I went to Israel alone from the West Coast. I'd been there before with a friend and stayed in the same place. There were other people coming to the place, so I knew I wouldn't be totally alone once I got there. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Decide the one thing you would love to do or learn, then find a place that fits that need.

If spending time in spa, fine.

But if you have always wanted to learn pottery, stained glass, cooking or writing skills, etc. there are plenty of places that have week long classes that might work for you.

eta: we have traveled a lot. We have seen what we need to see. Staying in a quiet cabin is good for us.

The best one was a very long solo road trip to the national parks in Utah. I loved every minute of it!

Terriks, you are adventurous! I am most likely looking for an alone-alone trip. I do travel with friends too but I’m really looking for a week on my own — just to see what it’s like!

Like Terriks, I travel alone quite a bit, but many times meet up with others. England, Scotland, Wales was a rail/drive trip alone. Then a friend living in England went with me to Ireland. France was solo trips in the past, but meeting up with friends this year. Last year I did 3 weeks in Peru where I was a solo traveler in a group. Eons ago I was the sole adult traveling with my young son and one or the other of his cousins, mostly camping: MI, WI, SD, ND, MT, NV, AZ, CA and HI.

Have t done alone-alone travel since college. The closest was taking a walking tour in Yorkshire before I started dating my now-DH. I traveled alone, was randomly placed with a roommate. Except for the married couple, the mother-daughter pair (all from England) and the 3 teachers from Germany, no one knew each other. We were from several countries and had a great time walking for a week.

I have, when traveling with DH on business, spent time in a city by myself, but that's not quite the same thing. And I don't think I'd want to, I'd rather join a class or a project or, really, another walking group. I need the structure.

I think that taking some kind of class is a great way to travel solo.. You have a group of people that you can interact with as much as you want. The best thing about traveling alone is being able to do what you want when you want, and not feeling responsible for anyone else.

I have never traveled totally alone, nor do I have a desire to. Nor has my husband, although we've both traveled without the other with friends. As mentioned above, I have traveled with the mister and we've done our own thing (especially if I went with him on business), but that's as alone as I've done. LOL Nothing against those who want to go the solo route, but it's just not my thing. My husband and I travel well together and we are pretty spontaneous, prefer no agenda, which is why we don't cruise and rarely do tours. Terriks, you remind me of my mom. She loved to travel but my dad is a real homebody. She went on many trips with friends or groups. Once my dad retired, he was a little more relaxed about traveling, but he still didn't like to be away from home for long.

As for an anniversary trip, is there somewhere that has special meaning to you? Somewhere you've both been wanting to go but haven't yet?

I am reading a book about this now called, “Tales of a Female Nomad” by Rita Golden Gelman. The book is great, she took many more risks than I would be comfortable with. I would like to travel to Italy alone, I want to spend a week in the Vatican.

I noticed that you mentioned the Turks and Caicos. I recently went and it was very beautiful.

I used to travel alone when I was single if I wanted to see a concert. I'd go to the city where I live now or to Myrtle Beach House of Blues.

The most adventurous thing I did was when I was giving a presentation in central China as part of a group, I planned a few extra days in Beijing solo. Lots of help from everyone here. I stayed at the Grand Hyatt that had a lot of English speaking staff and guests, I paid through the hotel for a valet to meet me at the airport and take me to the hotel, and then I had a one-on-one travel guide for my tours who arranged everything. It really was great and I always felt comfortable during my stay. I did pretty much all the touristy things: Great Wall, Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City, Summer Place, and Temple of Heaven. Knowing that crime is very low and there are no guns helps a lot for peace of mind. Thirteen hour flight back from Beijing to Detroit, then connecting home.

When I was working, I traveled a lot and probably 70% of my trips were solo. The others were with co-workers who were likely on the same plane as me and then we often were close associates staying in the same hotel and going to the same meetings. The times I was solo I didn’t mind it at all, even when I was overseas. My personal time was my own and I relished the quiet time or the opportunity to explore a new city or places I had not visited.

For an anniversary trip, have you been to the Canadian Rockies? I’m thinking Banff, Lake Louise, and that area. Very scenic and you could also pick up one of the rail tours and stay in the historic hotels (Banff Springs) and drive to some of the other locations on the way back to Vancouver.

I was also a child bride ;)

I have never traveled without my husband. Feels odd to say that and why am I commenting? Because I'm in awe of those who can just take off and go to all these wonderful places...

I can't for a few reasons, but I always read these threads with joy and a bit of envy :)

I imagine, if I was alone, I would be wandering around lost all the time (I'm one who can't find her way out of a paper bag)...

So many places I travel via the internet tho...one I would especially love to see in person..

In Thailand..

Lots of places both domestic and international when I traveled for work but always with DH for fun and vacation. I wouldn't mind some vacation travel by myself. I would just pick an interesting place I'd like to see and off I'd go. For me personally a spa trip wouldn't be of interest. Maybe somewhere warm if it was the middle of winter but there would have to be something interesting to see and do as I get bored lounging around the beach/pool very long.

For anniversary trip, how about getting to Venice on the Orient Express. There is a fancy train for seeing Scotland as well, Flying Scottsman, i think. I havent done these yet but DH is very keen to try. We’ll wait a few years when the children are on their own, they roll their eyes bigly at the mention of such. Too Disney, they decry.

