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RosieG

I can't even almost imagine my traveling to a foreign country alone on my own. Millions do that all the time. Have you?

I'm pretty sure I'd be terrified. I have no sense of direction in my own country and I speak the language fluently. Abroad? Well movies or travelogues are as close as I want to get on my own alone in the comfort of my home. Some folks are so INTREPID and brave. Some like me are not. I wonder why?

Posted - April 4, 2021
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Responses


  • 551
    Hi Rosie, I am not widely travelled by modern standards.
    I don't really like travelling abroad on my own, but I will do it if I have enough motivation. I have travelled to Iceland, southern France and Ireland on my own. I wouldn't say it was terrifying, the cultural and lifestyle differences aren't as big as, say, between the US and Mexico, the language barrier isn't an issue in Ireland, and not very much in the other two countries. But I always feel ill at ease travelling on my own for reasons I can't quite define or pin down, and the further away from home I am the more aware I am of being alone. Last year I researched the possibility of flying to southern India or Taiwan, but I've had to put that on hold for obvious reasons. Anyway, most of the time I, like you, am satisfied with "going abroad" in a virtual sense through movies and documentaries. Happy Easter!
      April 4, 2021 12:31 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Hi there Rev! How's it going m'dear? Brave you are for doing it but even so you "always feel ill at ease...". I think familiarity is very comforting. But lots of folks apparently adore seeking adventure and what could be more adventurous than going into an unknown and dealing with whatever comes up? Maybe they require more excitement to "feel alive"! For me the internet is my way to seek adventure without ever chancing anything I can't handle. I just leave any situation I don't like. I am always safe at home! Well as safe as one can be these days. I do admire the brave folks. I wonder what that feels like? Not enough to ever try it mind you! Thank you for your thoughtful and informative reply m'dear and Happy Monday to thee and thine! :)
      April 5, 2021 3:22 AM MDT
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  • 19937
    The first time I ever flew, I was by myself and went to Puerto Rico to visit my best friend.  It was a shite-knuckle trip all the way.  I was so afraid she wouldn't find me at the airport, but she did and it all turned out fine.  I have traveled to other countries by myself, but always to visit someone I knew who met me at the airport.  One time, I flew to Chicago alone to attend a family event and I met a cousin who flew there from Florida.  We took a taxi to the hotel and did the same in the reverse as out return flights were around the same time.  
      April 4, 2021 1:11 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Really? You uneasy/apprehensive about something? Hard to imagine sweetie but I'll take your word for it. However if you were always met at the airport and then with someone until you flew back home that would be more doable for me. Thank you for your reply L and Happy Monday to thee and thine! :)
      April 5, 2021 3:13 AM MDT
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  • 19937
    I was only 18 the first time I flew and back in the day, not a lot of single young women flew by themselves. :)  Happy Monday. :)
      April 5, 2021 8:03 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    WOW! Now I'm not only impressed I'm AMAZED. You're a lot like my "baby" sister L. She moved out of the house to live with a friend when she was 17. Had a job and was very self-sufficient. I left home at the age of 20 when I got married! That's the major difference in us I think now that we're a lot older. Braver than me by lots she was and braver than me by lots she still is! Proud of her I am! Proud of you too! Thank you for your reply L! I don't know if being painfully shy led to my being timid or my being timid was the cause of being so shy. :)
      April 6, 2021 6:08 AM MDT
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  • 19937
    I moved out when I was 24.  I needed to make sure that I had a steady job and could pay my expenses without having to borrow from mom and dad.  I don't think my father ever forgave me for that - he saw it as a personal criticism because in his old-fashioned, European upbringing, girls didn't move out until they got married.  His twin sister lived at home until she was 42 when she found a husband.
      April 6, 2021 1:51 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Oh my goodness. Well I moved out when I married at 20. If I had not married would I have moved out and gotten my own place? I honestly do not know. Thank you for your reply L. Times have changed from when we were young. I'm pretty sure not for the better. :(
      April 10, 2021 5:45 AM MDT
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  • 19937
    Yes, times are very different.  Better in some ways, not so much in others.
      April 10, 2021 8:12 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    And we've deteriorated very bigly and badly in some ways. Imagine WHITE SUPREMACIST FASCIST RACISTS not only being elected to political office but considering running for president. GAWD AWFUL. Thank you for your reply L! :)
      April 22, 2021 6:21 AM MDT
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  • 19937
    Never did I think I would see a president of this country like Trump.  
      April 22, 2021 8:55 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Me too neither. Not in my wildest nightmare could I have dreamed up a creepy cretin traitor fathead like him. And I have a pretty good imagination. Not that good. Thank you for your reply! :)
      April 28, 2021 4:14 AM MDT
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  • 2219
    Went to USA 18 months ago. Not been to non-anglophone country for 9 years, but I had my wife then. 
      April 4, 2021 2:40 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    How did it go for you m'dear? Speaking the same language is a plus no doubt but even so it's daunting to me. Nothing is familiar. Everything is "strange" or "different". I think some folks like that for some reason. Thank you for your reply Malizz and Happy Monday to thee and thine! :)
      April 5, 2021 3:15 AM MDT
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  • 2219
    Went brilliantly - but I'd been before - 54 years earlier. For my rare sojourns to foreign speaking countries I try to have a few words in their language but my ear is never up to speed for the replies.  
      April 5, 2021 6:04 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Whoa! 54 years between trips Malizz? Was it pretty much as you had remembered it? Or radically different? I think that is extremely thoughtul and gracious of you to do that Malizz. Be able to speak a few words in the language of the country you are visiting. I'm sure the locals appreciate that a lot! Thank you for your reply m'dear. Not gonna wait another 54 years right? :) This post was edited by RosieG at April 5, 2021 6:08 AM MDT
      April 5, 2021 6:07 AM MDT
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  • 2219
    Well I can't leave it until I'm too old or unhealthy for travel insurance. Main thing I noted was that the New York subway was so much better. I took 19 trips in a week this time. Really dark and dingy place in the 60s. 
      April 5, 2021 6:31 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    I get claustrophobic Malizz so I don't see me being able to take it even once. Now of course if I grew up there and that was the only means of affordable transportation I'd probably be a different person. 19 trips in one week? Whoa that is a lot in one week! I've seen it in movies or tv shows of course. The different stations where you get off are well marked. Thank you for your reply m'dear! :)
      April 5, 2021 6:35 AM MDT
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  • 3719
    I have travelled abroad alone once, driving across France,  but it was only the journeys to my destination and back home that were solo as I was meeting friends making their respective ways for the holiday itself.

