No more Beach Vacations

Now that I don't spend every waking hour tanning or sitting on the beach (even if i did spend the time reading a book) it opens up far more time and opportunity on where I can travel, solo.
The beach is wonderful and the view of the sea or ocean one of the joys of life, but if you add up all the hours from age 16 to 35 (approx) you could travel the world in that amount. And your tan fades, and you freckle and have brown spots later on. Yes it is true.

However, i watched Italians sun every possible moment while I was in Sorrento, and show no wear and tear on them as you looked at older sun worshipers. Who can stay indoors with a view of the sea, the islands, or just a walk along the coast??

Now what to do with all this time?

Traveling solo and on a budget (because of the dreaded single supplements) often requires that I have to travel off season: Europe in the fall or spring, the USA the reverse of the vacationers:

beach trips in the winter, ski areas or Montana, Utah in the early summer. Forget about seeing the leaves change in the fall, two many couples to be able to find a room.

There is an art to solo travel and I am still exploring all the possibilities.

how do you handle the cost of solo travel during the "best" travel times

I have been "home to Italy" every year for the past 5 solo. and 2 years ago i took a sabatical in Sorrento for 3 months. Since i am older most people dont notice me but i had no problem traveling throughout the country and visiting most of the sites i wanted to see.

suggestions: some of my best hotel accomodations have been booked with monestary.com. throughout italy there are many convents/monestaries that no longer are used as school or hve enough memebers. They rent CLEAN room, are safe and in the case of the one i stayed in in Spoletto had some of the best food of my entire trip.
The sisters and staff usually think it is interesting that you are off on your own and are curious. In most of the locations i meet travelers from other countries as well as Italy. If you want more of a service/social setting the properties with Venere have been great. i travel by train so i prefer to be within walking distance of the train stations. I have not tried hotels but i understand they are getting better all the time.

suggestion: the VERY BEST trip i had was the one where i took a week of language lessions (in sorrento) i met women from 5 other countries,I was the only American in the school and started to feel like an Italian instead of a tourist.

buono viaggio www.hometoitaly.com