Northern Peru: the Chacha circuit
The vast majority of visitors to the increasingly popular nation of Peru follow the southern tourist circuit, taking in the main sites of the Cusco area such as Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. They might extend their trip by heading to Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, or to Arequipa, gateway to the Colca Canyon. None of these places should be missed; Peru has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and its kind-hearted population will give you a warm welcome.
Machu Picchu
Since I first visited Peru back in 1995, tourist infrastructure and its reliability has improved, along with the food that makes the country one of South America’s most enticing culinary destinations. But the north remains overlooked, despite having ruins that easily rival those of the south in terms of interest but can be seen minus the crowds. Visiting Chachapoyas and its surrounding attractions doesn’t have to push the south out of your itinerary completely.
Chachapoyas’ cathedral in the Plaza de Armas
Here’s my lowdown on extending your visit; to take in all the places I mentioned you’ll need between five days and a week.
Getting there
Chachapoyas has its own airport. It just doesn’t have any flights. There are plans to begin commercial flights (LAN looks like the most likely contender) but in the meantime, getting there involves flying either to Tarapoto on the edge of the Amazon or to the Inca city of Cajamarca. Both are well served by flights from Lima with airlines like LAN, Star Peru and LC Busre, but both routes entail a long bus ride on to Chachapoyas. I took a day bus from Tarapoto to Chachapoyas, which was about an eight-hour ride and an overnight bus from Chachapoyas on to Cajamarca, a bone shaking ten hours including a change of bus in the middle of the night.
On the way from Tarapoto
Buses are rarely completely full on the Tarapoto to Chachapoyas route and it is usually possible to catch a bus without pre-booking. Usually, it’s necessary to take the bus as far as the town of Pedro Ruiz. Passengers heading for Chachapoyas are then escorted a few metres up the main street and take a colectivo (shared minibus) for the rest of the journey. These leave when full but you don’t normally have to wait long. Some days you can also catch a tourist shuttle direct to Chachapoyas but check locally to see if it is running. The Virgen Del Carmen overnight bus from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca runs from Calle Salamanca, a couple of blocks north of the Plaza de Armas and it is wise to book a day in advance. There is plenty of information online about this being a day bus but at the time I travelled only the overnight service was operational. Again check locally; schedules alter, and if you can get a day bus to Cajamarca the scenery will take your mind off the condition of the road.
Plaza de Armas, Chachapoyas
Chachapoyas
Chacha, as it is commonly known by travellers, is a small and easily manageable town with an attractive main square. The town has a few minor attractions itself, including the pretty Huancas Gorge just outside of town just a little way past the airport turn off.
Huancas Gorge
Any taxi driver will take you there and wait for a reasonable fare. There’s also a charming adobe church in the sleepy plaza.
The adobe church in Huancas
The other unmissable site (for a foodie at least) is the marvellous Tierra Mia Cafe, adjacent to the Hostal Casa Vieja on Calle Chincha Alta, a block from the main square. The coffee is excellent and the food, especially their pastries and desserts, the best in town.
Get out of town
But the main draw of Chacha is not what’s in town, it’s what’s nearby. There are three unmissable attractions in the Chachapoyas area: Kuelap, Karajia and Gocta Falls. Surrounding the square are a whole host of tour operators selling day excursions to the region’s most popular sites. In season, there are just enough visitors to make such tours viable but you might need to be flexible with your schedule in order to visit all the places you wish.
En route to Gocta Falls
Gocta Falls
One of the world’s highest waterfalls, Gocta is reached at the end of a strenuous hike which begins at the small village of Cocachimba, a short drive from Chacha.
The trail to Gocta Falls in dry season
The trek takes walkers up and over a densely forested hill on a path that is slippery and muddy even in dry season. The incline is so great that even locals puff, but fortunately horses can be rented for the worst part of the trail.
Horse relaxing after its trip to Gocta Falls
Along the way, the scenery is lush and from time to time, glimpses of Gocta Falls can be caught across the valley encouraging hikers to keep going. The Falls are situated in such a secluded location that they remained unknown outside the local area until 2005.