    My own car, using the cross-Channel ferries.

    I've also driven on other holidays in France and Norway but not alone, and once or twice we could share the driving. 

    I'm not sure I'd have the confidence now, and I have let my passport expire as I don't think I will be going abroad again anyway - that was even before the pandemic.  
      April 4, 2021 3:19 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    I have no sense of direction. I get twisted up in famliar areas so being in a different country on my own and possibly not speaking the language? Very daunting but people do it all the time. I admire them. A horror scanario to me would be waking up and not understanding a word anyone was saying in my own country. There was a scifi story I read or saw a long time ago about that very thing only it happened slowly. Every day the protagonist understood less and less of what was being said to him till one day he could not understand a word. I don't remember any other details but can you imagine that actually happening? I think senility must be like that or dementia. What I fear most about getting older. The potential for that. Thank you for your reply Durdle.:) This post was edited by RosieG at April 5, 2021 3:08 AM MDT
      April 5, 2021 3:07 AM MDT
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  • 3719
    I have occasionally taken wrong turnings and had to use basic navigation clues to help me find my way back to the intended route. Not necessarily the point at which I'd left it, as that could simply add more miles than necessary. Clues like the direction of the Sun or Moon.

    I had a friend who did suffer from dementia that eventually destroyed his power of speech.  A terrible illness. As his wife said, we had no idea either if he understood what anyone said to him. (Not "senility" - the true meaning of "senile" is no more than "old", as in "senior".)  
    X
      April 5, 2021 2:59 PM MDT
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