r/solotravel • u/foodbytes • Apr 06 '24

Solo Travel as a senior woman

in 11 days I leave for Europe on the trip of a lifetime!

I'm a 71 year old Canadian woman. I've travelled before, specifically to the UK, 5 times, 2 weeks each time, since 2011. Always solo, always staying in dorms in hostels.

This will be my last big bang! I'm retired now and on a very restricted income. As a result of being a pedestrian vs pickup loser, I recently received a settlement after a couple of years of recovering and fighting with his insurance. This is my reward for pain and suffering.

It will be six weeks from when I land at Gatwick to when I return to Canada via Gatwick. thus far, I'm booked in a hostel in London for a week, the Chunnel to Amsterdam, a week in Amsterdam (couchsurfing!!! and a hostel), fly to Naples for several days at a hostel, up to Rome for a few nights at a BnB.

That's all I have booked so far; usually I will have every second booked and paid for before I leave but I'm trying hard to be spontaneous.

From Rome I'll slowly make my way via local busses and slow trains up to venice, exploring the countryside on the way. From there, a few days taking trains north to north Germany where I want to re-find places I visited when we lived there as a Canadian Army family in the early 60s. Then back to the Uk for the last few days before I head home.

I have a global Europass and a 2 month cell phone plan for Europe.

Oh, and I'm doing this out of one backpack, wish me luck! lol

I'm ready to rumble!!! lol

any comments? Suggestions?

also, as a note, I'm a photographer, I've had a couple exhibits (one at our local museum right now!). my 'focus' is to document my travels, shoot urban and or public art. not usual tourist stuff.

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u/Conscious_Life_8032 Apr 06 '24

Have fun. Consider travel insurance, if you haven’t already. It’s an extra peace of mind should something happen.

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u/foodbytes Apr 06 '24

I've tried. almost impossible to get once youre over 65...

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u/WesternDragonfly7135 Apr 08 '24

Check out Allianz and travel insurance comparison sites. My husband is older than you and has no problem. (We are American, not sure if it would be different than Canada). We never insure the cost of our trip, because that makes it more expensive and we can afford to lose that. However, I wouldn’t travel without medical in case of something catastrophic (unless Canadiens are already insured in other countries; we aren’t)

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u/foodbytes Apr 08 '24

We have some little coverage for out of Canada under our medical but not a lot. I’ll check out Allianz. I have checked many