My mother walked me across the street to the facade of Public School 9. A stranger directed first graders to a classroom, full of mysterious things. We sat in wooden seats with an attached pull up desk top. I was 5 and terrified and promptly pee’d in my pants.
I recall that moment and the extreme relief at going home for lunch. Day two in First Grade was different and wonderful; we learned our first ABC’s.
This was my first ‘solo trip’. It is similar to how many feel when they book a first solo trip.
A first solo traveler asks all the usual questions. She is usually nervous and avoids personal worrisome details. Bathrooms? Who is in charge? Who are the ‘classmates’, older/younger/richer/fancier? What travel experience do they have? Will I be safe? Will the group accept me?
Here is how to navigate a first trip. Choose a trip in a single or few hotels like Tuscany Cooking and Seeing with 7 nights in a 10 bedroom farmhouse. or Santa Fe in the US. You can nest in your room and possibly sleep better.
Be frank about your worries. We are all ‘girls’ here. We all need bathrooms on the road and some of us also get car sick, have allergies, avoid gluten in Sicily or salt in Spain etc. We can all look pretty awful after a restless night.
Trust your 24/7 tour manager; she/he is an expert and has heard it all. Tour managers study the itinerary and prepare for our group’s unique needs. The TM is a clone of Mrs. Levine, my First Grade teacher. She showed us a real apple for A and made butter from cream for B. She smiled continuously for 4 hours noting who was tearful.
Some women are shy or newly single; there is no obligation to talk or share anything personal. Your only obligation (as in First Grade) is to show up on time, be polite and, if called on to reconfirm a flight, to answer.
Who are these other women? They are like you, love to travel, tired of asking friends, trustful of our company and from every background. They are casual, friendly, helpful and are also coming alone. Some have never traveled; others worked and lived overseas. Some are super fit; everyone is mobile, but not Olympic athletes. Everyone has their politics; vacation, like First Grade, is no place for arguments.
Your fellow travelers also have families who question safety of travel and who don’t want you to go.
The First Graders at PS9 wore dog tags on steel necklaces. The dog tags had name, religion and I think, home address. The tag was because we attended elementary school during maximum nuclear war fears. Our mothers trusted that PS 9 officials would keep us safe. We practiced sitting under our desks and on the stairs.
So much for that last sentence about being kept safe. But that was then and this is now. Make your now what you want it to be. Travel tips from The Women’s Travel Group, award winning small group tours for women. We are still booking trips which suit first timers! Call us 646 309 5607
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