For solo trip, i enjoyed a trip to Chicago on my own not long agao. Lots of architecture and art. Not very adventurous, but fun for three days solo.

Ohhh...Banff and Lake Louise are on our bucket list! That’s an idea.

Problem is, DH is an avid (sometimes obsessive) photographer and I’m afraid an anniversary trip there would turn into a photo expedition for him. But really that’s true for any of our vacations.

In 27 years of parenting, we have only traveled without kids a handful of times — mostly long weekends, and only one full week (20th anniversary to Paris). We’ve taken our kids all over, though —in the US and Europe and even Korea. We are going to Santa Fe in Oct for 10 days, after our “baby” leaves for college. I can’t even picture a trip that long w/out kids!

I do like the idea of a crafty/class angle for my solo trip. Something with some structure but also plenty of downtime.

Many years ago I spent a few weeks in workshops at Arrowmont in TN. Nothing fancy when it came to housing, but the classes and people I met were wonderful.

Arrowmont

Oh goodness I see maddielee just posted a few moments ago and I am glad I get to see that suggestion. That arrowmont looks so interesting. I don't know that I will do it but its one of those things that makes me grateful for this forum. The things we become aware of thanks to the goodness of posters. Intriguing. Who knew??

I spent 6 months in Europe, only meeting or staying with friends 1/3 of that time. This was 30 years ago (1989) and pre-Euro. One downside was having to wait in line to exchange currency in every country and wait in line again to find lodging, it would have been nice to have someone to split those tasks. Nowadays the money exchange wouldn’t be an issue. And at my age, I would pre-book the lodging and not just wing it.

I also spent 2 weeks in Japan alone.

Since marriage, I’ve spent weeks in our vacation place alone and I go to Europe every year, mostly without him, but I meet up with family so I’m not alone. I don’t like to be apart from him for more than 2 weeks. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Maddie, I am totally going to Arrowmont!! At least once.

You guys are almost in my backyard! Arrowmont is a neat little artsy/crafty community. Right at the base of our beautiful Smoky Mountains.

New Zealand, Australia, Washington DC, Philadelphia, NYC and many cities in TX. From a couple of days to one month. Those were mostly in years before kids. With cell phones and the internet, you can stay in touch easier now -- and research anywhere you want to go.

My DH is somewhat travel averse, so I have traveled a lot by myself, but always in the US. We've done some trips together to Mexico-once to climb some volcanoes-but that was over 25 years ago. I've been to Europe without him, but was with another couple.

I have come to realize over the last 10 years or so that DH will never be comfortable traveling abroad, both physically and emotionally. (He is very, very fit, but has some orthopedic issues which make sitting for long periods of time, unpleasant, at best.) I am sorry about this, because half the fun of traveling is sharing new (or old/ancient/beautiful) things with him. But I understand.

There are lots of places I would like to go, and will eventually go by myself.

No advice re anniversary trips. Our 30th is this August as well.

I've always travelled a lot for my job and when I was single I tried to turn nearly every trip into a long weekend. So I have been alone in many places, although being alone when you are single is different because sometimes you do ...ahem... meet someone. I am not uncomfortable being alone, but I usually find it boring after day or two. Based on my experience, then, I would go on some sort of educational or culinary or outdoors trip with a group. For example, I've always wanted to do a Backroads trip. I also have a friend who specializes in luxury travel, and she has organized a few "luxury wellness retreats for women." One of them I've considered is in Morocco.

One question to ask yourself is, if DH is into photography, what are you in to? Without having to consider others, what would you find the most fun? You could also consider voluntourism.

As far as an anniversary trip, do what i just did. One of my kids has an app called "been there". I used it to enter every place we have been. It then creates like a 3-d spinning globe and shows you where you "missed!" Based on that, I have some new ideas. For example, I am missing a whole swath of (true) Eastern Europe, from Estonia to Latvia to Poland to Slovakia and Slovenia. That is now on our list.

Other ideas. Maybe it is not so much where you go as how. For example, I have been to Paris many times. But renting a Paris apartment for a month and living there, enjoying the quotidian, might be a totally different experience. Same for living in a bungalow in, say, Costa Rica.

How about training for a certain big trip together, like a big bike tour or climbing a mountain? Happiness researchers say anticipating vacation is a large part of the satisfaction we get from travel. ETA -- I was trying to remember and just looked it up, I always wanted to do the Milford Track.http://vivalifestyleandtravel.com/new-zealand/health-and-fitness/list/best-hikes

How about Antarctica? We went just to tick the box on Continent 7, but we all loved it.

A luxury cruise? The Amazon?

Those little huts on stilts in the South Pacific?

Once I rented a cabin on a lake in New Hampshire for a week by myself. I’ve also rented a cottage on Cape Cod. I go alone but the owner/ neighbor has become my friend. I also would tack a couple days onto business trips and saw Monterey that way, and parts of a Florida. In NYC, I’d always go to the TKTS booth and get a ticket to a show. Another time I went back to visit my college and then visited the Ithaca NY area. I went on a trip to Italy alone but it was a tour so I made friends.