Gocta Falls
The ruined fortress of Kuelap
Kuelap is a ruined fortress dating, it’s thought, from around 600AD, its imposing stone walls punctuated by tumbledown staircases whose steps have been worn away over the centuries.
Kuelap Fortress
At the top, there are some interesting circular structures, one of which has been reconstructed with controversially more guesswork than historical knowledge, though with its photogenic thatched cone roof no one from the tourist board is really complaining.
Kuelap reconstruction
Llamas still wander through the extensive site, which as a result of its hilltop location offers dramatic views over the surrounding valleys.
Llama at Kuelap
Peru’s tourism ministry is beginning to market Kuelap as the “new” Machu Picchu and a cable car is likely to open in 2016 making it quicker to reach.
Kuelap
The sarcophagi of Karajia
Imagine the Easter Island moai, but shrunk and plonked halfway up a remote cliff. You might be getting close to imagining what Karajia’s sarcophagi are like.
The sarcophagi at Karajia
Around two feet tall and hollow inside, these clay figures housed mummies of the Chachapoyas tribe who lived in the area between 1000 and 1300AD but were only revealed to the outside world thirty years ago. Getting to Karajia is an adventure in itself; motorised transport can only get as far as the village of Cruzpata, from where it’s a steep climb down a gravel path to the cliffs where the sarcophagi are found.
Cruzpata village
Horses can be rented if you think your lungs won’t cope with the tough climb back to the village. Tours to Karajia are often combined with a visit to Quiocta Cavern.
The verdict
Despite the relatively small number of foreign tourists, the area around Chachapoyas is definitely worth a visit and the proliferation of tour operators in the town means that getting to the outlying sites is straightforward and cost-effective. Visitor numbers are slowly but steadily rising, however, so if you want to explore without sharing your experience with coachloads of others, now is the time to go.
Little Italy in The Bronx
“You walked from the subway? Did you come with a SWAT team?”
Jack was trying to be funny, I think, playing on the reputation of the South Bronx as dangerous. I was in his shop, DeCicco Brothers, on Arthur Avenue, where in true Italian style I had been embraced and welcomed as part of the family within about fifteen minutes of rocking up. There was no mistaking he was proud of his Italian heritage: the shop was packed with the distinctive blue of the national team’s football kit and piles of T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “I’m Italian, I can’t keep calm”. Low rise and lined with trees, this characterful street at the heart of Little Italy had more in common with leafy Greenwich Village than a gang-infested no-go zone.
Leafy Arthur Avenue
DeCicco’s best T-shirt
The Bronx has had a hard time shaking off its bad boy reputation. “The Bronx is burning” was a phrase coined in 1977 by the media (rather than sports commentator Howard Cosell to whom the phrased is wrongly credited). It referred to the many fires that burned that summer when ageing housing stock combined with closures of firehouses had horrific consequences. The closure in 1973 of the 3rd Avenue El, New York City’s last elevated railway, and the completion of urban planner Robert Moses’ Cross-Bronx Expressway a year earlier, had fractured a community. The social and economic problems that were to follow resulted in a reputation that’s been difficult to shift.
New York has a long history of Italian immigration. Between the 1870s and the 1920s, around 5 million Italians, the majority from the Mezzogiorno, came to the USA and around a third never made it any further than New York’s five boroughs. Little Italy in Manhattan, now a shadow of its former self, retains a smattering of restaurants that fool only the most gullible of tourists into thinking they are in a genuine Italian-American neighbourhood. In truth, the Italians have long since moved away and the area is gradually being assimilated into Chinatown. According to some reports, the 2010 census doesn’t record a single Italian-born individual living in this part of the city.
