Travel diary

A solo holiday – starting my adventures in Europe!

RiA
10 May, 2016
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Hello Europe!

Starting my solo adventure in Europe just made sense. Where in the world I was going to… check!

There were still so many places I hadn’t been to, so I started looking. I was so used to the way I’d planned holidays in the past, that I automatically started in the same way again.

I grabbed brochures from some local travel shops and did some online research with other companies. That’s what I usually did for holidays that were long haul with family or shorter trips with friends.

I soon figured out (after a couple of searches and flicking through those brochures), that doing things in this way was not necessarily the best idea on this occasion.

Let the research begin

If I took the time to do some proper research, I was certain that I could find more suitable options. With a lot of accommodation types “based on 2 people sharing”, I began to realise there were not as many choices for people wanting to travel alone.

Companies like Solos Holidays, First Choice or Contiki cater to people wanting to travel solo – people wanting to join groups made up of other solo travellers. I just didn’t feel they were right for me. I decided to think of how else I could do it. There was one other glaringly obvious choice – package it myself!

I still had to sort out exactly where in Europe I was going to go! I was set on going somewhere I hadn’t been before as I wanted to experience a new place. As I searched, one place (well one picture really) kept popping up.

It had bright white and cream buildings scattered on a cliff and one of those buildings had a smooth blue dome roof. Can you guess? Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about Greece, but in particular, Santorini.

That feeling...

Now, remember I said I didn’t want to go anywhere I’d been before? Well, I hadn’t been to Santorini, but I’d been to Corfu, so technically, I’d been to Greece. Stupid right? I wanted to visit a different country, but no matter where or what else I looked at, searched for or reviewed, I just couldn’t shake that image from my mind.

The views and the beautiful buildings were drawing me in. I did a quick search on Santorini and then saw images with the sunset as the backdrop. It was weird as I began to want that photo – one of the most well-known images you associate with Santorini.

With sunsets a little obsession of mine, it didn’t take long before I was hooked! Well, I said I wanted to be drawn to somewhere…and I was. Santorini here I come!