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We're in it Now
I am a single woman and I like to travel. Nothing too exotic so far, just the usual places on everyone’s bucket list. Because the world is big and I only have so much vacation time (and there are several places I return to again and again), the decision factors are Cost and Safety. Tour groups are great for safety if you are going someplace for the first time, but the “single supplement” often makes it cost prohibitive. The hospitality industry has made great strides in catering to singletons, but it is still easier to manage travel in pairs. In fact, there are a couple of tour groups that were created to solve this problem – they manage guided tours for women and will hook you up with a traveling partner. I still might do that someday.
Last winter, my friend K posted a question on Facebook:
Can a single woman go to the Caribbean for Spring Break and feel safe without spending a fortune? There was a really good discussion thread that concluded..not really. I lamented that she is on a school district schedule, or I’d invite her to winter vacation with me. But late February is as long as I can wait before getting cabin fever in Chicago.
This past Spring, I decided to plan a trip to Europe and I immediately thought of K. We went to high school together, and I can’t say we were particularly tight; “inside school friends” as opposed to “neighborhood friends”. But I’ve always liked her and she has the same problem I have and she lives in the next town over and why in hell haven’t I seen her in 20 years?
So I sent her a message with my thinking and asked if she wanted to have coffee and talk it over. She agreed and we met on a Sunday at the coffee shop in our hometown.
We didn’t shut up for three hours.
Then we traded messages about places we thought we’d want to go and found plenty of common ground. We found flights and hotels and sketched out an itinerary. We’re going to do this.
I really love Facebook.
The Next Dark Age 