Elderly Italians outside Tino’s Delicatessen
Little Italy in the Bronx, in contrast, is thriving, a tiny oasis of cor-fee and mozzarella and prosciutto packed into a few streets of the Belmont district. At Tino’s Delicatessen I sipped a cinnamon-scented cappuccino in the company of four elderly gentlemen, their faces lined and puffy from years of pasta and hard living. Despite the warm November sunshine, they were heavily wrapped up against the elements. Pausing occasionally to apologise for the profanities which escaped their lips, they put the world to rights as they probably did every morning. I’m not sure what they made of me, an outsider.
Tino’s delicatessen
A few doors further down Arthur Avenue, Jack DeCicco’s father Tony wandered in off the street and was keen to share his story. Together with his wife, he had arrived from Napoli in 1969 and had been in Little Italy ever since. He was immensely proud of his neighbourhood and took me to some of his favourite haunts: the Casa Della Mozzarella around the block on 187th Street, described by one Brooklynite as “oral dairy porn” and Vincent’s Meat Market, where row upon row of sausage and salami hang like chandeliers from the ceiling. The area is a foodie’s paradise, where everything from salt cod to handmade ravioli can be bought today just as it has been for decades.
The ceiling of sausage
Casa Della Mozzarella
In a city that likes to reinvent itself and in a borough where so much was destroyed, there’s something comforting about the number of businesses that were founded at turn of the last century rather than the current one. Go and see for yourself – no SWAT team required.
Trialling the Caxton FX currency card in New York City
I’m a creature of habit. Packing for a trip to New York, I fall into the same tried and tested routine. When it comes to spending money, that means a wallet of crisp dollar bills which quickly morphs into a pocket full of nickels, dimes and pennies. Spending this ever-growing mountain of coins involves finding a retail assistant (and a queue of other shoppers waiting behind me to pay) with the patience of a saint while I count out the exact change. Of course, if they didn’t add on the tax at the till, I could sort it out beforehand instead of admitting defeat and breaking another twenty. So, at the end of the trip, I tip my leftover coins into the drawer at home and resolve to do things differently next time.
This time I have. For the last two days I have been trying out a Caxton FX currency card. Loaded up with dollars and bearing the Visa logo, I can use this like I would a regular credit card, but without the end of holiday bill that can take the edge off a good vacation.
Here’s what I did with it.
Day 1: The Bronx
Tino’s delicatessen in Arthur Avenue looked like the perfect spot for a coffee. Four elderly Italians with accents like Robert de Niro sat at one of the pavement cafes while I took the other. Interrupting their conversations every now and again to apologise for their colourful language, they spoke warmly of this close-knit community that had been their home for decades and puffed cigar smoke into each other’s faces.
Feliz Dia de Muertos! How to plan a Day of the Dead trip to Mexico
Dia de Muertos, known in English-speaking countries as the Day of the Dead, is best known as a Mexican festival that commemorates a family’s ancestors. The festivities stretch across three days, though the preparations begin in earnest in the last week of October. The Day of the Dead officially begins on October 31st. On November 1st, people focus on the souls of departed children and on the 2nd, it’s the turn of adult family members.
Here’s my guide to getting the best out of a Day of the Dead trip.
Choose where to go
Dia de Muertos is celebrated everywhere in Mexico, but some places have a wider range of events in which to participate than others. I’d recommend heading for Oaxaca, a day’s bus ride or a one hour flight out of Mexico City. The city plays host to a packed programme of things to experience and also has a lot of accommodation options. Another popular option is the island of Janitzio on Lake Pátzcuaro, where the Purépecha indigenous community share their traditional rituals and customs with those respectful enough to listen and observe. Boats ferry visitors out to the lake and the island’s cemetery is the focus for candlelit vigils.
Plan well ahead
It’s possible to get a room pretty much up to the last minute and of course, wandering down to the parades takes no planning at all. There are a lot of organised packages to experience Day of the Dead but these tend to be very expensive. Book early to stay somewhere intimate that will offer you the opportunity to participate rather than spectate: I chose Las Bugambilias right in the centre of town. They can be found online at http://lasbugambilias.com/ This wonderful boutique hotel books up fast but don’t worry if you are too late to get a room; contact them well in advance and discuss your needs for a custom tour.
