SoloTravel with white hair

I'm a solo traveller and I have white hair. What does this mean? It means that airport security staff view me as senile- well some of them anyway - and are mildly surprised when I hop into that xray thinggy and assure them that I have only my (big) handbag and no I don't have any liquids or anything liquidy or explosive in there 'cos I did a bag drop with all that stuff in my suitcase - well apart from the explosives bit obviously.

At passport control I use the automatic gates. Very often a kind airport staff member will take my passport and present it for me and usher me through that gate like a reluctant greyhound into the traps. So I smile and say thank you even though I am quite used to doing this myself. 

On arrival at the airport, all friendly help dissolves as soon as my feet hit the tarmac. It's find the carousel with your luggage yourself and haul it off the belt as quickly as possible and don't get in the way of other travellers and their hundreds of heavy suitcases. Then a quick visit to the toilet and then it's find the exit for taxis. 

It's great being a solo traveller and doing it all myself. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for any help offered. I love every minute.

I'm just planning my next trip.

Solo Travelling

Yikes, I haven't posted on here for ages. I do have some excuses. At the end of September I spent a week in The Netherlands with my daughter and her children.

I flew out of Cork to Amsterdam and took the train from the airport to Leiden where I changed trains for Hillegom, the nearest train station to where we were staying. My daughter had booked a holiday village near Noordwijk, which is about 30 kms from Amsterdam. It was the perfect place for long walks on the nearby beaches. We dodged the rain, getting soaked now and again. The accommodation was really comfortable. It would have been nice to be able to eat outside on the patio but the weather put paid to that idea. This area is very popular from around March to May when the tulips are in full bloom and my daughter and I made plans to come back in the spring.

On my way home, I stopped off in Leiden, Rembrandt's birthplace and visited the museum there, Museum de Lakenhal, which has exhibitions of work by the Dutch masters and one or two from Rembrandt himself on the ground floor, which is all I had time to see. The other floors were devoted to Leiden's history. I had intended exploring the town but it rained (surprise, surprise) so after a leisurely coffee at the railways station, I took the train to the airport. Schiphol is huge but like most airports, once you know which section your flight is departing from and where the check in desk is, it is not difficult to negotiate.
If you are confident enough, travelling alone is very pleasant. You can please yourself what you want to do with your time. Of course, it is very advisable to check everything out in advance and know where you are going if you are in a foreign country. You don't want to end up in the wrong part of the city. The street where the Lakenhal Museum is located looked pretty shabby, I have to say, with a lot of rubbish - empty beer cans and takeaway wrappings - lying around. It didn't feel too safe to me, I have to admit, and I would not have wanted to walk that area at night.
The only downside to travelling alone, in my opinion, is that you have to eat out on your own and you don't have anyone to share those wonderful views or those paintings with. If you don't mind that, then solo travelling is for you.
I like both travelling in a group and also travelling on my own. I love the feeling of adventure which kicks in as soon as I reach the airport. I have only travelled on my own in Europe, up until now and I think that if I were to venture further abroad, I would go in a group.
At the end of the month I will be in Frankfurt to visit family and friends. The Christmas markets will open on 1st of Advent which is the Sunday and I look forward to my first gluehwein.
Meanwhile, I have published my latest Christmas novella A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER, available now from Amazon as an ebook or in print. If you read it, let me know what you think.
Oh, and Happy Halloween!