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Solo Travel Dos and Don’ts
solo travel dos and don'ts
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Friends, Figs, and Fruitful Frolics
It was the night of the supermoon and the three of us took to the water like wild nymphs full of giddy, nervous energy, offerings in hand. Three figs, one for each of us, and the branch of a fig tree that was collateral in our foraging. Our hands found each other, trusting and certain. It was just us, our breathing, the water, and the moon as witness. Swimming in dark moonlit water that felt like shadows and looked like glassy, luminous mercury made me feel like I was soaking up the moon’s beams and power. I pumped my arms as though I was making a snow angel on the…
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Advice From Around The World
You can become best friends with someone at a hostel within a night. The beauty of solo travel is getting to experience the openness and inherent goodness of humanity because you’re surrounded by people who have the same hunger for life and connection. So many people made lasting impressions on me while solo traveling— whether through fleeting moments found in a common tongue while offering to take someone’s photo or lasting hostel friendships that survive the journey home. My most prized possession on my travels was a little blue book from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, printed with his Almond Blossoms. It came with me everywhere because I wanted…
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The Friends I Made in Bologna
I could walk the streets of Bologna in my sleep. My route into the city from the little studio apartment I rented near Giardini Margherita is as familiar to me as my walk to elementary school. The park, the old city gate, two of my favorite gelaterias ever, Via Guerrazzi to walk to class, lots of oranges and browns and reds, Piazza Santo Stefano, and then the heart of the city: the Due Torri and Piazza Maggiore. Part of why Bologna is so special to me is because of the people I met there. It took time to find my people, but the ones that stuck with me— Julie, Lien,…