Catrina
Decorate an altar
Preparations for Day of the Dead begin a few days ahead of the main festival. Each family decorates an altar (known as an ofrenda) in the hope of attracting their ancestors back to earth for a party. Garlands of marigolds are strung, crosses of flowers are painstakingly created and decorative bunting is hung. On the altar, gifts are laid out for the deceased: their favourite fruits, perhaps, and definitely a bottle or toast of Mezcal. This aspect of the festivities is the easiest to recreate at home. You can set up your own ofrenda; if it isn’t possible to get suitable flowers where you love at this time of year, use artificial ones instead.
Preparing strings of marigolds
Visit a cemetery
Cemetery visits are an integral part of the Dia de Muertos experience. If that sounds a little morbid, or maudlin, don’t be alarmed. While some locals will be sat next to the graves of their ancestors in quiet reflection, others will be hosting the mother of all parties, with music, eating and drinking all playing a big part. Tourists are welcome, so take your cue and join in if you’re asked. If you’re in Oaxaca on October 31st, head for Xoxocotlan old cemetery first, where stems of red gladioli and vases of pungent marigolds are lit up by white church candles before heading to the sound stage and buzz of the new cemetery next door where the party will be in full swing.
The old cemetery at Xoxocotlan
The after party
Comparsas, or parades, are at times raucous and always entertaining. Participants clad themselves in wildly extravagant costumes and parade through the streets of Oaxaca and neighbouring villages such as San Agustin Etla. Some are dressed as the grim reaper, others panteoneros. These are the living dead – missing eyes or wearing terrible wounds, they are a scary sight as they mingle with the crowd afterwards. The parade becomes a party as everyone drinks and dances into the small hours. It’s worth going on an organised tour if you choose the November 1st San Agustin Etla parade as arranging transport back to Oaxaca can be tricky.
A panteonero
San Agustin Etla parade
Don’t rush off
Allow at least another few days to get to know Oaxaca. As well as the many souvenir shops and markets selling Dia de Muertos themed sweets – think candy skulls and lollipops – the city has a beautiful historic core packed with pretty colonial era buildings and interesting museums. It’s also a foodie’s dream: try exotic dishes like deep fried grasshoppers or delicate courgette flowers or hang out in one of the many cafes watching the world go by.
Experiencing Dia de Muertos in Mexico is a must-do activity and though everywhere is very busy, there’s a buzz and energy about the place that you’ll feed off. While you shouldn’t expect to be turned away from events and activities, you need to remember that this isn’t as commercial as Halloween. Showing respect is essential, particularly in the cemeteries and when interacting with those who are recently bereaved. Be tactful, show a genuine interest in what’s going on around you and be flexible enough to be open to spontaneous connections and opportunities.
Updated April 2026
Just back from – a day trip to Lisbon
I thought I’d experiment. Since launching in March of this year, BA have been pushing Day Tripper fares out of Heathrow to destinations such as Munich, Vienna and Rome. The initiative has proved so popular that they have rolled out more destinations including Lisbon, Stockholm and Barcelona. The fares are only available on Saturdays and Sundays but are a reasonably priced way of getting a change of scenery if you’re out of holiday or your budget won’t stretch to a hotel as well. It got me thinking about where I could go and what I’d have time to do, and then of course, could I beat BA in terms of price and hours spent? I could, and settled on a return fare with easyJet from Luton to Lisbon.
Lisbon’s River Tejo shortly before sunset
The logistics
I flew from Luton on the 6.40am flight scheduled to arrive in Lisbon at 9.30am. The flight was delayed by about forty minutes due to fog in Lisbon, still beating the 7.40am BA flight which was scheduled for a 10.15am arrival. No baggage made for a very quick transit through Lisbon’s airport and a direct connection to the city centre by metro meant I was in the city for mid-morning coffee. My return flight was due to leave at 9.00pm meaning I left the city centre at around 7.30pm. This again compared favourably to BA’s schedule where the last flight out departs at 6.50pm. Having said that, a half-hour delay from Lisbon (no reason given) meant that we didn’t touch down at Luton until almost midnight, making it a very long day.
