From Flakes to Friends: Navigating Solo Adventures

It never used to bother me, but now, as I've gotten older, I don't like traveling alone.

On the Flakes Trips, if I don't take a date, I don't feel like I'm alone because I know that I can go anywhere on the resort and run into another of the 140 people who came with us for a week of fun in the sun.

This occurred to me Saturday when I ran to Great Falls for the night. I got a cheaper motel that didn't have a restaurant. I didn't have to eat alone because I had friends in town. But back at the motel, it's just you and the remote control. I must watch a lot of TV because I have seen everything that was on already.

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There are good parts about traveling alone, like leaving when you want and not having to wait for anybody to get ready before you can leave. I can shut the TV off whenever I'm ready. And when it's just me, it's only one trip hauling luggage in from the vehicle.

But alone, there's nobody to have breakfast with and chat. It's just you.

And keep in mind, with today's technology, you've got your electronic gadgets and social media. I've been traveling since before any of that was invented. Come to think of it, I didn't have air conditioning in any of those early vehicles either.

When I retire, I guess that I'm going to have to hire somebody to travel with. She'll need to be good at finding places and bad at golf.