Sometimes it’s wonderful to be on your own – just you, your car and the open road.
Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling with my partner and we do it very well together, but just occasionally the need to be a “lonesome” traveller overtakes me and I head for the hills. I pack my bakkie, turn up the music and put my foot down. The open road calls and the routes less travelled beckon.
Loving the lonely road
There’s something thrilling about driving alone along unknown roads and stopping to sleep wherever the fancy takes you. I always feel like a pioneer, trekking slowly through the hinterland and the excitement of what I may find never leaves me.
These days it’s so much easier to be a solo traveller, as accompanied by your laptop and mobile, there’s never any need to feel the lack of company. That’s a concept a lot of folk don’t get – travelling alone means just that, alone, not lonely! And it’s done by choice.
The lure of time out
Personally, I love to sit in restaurants and pubs and just observe people, hiding behind a book or feigning interest in my computer and making up stories about them – much easier when on your own and no conversation is required of you!
One of my best solo trips was to stay in a teepee outside Greyton in the Western Cape. With no-one around, it being out of season, I dreamt my days away imagining that I was an American Indian squaw going about her daily life!
Me, myself and I
Travelling as a single person though is often penalised with room rates being ridiculously high in comparison with double occupancy, although there are some places that do make allowances.
Now there’s an idea for a future hedonist-hippy guide – ‘the lonesome traveller’ which can highlight the places that care about the single traveller.
After a few days of exploring the beautiful countryside, re-charging batteries and wallowing selfishly in “me-time” it’s always good to head back to real life and the village I call home. Until the next time the lonesome road beckons.
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