What is there to see?
Having been to Lisbon before, I was able to take in the sights of Sintra instead, a forty minute train journey from Lisbon’s Rossio station. There are plenty of tours available but as the return train fare is just over four euros it seemed a better option. In Sintra, the sights are spread out up a very steep hill, but the local bus 434 offers a round trip hop-on hop-off fare for five euros. I enjoyed wandering the streets of Sintra’s historic town centre, in particular looking at the peculiar bulging chimneys of the fifteenth century National Palace and the ornate interior of St Martin’s Church. There are enough beautiful buildings to forgive it the tourist tat shops and there are plenty of places to eat a tasty lunch.
National Palace Sintra
The bus then chugged up to the Moorish Castle, its driver becoming increasingly exasperated by the inconsiderate parking shown by many visitors and local residents. At one point the bus got wedged between a house and the stone wall opposite on a particularly tight turn, but a local dog walker came to the rescue and helped him make the most of every inch of the road. After the castle, I headed up again (thank goodness for the bus) to the Pena Palace. With its odd shapes and eclectic colour scheme, it looks for all the world like it has been transplanted from a Disney theme park. It’s actually a nineteenth century Royal Palace set within the attractive Parque de Pena.
Pena Palace Sintra
Returning to Lisbon late afternoon, I still had time to ride the Number 28 tram up to the Portas do Sol viewpoint, one of my favourite spots in the city. From its terrace cafes, you have a fantastic view across the Alfama District of terracotta rooftops and pastel-painted homes dotted with fabulous churches overlooking the River Tejo. The tram is an attraction in itself, dating from the 1930s with its distinctive yellow livery and its wooden benches and old levers. Be careful of the pickpockets that ride the tram; warnings are clearly signed on the inside of the trams yet an elderly German man on my tram lost a wallet to them which he’d unwittingly left in his back pocket.
The Alfama district seen from the Mirador at Portas do Sol
So what’s the verdict?
Obviously, with time so limited, it’s best to choose either Sintra or Lisbon, and if you’ve never been before, I’d say Lisbon. Take a seven minute train ride along to Belem, where you can photograph the Monument to the Discoveries and visit the Belem Tower.
Monument to the Discoveries
Next to the park, Jeronimos Monastery is the final resting place of Vasco de Gama, the famous Portuguese explorer. The Pasteis de Belem bakery, dating from 1837, does a roaring trade in the tiny tarts for which Lisbon is well known, but you will have to queue – they sell around 50,000 on a normal day.
Pasteis de Belem
Back in the city, hang out in the many squares, such as the Praça do Comércio, rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1755. Wander the lanes of the Alfama and take in the views of St George Castle. Enjoy the view of the River Tejo from the many miradors that dot the city. Built over seven hills, you either need strong leg muscles or a day pass for the trams, elevators and metros which make getting about so much more pleasant under a hot sun. It was 33°C yesterday.
Praça do Comércio in the Baixa district
So, I’d say it was definitely worth doing. It was a long day, but Lisbon is a great choice for a Day Tripper city break.
Nine tips to save money on flights – and one to avoid!
Flight costs often represent a big chunk of your holiday budget but there are ways for the savvy traveller to save money. Here’s how to free up more cash for your holiday.
Book early
Airlines are keen to lock you in to a date and offer enticing early bird fares. Once sold, prices are likely to go up (though this isn’t guaranteed!) If you are certain about when you will travel – a birthday celebration perhaps or fixed school term dates – then it is worth booking in advance. It also has the advantage of spreading the cost of the trip over a period of time compared to the shock of a large bill from a tour operator a couple of months before departure. Scheduled flights become available about 11 months before you fly, while some budget airlines, such as the US carrier Southwest, publish the date flights will be released for the new season on their websites. Make sure you take out travel insurance to be sure you’re covered in the event something doesn’t go according to plan.
