Solo travel.  First of all, Happy Easter to all and especially to my Christian friends out there who are celebrating this special day!  Today, I’m writing about solo travel. Perhaps a minister could fashion a sermon based on the words “solo travel” but I’m gonna write about the more pragmatic and worldly aspects of those two words.  I traveled alone to Germany last year.  And I traveled “all by myself” with my wife’s blessing.  I am of the more pragmatic though some would say pessimistic ilk and I learn lessons from observing others.  My parents were going to travel when my dad retired.  My mom died when she was forty-six years old.  My dad died with dementia years later and could not/would not fully enjoy the benefits of such an adventure.  They never got to travel.  So much for putting off something you want to do believing you will be able to do it later.  I have been guilty of the same mindset all these years.  Given my current health, age, and the world situation, I believe the time to travel is NOW.  There may not be another chance.  Tomorrow is not a given.  I have traveled alone in the past but was always working at the travel destination.  Or, during 2011, I traveled for two weeks in Germany in search of work.  Never purely for vacation.  The stated purpose for my 2012 travel to Germany was to travel simply for pleasure and scouting potential venues for the honeymoon my wife and I never had--well, maybe some research as well and I made daily entries in a journal about it.   It’s hard for workaholics to quit cold turkey but I’m trying. 

Traveling solo was a novel experience for me.  I am the eldest child—those who are the eldest child know what the position entails for the entirety of your life--sacrifice.  I have, especially in the past thirty years, held positions of great responsibility requiring the utmost ethical behavior.   I recently read on the solo travel blog this life-changing quote regarding reasons for seniors to travel solo:  “Revert to your personality rather than your role in family or community.”    What a fantastic, freeing, personal-world-changing concept!  To interact and be accepted (or rejected) by others based solely on my personality rather than my role—that changes my sorrow about not sharing the trip with my wife and my heavy guilt about spending funds solely on me from negative to a positive separate paradigm of open-ended discovery which hopefully could lead to a better me and ultimately benefitting my family.  Does this travelling solo mean I will radically change my behavior while away from home such as getting drunk, risky behavior not befitting my physical or mental capabilities, getting into altercations, etc.?  Of course not.  But, I will be able to uninhibitedly get into conversations with folks I don’t know, learn a lot about all kinds of things from others’ perspectives, make mistakes to include the inevitable cultural faux pas which will be hilarious in hindsight, and do things on my own schedule according to my own wishes instead of a lifelong practice of adhering to schedules, constant compromise, and placing the desires of others above mine. It’s a great adventure that should be done at least once and I highly recommend it.  Have any of ya’ll gone the solo travel route?  Give us you insights in the Comments section please!

Travel backpack.You’ll notice I will talk about my backpack a lot.  I’m a one bag traveler.  My experience, and the experience of lots of other travelers to Europe, is that the best travel strategy is to take only one carry-on piece of luggage.  Just one.  That’s all.  This strategy frees you up to quickly go through customs (no waiting at the terminal for your other bags and no worry about someone stealing them), no worry about the airlines losing your bags (or one of the staff stealing from them), no paying extra for luggage, you can travel on public transportation instead of getting a more expensive taxi, you don’t have to lug heavy bags over cobblestone or up steps to your hotel  which may or may not have an elevator, you don’t have the problem of rapidly boarding and exiting a bus or train with all that luggage, and you will just be more comfortable because the extra luggage and consequent logistics is something you don’t have to worry about.  And you get to feel downright intelligent watching other folks struggle with their bags as you relax with that smug look on your face.  Since I do have some backpacking experience, pack weight reduction is something always on my mind.  The challenge for me is to pack for up to one month using only a relatively small pack.  This means I have to justify everything that makes it into my pack.  Keep in mind, the pack must meet airline carry-on size and weight standards.  Mine is around 3100 cubic inches and weighs in at around twenty-five pounds fully packed.  I call it my “work horse pack.” I hope you can see this link:  http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/military-style-modular-field-pack.aspx?a=792483 I got the black one (don't want my bag to look like military equipment) and I highly recommend the pack you choose has a hip belt.  The belt takes some of the strain off your back.   Doesn’t matter what your full pack weighs, it will eventually get annoying to say the least.  Get one with a hip belt.  Trust me on this.  Of course, I also wear a hidden moneybelt to always keep my passport, credit card(s), and funds on my person.  Only the funds I need for the day go in my pocket so a pickpocket will not ruin my vacation--only a part of that particular day.

