Solo travel is one of those things that terrify the uninitiated and embolden the experienced. While this happens at any age, solo travel over 50 exacerbates these feelings and experiences. To dig deeper into this, I chat with Janice Waugh, founder of Solo Traveler and expert on all things solo travel, including solo travel over the age of 50 (and 60).
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Janice Waugh, of Solo Traveler
Janice Waugh has traveled all her life, both solo and with other people. But when her husband died and her kids were out of the house, she realized that in order to continue to stoke her travel bug, she was going to be doing a whole lot more solo travel over 50.
That was in 2009, and concurrent to embracing her solo travel lifestyle ambitions, Janice founded Solo Traveler: a resource dedicated to solo travelers to fill a gap she discovered when she tried to research solo travel online herself.
She has since become the industry authority on solo travel, and is regularly interviewed and consulted by all the major media outlets. She even spoke at the Smithsonian Institute!
One of the things that makes Solo Traveler stand out is that she curates and publishes the only list of tours and trips for solo travelers with no single supplements (or at least low single supplements). This is huge, because single supplements can double the cost of a trip if you’re not careful.
So, no person better than Janice to chat to about solo travel tips, the experience of traveling solo over 50, and what it has been like for her to found the remote business of Solo Traveler and to work online while traveling.
You can watch our chat below, or click here to watch it on YouTube.
You may also be interested in:
Pros and Cons of Traveling Solo, as a Couple, or as a Family
The Ultimate Packing List for Solo Travel
Solo Travel Over 50, and Other Things
Here are a few of the things Janice and I talked about:
Solo Travel Tips and Tricks
- The double-edged sword of being responsible for everything as a solo traveler.
- How solo travel improves your memory of a trip through active participation.
- The distractions of traveling with a companion, for better and worse.
- What solo travel is like as an introvert.
- What it’s like to meet and converse with people as a solo traveler, even despite language barriers.
- How to ease into solo travel if you don’t have experience.
Solo Travel Over 50
- How solo travel over 50 is different (or not).
- How solo travelers over 50 are seen by other travelers, as well as by locals around the world.
- The nuances of interacting with locals when you are an older traveler.
The Solo Traveler Website
- How Janice came to speak at the Smithsonian Institute.
- How she scaled Solo Traveler from a solo endeavour to incorporating a team.
- What’s included in the free email subscription to Solo Traveler; focusing on four distinct components.
Remote Work While Traveling Solo
- The challenges of remote work while traveling.
- How Janice and I deal with our emails while traveling (as compared to while we’re at home).
- The importance of a VPN, and thoughts on internet speed.
- Why slow travel is important when working remotely.
If you’re new to Solo Traveler, you might want to check out these winners:
The Wits and Wonder Travel Course
Solo Travel Society on Facebook
Benefits, Options, Destinations, and Safety for Traveling Solo Over 50
Good for Janice, Nora. Absolutely awesome. I vibe with the double-edged sword of being fully responsible as a solo traveler too. I almost always travel with my wife but my few solo trips seemed freeing and a bit scary too because everything was on me. I had to be mindful to get from point A to point B. I vividly recall sitting in Mumbai, and also, Cusco, and concentrating on my next steps because I ran the show, during 2 solo trips of mine.
Ryan
Thanks Ryan,
I think the most annoying element of the double-edged solo travel sword is managing stuff. I remember being in Mumbai myself, in a busy train station, and I had to use the bathroom. Had I been with somebody, I’d have left my stuff with them and nipped off. Instead I had to lug everything into a toilet stall completely in appropriate for holding me and all my luggage!
It’s through experiences like this that I learned to:
1) Pack light
2) Watch my water intake until I have access to a private bathroom!
My sanity and alleviates my claustrophobia recently has been virtual trips , soon tbk as Hey Go. Fantastic trips round the world , interacting with guides from Luxor to Australia , Tehran , Egypt, Italy etc etc ….. can’t wait to open up. Take your vaccines , stay safe x
Thanks for this interview.
I’m 65, now. I tend to travel solo at times for at least two reasons: (1) my dear wife often doesn’t want to visit many of the places I want to go; and (2) she insists on luxury travel whereas I get a special feeling when I know I am seeing daily life of the local people and getting good value. I suppose that is kind of a difference between travel and tourism.
Hi Gary,
I’m glad you get to flex your travel-muscles and go in the style that you most prefer. That’s one of the benefits of solo travel: you get to call the shots!