Sign up for offers
For UK budget airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair, the easiest way to keep abreast of the schedules is to sign up for their email newsletter. These will regularly send you details of special sales, release dates for particular routes and new destinations. Follow your preferred carriers on Facebook and other social networking sites to be the first to be notified of their latest promotions. It’s also worth looking at the news and media sections of airline websites to get wind of what’s coming up.
Fly indirect
It’s not everyone’s idea of fun to spend some of their precious holiday stuck in an airport waiting lounge. That said, the savings to be had from an indirect flight can be too tempting to resist. Use an online agent like Opodo or Expedia to compare the savings on your chosen route or by mixing airlines. Be careful of very long layovers as the cost of booking an airport hotel could negate the savings you’ve just made. Using indirect flights with long daytime layovers can be a good way of seeing a city knowing that your luggage is safely checked ready for the second flight. Some airports such as Singapore Changi even offer free trips for eligible passengers. Make sure you’ve checked the visa requirements if you’re planning to sightsee along the way.
Look for alternative destinations
Horror stories abound in the media of airlines that deposit their unwitting passengers at obscure airports far from their intended destinations. It is possible, however, to make this work for you rather than against you. Travelling from an alternative airport can not only save you money, but it can also save you time. Factor in journey times, rail fares, airport parking and the availability of public transport at your destination to get an overall price rather than the basic flight price. Don’t dismiss a smaller airport until you’ve scrutinised the schedule; you might find an indirect flight is still quicker than travelling to a larger hub such as Heathrow.
Shop around for the best baggage allowance
Depending on how long you are away for and what kind of gear you need to take, the cost of transporting your belongings varies enormously between airlines. Think seriously about hand baggage only fares; some airlines offer generous cabin baggage allowances and some hotels provide many of the products you might be thinking of carrying with you. Check websites and email hotels in advance to make sure you only take what you need. If you really can’t leave the suitcase behind, compare airline baggage fees to ensure you choose the cheapest option. Often headline “deals” don’t include baggage fees.
Choose when you fly
Midweek fares tend to be better value than weekend to weekend deals as many people like to take their holiday in complete weeks. If you are going away for a weekend, look for Saturday to Monday flights rather than Friday to Sunday. Hotel room rates are often lowest on a Sunday night giving you further savings. Think about whether you can travel on the early or very late flights; if you’re not tied to public transport these may offer considerable savings on the more convenient middle of the day departures. Even the time of day that you search for flights might be a factor; some people say that booking late at night throws up better deals than if you surf at peak times. It’s anecdotal rather than based on scientific fact but it can’t hurt to try.
Travel in the shoulder seasons
It’s worth doing your homework on the weather. Missing the peak months doesn’t have to mean missing out on sunshine. Consider travelling in September for the Med or in winter for a city-break. Temperatures in Australia are much more conducive to sightseeing in the Antipodean winter – and it’s dry season up in the north too. Try the Caribbean in November or May; check out historic hurricane data to make an educated guess at which islands are least likely to get a direct hit if you want to visit between August and October.
Travel outside festival times
Depending on how badly you want to celebrate, you might consider flying out or back on a public holiday. Returning on New Year’s Eve rather than after the hangovers have lifted can save you money and you’ll be able to party back home with your friends instead of strangers.
Consider alternative methods of transport
Depending on the journey you wish to make, it might be a realistic alternative to take an overnight sleeper train or take your car on the ferry. Booking well ahead is just as important on popular train routes, such as Eurostar, as it is with flights but you have the added advantage of arriving in the centre of the city rather than a long taxi ride away on its outskirts. Some long distance bus companies offer one dollar fares if you book sufficiently early – and it is possible to get hold of them.
And one to avoid…
There’s one tip for saving money on flights that could actually cost you a small fortune. Taxes vary from airport to airport, meaning that the long-haul savings travelling from Paris or Amsterdam could be significant compared to, say, Heathrow. However, don’t be tempted to use a different airline to cover the first leg on a separate ticket. If that flight is delayed or cancelled and you miss your second leg, the second airline is under no obligation to honour your ticket and you could be left considerably out of pocket.