Because I’m taking only one bag, every effort must be made to reduce its weight as much as possible while making sure I have as many of the essentials as possible.  Some essentials, like my Leatherman tool, cannot be packed because it has a knife beyond the accepted length so it won’t get by the folks at TSA.  I’ll have to get one that will be acceptable as I feel somewhat naked without a pocket knife—I’ve carried one for over fifty years.  Prior to the recent decision by TSA to relent a bit on knives, I’ve even considered (but did not do it) sharpening the edge of a defunct credit card to use as a knife hoping it won’t be noticed in my wallet as a sharp instrument.  Of course, there is the old method of using dental floss as a saw to cut easy things like cheese.  So, I have been and will  continually be working on paring down pack weight.  For example, I remove the contents of my really neat multi-pocketed shaving kit because the kitbag itself weighs much more than a gallon-sized Ziploc freezer bag which becomes the new kitbag.  One school of thought is not to pack toiletries at all because you can purchase them at your destination.  My experience, however, is that such things cost more overseas and I already have the stuff so why not use it up before buying more of same.  Sometimes a small mirror comes in very handy but it would take up too much room and add unnecessary weight to the pack.  My solution is a bit novel and also satisfies my emergency preparedness mindset a bit.  You can buy a mirrored cell phone screen protector.  Got mine on sale at an internet site for a couple dollars.  So my smart-phone is a mirror to be used for grooming and also a non-electronic emergency signal device if necessary in addition to being a phone and mini-computer.  I also pack an extremely lightweight daypack which will see use as a daily carry pack while touring (work horse backpack stays at lodging whenever possible).  I have an Eagle Creek packable daypack for that purpose.  It weighs 6.5 ounces, is rugged, functional enough, and takes up little room in the pack or pocket http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Creek-Packable-Daypack-Black/dp/B003CKMTWW/ref=sr_1_1?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1364604259&sr=1-1&keywords=eagle+creek+packable+daypack .  That way, I reduce the possibility of losing just about everything if my work horse pack gets lost or stolen and I have the added benefit of less weight to carry when schlepping through the city/countryside.  I bought a fantastic travel vest called a Scottevest with lots of pockets which  also reduces the pack weight as I can carry some essential items in the vest most of the time often negating even the use of my lightweight day pack.  http://www.scottevest.com/v3_store/Travel_Vest.shtml  Rick Steves has a great website and advice on packing light at this URL:  http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/pack-light.htm  And here’s another great link on the subject:  http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/packing-and-accessories/the-carry-on-challenge-how-to-pack-light-every-time.  Consider this concept.  I believe you’ll be won over.  Whaddaya think? 

I’m new to blogging as the blogger.  I read blogs daily and have decided to contribute more than the occasional sentence or two to discussions on subjects that interest me.  So please bear with me as I muddle through.   A good piece of advice I was once given is to listen to what each person has to say as they may give you just the piece of information you’re looking for or may need at some time in the future—but that nugget sometimes has to be mined from lot of other info presented.  You may find that very nugget of info as you work your way through this blog.  I sincerely hope so.  I’m going to try to put some ads on the site which may help in funding.   I can use this funding to help in research and gear.  So help a fella out, will ya?  If you enjoy reading and participating in the blog, please, let your friends (but not your enemas, er, enemies) know about it and post links.  The more folks participating in the blog, the more info we can all share and use.  If I review an item, I’ll try to put up a link and maybe even a youtube link if I can.  I do reserve the right to moderate comments for trolling, spamming, and pissin’ contests that get out of hand or could result in some sort of lawsuit.  The way I envision it, we’re all sittin’ around in a virtual living room talkin’ about travel.  Folks have something to contribute so we should all do our best to be good guests.

In addition to my own writing and views, I hope to present guest articles and interviews.  A lot of folks I know have great travel experience and knowledge I think all of us can use.  Most of my recent travel has been in Germany so I’ll be talking about that often.  So what’s on the docket?  An interview with an honest to goodness, been there done that, genuine world traveler with decades of experience as a solo traveler.  An interview with a couple who travel often in my region with insights on staying at bed & breakfasts and local weekend traveling.  I’m working on picking the brain of an acquaintance close to my age who stays in hostels in Germany (multiple trips) and, like me, loves walking.  An interview with a former colleague who told me a couple decades ago that he planned to be a beach bum upon retirement and did.  He travels the coast and the waves—it should be an interesting interview.  An interview with another former colleague with entertaining insights on everything about places he and his family have traveled to.  There are others I hope to cajole into contributing also.  Of course, I’m hoping the readers here will contribute as well.  Obviously the opinions expressed are solely those of the person expressing them i.e. not particularly me (except for my opinions, eh?).

My first post.  Woo-hoo!  Why a travel blog?  Well folks, I hope to share interesting things I learn related to travel.  A bit about me so you can see from my perspective.  I'm in my late 50's.  I'm retired military and am an investigator by trade.  I'm a close-up magician by hobby.  I speak West Virginian primarily, followed by American English, and passable Korean and German.  I'm currently learning Italian.  I write like I talk so apologies in advance to strict grammarians.  Last kid is leaving the nest in May of this year so my wife and I will finally be free to travel--within budget constraints of course.  Like my grandfather who was a hobo during the Great Depression, I have wanderlust which must be satisfied from time to time.  I have met interesting folks during my travels and as an investigator.  I hope to post some interviews with them for a broader travel view.  As I age, I find some physical things become more difficult and I must confess to paying more attention to comfort than when I was younger.  So I plan to do reviews on gear I have found to be useful.  In that vein, I'm fast becoming a fan of the hiking ultralight movement and gear.  I like to do research on places I want to travel to so I plan to provide interesting links when I find them.  Ya'll are welcome to come visit me here on the blog and join the discussion.  Let's explore together!