These travelers have discovered the solo travel. “I thought it would be flattering, but it wasn’t”

Marlou Janssen (64) has been on a single trip at least twenty times. The first time to Morocco. It was a tip from a friend after Janssen was single again after 37 years. It actually didn’t seem like anything, such a group trip for single people or people who travel alone. Janssen thought it would be “flattering” of people who were all out for love. “But that wasn’t. It is just people who don’t want to travel alone, just like me. I have to be able to talk to someone when I travel, share the events.”

In the beginning she booked a room for herself alone, but she quickly abandoned it. “It is much nicer to sleep with someone in the room, then you already have a buddy with whom you go through the day in the evening.”

You don’t have to keep a friend every trip, but with some you still get a bond

In the meantime she has many single trips on it: to Norway, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and South Africa, among others. “You would almost say that I am addicted to single trips.”

What makes it so much fun? “It’s like I’m back in time, my childhood go on a school trip. Sitting on the back of the couch, having fun. And you get to know people from all kinds. You don’t have to keep a friend about every trip, but with some you still get a band.”

Janssen is enthusiastic, but she also realizes that such a journey is not for everyone. “If you are very punctual and it is difficult to adjust, then you have a problem.”

The popularity of Solo Reizen increased enormously during the Coronopandemie. There were 1.6 million Dutch people who were only on vacation in 2019, in 2023 there were no fewer than 2.6 million, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Last year the number fell a bit, to 1.69 million.

Zoom in

Belgium

Manon Boonman (30) does not see himself not so quickly with a group trip. “I like to be on my own and do my own thing. With a group you really have to come along. I would only consider it if I really want to go to a certain destination.”

This summer, Boonman plans to load the tent in the car, take the dog and drive towards Belgium or Luxembourg. She is out, but not too far away. Because she loves going on holiday alone, but also notices after a few days that she thinks it is a bit lonely. “After day four or five, I realize that I cannot share it with anyone. I would not leave my own for two weeks, I think that is too long.”

I wouldn’t leave my own for two weeks, I think that’s too long

Too bad, she would like to make a bigger trip. At the age of eighteen she followed a English language course in Malta and a few years later Chinese in Shanghai. That was a great way to go on holiday alone, but to get to know new people in a classroom.

“But especially in China I have felt lonely,” says Boonman. “Since then I no longer have the need to go very far away on my own.”

Vlieland

In 2012, Liesbeth Rasker (37) traveled alone for the first time. Two months, to Mongolia, China, New Zealand and San Francisco. “Immediately in it,” she laughs. “I’m not sure if I would recommend that others, I don’t think so.” Rasker has now been on many solo trips and written two books about it, including Solo travel: How to defy the world on your own.

She thought it was magical. “This can, on your own, go somewhere and really like it. I also thought it was tough. I was a young twenties, who, like all the other young people in their twenties, was uncertain about anything and everything. And now I managed to go on my own in a bus from Shanghai to a market in a country estate.”

Solo Reizen is not for everyone, so Rasker does not think that everyone should try it. “But if the alternative is that you don’t go on vacation, that’s a shame. You don’t have to go to Mongolia, you can also just go to Italy, Germany or Belgium. It’s nice to go on holiday and it’s good for your self -confidence to go alone. Wherever you are: you are always at home within 24 hours nowadays.”

I often don’t read a letter when I go out to dinner, because I’m on the solo gossips

Not everyone immediately dares to travel solo and Rasker advises to keep it close to home. “Practice with a weekend in Antwerp or Vlieland. Go to a museum in another city for an afternoon. Feel what that is like. Start small, that is sometimes liberating.”

A question that Rasker often gets is: how do you do that with eating out? She has two tips. The first is to bring a book and a travel diary. You can read in your book or keep your adventures in your diary. “And otherwise choose a table at the bar, or sit in a corner with your back to the wall so that you can oversee the case. Then you can gossip with yourself: what is a first date, what is a last one? Who is arguing? I often don’t read a letter when I go out to eat, because I am going to eat it Solo Gossips Ben. ” In addition, you are often ready to eat on your own.

To share





Mail the editors