Five reasons to travel independently
Over the last couple of decades, I’ve lost count of the times people have labelled me ‘brave’ for travelling without the safety net of a group tour or package holiday. For me, travelling independently fits as comfortably as a well-worn slipper. Throwing my lot in with someone else, for me, is stressful and worrisome. Here are my top five reasons for travelling alone:
Freedom
Don’t get me wrong, I have a blessed life at home, where I love my role of wife, daughter and general slave to my canine offspring. But for a few weeks each year, I get the precious reward of time with myself when I don’t have to compromise. I can do what I want, when I want. The freedom I get from solitude is one of the prizes of travel. The map becomes my play thing, a border ripe for a crossing, an obscure country my next must-see destination. I can cram my days with sightseeing or laze in a hammock and do nothing. I can stay up all night or hit the sack before dinnertime. I can experiment with new foods or eat at the same cafe for the fifth night running. No negotiation, no justification – just pure unadulterated selfishness.
Sleepy Copan Ruinas, Honduras
Meeting people
Travelling as a couple or within a group acts like a cocoon from the outside world. Travel alone, and the level of interaction you’re going to get depends on the effort you make to reach out to people. It forces you to form relationships and invest in conversations. Hiring a guide or a driver just for yourself is extravagant but also a window into the soul of the place you’re exploring. But it’s the everyday encounters that can be the most memorable. Sometimes, it will begin with the offer of a sweet from a neighbour on a park bench, a helping hand up a rocky path or a casual conversation on the back seat of a local minibus. Always, it will be rewarding.
Mapunda the guide, Tanzania
No one can talk you out of danger
At home, I’m generally risk averse but that seems to dissolve once I step foot on foreign soil. In some cases, it’s unavoidable. I wouldn’t dream of backing off my driveway at home without fastening my seatbelt, but necessity has forced me to ride beltless for hour after bumpy hour in vehicles that haven’t seen a mechanic in decades. Over the years, I’ve developed a fatalistic outlook on life, rationalising that I could just as easily be killed on the roads at home. Sometimes, the activities I’ve done have involved a calculated risk – walking with lions, hiking to the crater of a very active volcano, overnighting in the murder capital of the world – but the memories I’ve created have been worth it.
Watching Mt Yasur explode, Vanuatu
It hones your skills
One of the biggest fears people have of travelling solo is what would happen if things were to go wrong. Without a travelling companion, you are forced to rely on yourself for a solution. I’ve only ever missed two flights. Once in Posadas, near the Argentina-Paraguay border, the whole airport was shut by the time I arrived as the airline had omitted to tell me they’d moved the flight forward by five hours. In Bangkok, it was my own fault. I muddled a midnight flight and turned up three hours early only to find I was almost a day late. Both problems had a solution, a very comfortable cama-bus in Argentina and an extremely understanding check-in agent in Thailand. The only time I really thought my problem-solving skills weren’t up to the job was in Ulan Ude in Russia, where they had unhelpfully hidden check-in behind a signless whitewashed wall. I tried miming and pointing at words in my phrase book – all to no avail. Eventually someone slipped through the well concealed door and I figured it out in the nick of time.
Bus station with no bus, Serbia
It’s cheaper
I couldn’t do the amount of travelling I’ve done at the prices charged by most tour operators. I can shop around for the best flight deals, find a hotel room which doesn’t penalise single travellers with a jaw-dropping supplement and can opt out of the parts of itineraries that just don’t interest me. Local transport is invariably cheaper than a seat on a tour bus and I don’t pay entrance fees for attractions that I don’t want to visit. It can occasionally go wrong, of course, but that’s what good insurance is for.
Room for one more, Senegal
If you’ve ever wondered what it might be like to travel solo but are struggling to commit, start small. Plan a day out in your local area and then an overnighter not too far away. Build up to a weekend away or a holiday to somewhere that’s already familiar. Before long, you’ll have the skills and the inclination to travel solo to just about anywhere.
Julia's Travels 