would love to take your travel dollars.
MC: Exactly. Something that feeds into the pros of a group trip is that you have an automatic group of friends, new people to meet, when you are taking your solo trip. And I think oftentimes, specifically the four of us on this call, when we go on a work trip—more often than not by ourselves—we have to be speaking with strangers to get the story. And so I feel like sometimes we're primarily set up for making friends with strangers on the road. What are y’all's best tips for meeting people so that you have people to talk to whether you're at the bar or you're on a group trip or whatever it is, what are your, I don't know, friend pick up lines? What is the way that you meet people on the road when you're by yourself?
HP: Give a compliment. I think that's the best talking to strangers advice I've ever received, and it doesn't always work. But do you know what? If the person doesn't engage with you, what's the worst thing that happened? You gave someone a compliment, you probably made them feel good about themselves. And then you can turn to the next person and give them a compliment and see if it works. So I feel like that's a good, easy, win-win, of low stakes, way to go about it.
TM: I feel like I've made a lot of travel buddies just sitting at a bar, sitting at a restaurant, and just being like, “Have you done this thing? Have you checked out this popular spot? What else have you done?” I feel like that just sparks a conversation, and that's been a successful pickup line for friends.
LA: Actually, it's funny, I was talking to a friend who is currently in Costa Rica. And she was like, “If there's one piece of common ground that everyone has right now, it's this pandemic. Everyone knows what you're talking about. So if you have nothing else in common, this weird, horrible thing that happened to all of us is that common thread right now.”
MC: And I feel like when you're already on a solo trip, you've already made that jump to put yourself out there and be comfortable on your own, and you're trying new things, so sticking your neck out and saying hi to the person next to you or asking... The thing I genuinely miss the most is being at a restaurant and asking the table next to me what they've ordered, which is usually how I pick what I want to eat. And so I think that you're already halfway there when you're on a solo trip, to saying hi to the person next to you. So I think that it can be anxiety inducing, but you just have to remember that you've already made it out the door, so you're miles ahead of everyone else.
LA: Hannah, given that you just recently were traveling with a group, when I've done group trips before, one thing that I have struggled with is that, especially if you were traveling solo but you are also part of this group, there are times when you do actually want to get that alone time. How do you find a polite way to make that exit or to prioritize yourself when you are also in a group dynamic?
HP: I love that because it's so real, and it's something that I had to navigate all weekend long. So it's very top of mind for me. If you're on a group of people you don't know, it's obviously much easier to politely excuse yourself. You need to make sure that there's individual time carved into your itinerary. That's the first step, that there has to be some sort of chunk of free time. So at Intermission, this retreat that I was on, they pretty much had almost every afternoon free. The mornings were super packed, the afternoons were free. So people would go to the pool in groups, people would go back to their cabins and nap with people they were staying with, whatever. And I feel like that's the easiest time if you are someone who feels socially awkward or aren't sure quite how to go about taking that time for yourself, during the free time is the easiest time to just slip away. You don't owe anyone anything, you don't need to tell anybody where you're going, especially if you're out with people that you knew prior to the trip. It's totally okay for you to just slither away and do your own thing for an hour or two, or three or four even.
"again" - Google News
June 23, 2021 at 11:00AM
https://ift.tt/3zREaos
Remembering How to Solo Travel Again: Women Who Travel Podcast - Condé Nast Traveler
"again" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YsuQr6
https://ift.tt/2KUD1V2
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Remembering How to Solo Travel Again: Women Who Travel Podcast - Condé Nast Traveler"
Post a Comment