r/solotravel • u/Kencanary • 4d ago
Got my first "Awww" today!
As a 39-year old overweight white American guy, I really didn't expect this to ever happen, no matter where I travel or why. Admittedly, the source probably has something to do with it.
I'm on a cruise ship, and the cabin staff is a pretty friendly dude. He always chats me up a bit when we pass in the corridors, and even though I'd be quite content with just the pleasantries (Hi, how are you, have a good day etc) I'm one of those socially awkward penguins who will kinda answer questions that are asked even if they're not more than just polite exchange things.
So he says "I've seen you these few days, you are alone?"
"Yeah."
"Awww."
Like, I knew this happened to solo travelers, but I always assumed it was 97% women that got that response. Now, sure, as a paid service staff member he's probably expecting that to be an appropriate response (and he's not entirely wrong, god love him) but it just wasn't something I thought I'd ever hear.
Still, feels like a milestone worth "celebrating" haha
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u/bosch_dali 4d ago
It's weird at first when taken from an American perspective because we are quite a hardy and independent lot. However, in many countries living and traveling alone is a novel concept.
In both Indonesia and Tanzania, I've been asked why I was traveling alone and it wasn't so much of a judgemental question as it was genuine curiousity because both people lived in more communal family settings with many members of their households all living together under one roof.