Solo travel should make all church members think
With Spring almost sprung, it’s high time for small talk to turn to travel: ‘Are you going away this year?’ The real question, though, is are you going alone? 2024 is, according to Forbes magazine, the year of the solo traveller. The Association of British Travel Agents reported that 16% of trips booked last year were solo – up from 6% in 2011 – and the trend looks likely to continue.
I have one old friend who is a serial solo-tripper. He waxes lyrical about the ease of travelling on his own: he can decide where he wants to go, how long he wants to stay there, what to eat, and when. A recent article in The Guardian celebrating the rise of the older female solo traveller picked up on many of the same benefits: ‘It’s a midweek morning and I’ve just woken up in a hotel room in Madrid on the first day of a mini-break. The day stretches deliciously ahead: shall I go first to the Prado, or the Reina Sofía museum? Shall I have brunch and a late-afternoon main meal, or tapas here and there? … The fact is, I can do exactly what I want, when I want, because I’m holidaying alone.’
