Dear Friends,

Reading so many of your posts, I feel compelled to share my experience of solo travel with you.

I was 43 when I decided to do 'it' -- quit job, cash in pension, sell off car and furniture... and buy a one-way ticket to Cape Town. I spent a year planning, reading up on Africa, buying the 'can't live without it' widgets (all of which would be traded along the way).

Once ready, I didn't look back. Apart from landing in South Africa in shorts and a T-shirt in the middle of what I thought was their summer (so much for in-depth research) things went more or less according to plan.

I wrote my way up the spine of Africa for a year, then across to Southeast Asia (with detours to the Baltic and Cuba) for two more. There were times I was scared -- usually on public transport, and particularly when the drivers were drunk or high.

There were times I was lonely -- usually late at night, when I was the only foreigner in a town whose name I'd never heard before, with larger-than-life insects for company. When I became too lonely, I sought out other travelers, many of them steadfast friends today and one of whom is responsible for the job I now hold. When I became too scared, I got on email (I had an early version laptop trapped in my backpack -- we're talking 1996) to touch base with friends and family. But never ever was I tempted to throw in the towel and go home.

Each day was a wonder -- no set plan, no route, only the wakeup call of the rooster or muezzin, depending on where I was, beckoning this next slice of my life. Work? Play? Beach? Book? Market? Museum? It was always up to me. I tasted the true freedom of the road and it's a feeling I will never forget.

Would I do it again? In an instant! If my daily life ever becomes a grind, I know there's a different world out there. The worst part of my trip? My own fears. I learned to leave them behind. You can too. Go for it, and enjoy!

Would you be willing to visit Mauritius sometime October/November? Or do you know of any females who would be wanting to visit this romantic island?

robin hood