Sick = short on posts. Fortunately, Ginger of Ramble Ramble has another prompt: Do you/have you traveled solo? What do you like about it? What don’t you like? What makes it so different from traveling with other people?
I’ve traveled a lot–I’ve been to 49 of the 50 states, and every continent except South America and Antarctica. But nearly all of that travel has been with family or friends.
When I moved to New Jersey, I thought I’d travel a lot. Airlines (at least at that point) offered great last-minute weekend fares to Europe–and I’d be so close to JFK!
But then the California-based Mr. Sandwich and I started our long-distance relationship, and that meant that if my flights weren’t taking me to San Antonio to visit my parents and brother, they were taking me to Los Angeles to visit him.
Before that, though, I did manage to plan and go on one weekend getaway.
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I was able to find an affordable work-in-progress B&B right on the Hudson River, in a town called Rhinecliff. (Rhinecliff is just a couple of miles from the–at least locally–much better-known town of Rhinebeck. Neither of them is pictured here.)
The drive up is aptly identified as scenic, and I took my time driving along the back roads (not even Route 9, but 9-D).
Based on a brief stop that I never repeated, the town of Cold Harbor (also not pictured here) may be my dream spot. If it isn’t, keep it to yourself.
At this juncture, I can’t tell you much about either Rhinecliff or Rhinebeck, but I did visit a number of historic houses: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s childhood home of Springwood, where he is buried; the Vanderbilt House, which is so rigidly symmetrical that it is ugly; and Val-Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt’s retreat where I apparently took no pictures.
I also spent one day with one of the co-authors of a textbook I was editing; when she learned that I was going to be in the area, she insisted that I drive over and join her. She was prickly on paper, but I really had a great time with her and a couple of her friends who were also visiting.
My main memories of the weekend are that I got to explore an area that I might otherwise not have (it was a little far for a day trip, particularly with that many sites), that I was able to choose what I did and to set my own pace, and that it was a little lonely, particularly in the evenings.
And in spite of the loneliness, I wish I’d done more of that while I was in that part of the country, because there are places I meant to explore but never got anywhere near (Finger Lakes, Montauk, the Adirondacks).
So I guess I’ll have to go back someday and discover them with Mr. Sandwich and Baguette.
I have to travel solo every once in a while for work. I like it because it is only a couple times a year. I miss my son, but having a hotel room all to myself, room service (on the expense of the employer) plus TV and wifi totally feels like a vacation. And ohmigosh, SLEEP. Guaranteed through-the-night sleep is a luxury.
Every time I’ve traveled for work, I’ve been traveling with someone–often a group. I did always get my own room, though. But my current job doesn’t involve travel, so I haven’t been on a business trip in probably 11 or 12 years at this point.
I travelled by myself quite a lot back in the day and loved the independence of it coupled with meeting new people and walking with them for a while. I love holidaying with my boys and visiting family but I do get the occasional urge to try something a bit more adventurous like river rafting/ camping or an extended bush trip; the kind of stuff everyone else isnt into as much. Yet. …they’ll come round 🙂
That sounds great!
Lovely pictures!!!
Thanks! These were film shots; I scanned the prints.