Solo travel is one of the most enriching experiences and the most incredible gift you can give yourself. Whether you're embarking on your first solo journey or a seasoned solo traveler, it’s always helpful to have a few tips to ensure your trip is smooth, safe, and enjoyable. So, let me share my top solo travel tips, favorite destinations, and essential advice for solo female travelers.

1. Pick Solo-Friendly Destinations

Choosing the right destination is crucial for a successful solo trip. Some places are naturally better suited for solo travelers due to their welcoming atmosphere, ease of navigation, and safety. So, do your research and plan something you have always wanted to do but within your comfort zone. These are a few of my top places.

Beaten down by the patriarchy is not a new concept. As a woman who worked decades in a career dominated by men, the environment was thick with sexist comments, ripe with sexual innuendo, career blocking and what I like to call disgusting man behavior. And like myself, many had to endure the punishment that came directly from refusing the sexual advances of men in power.

My salacious boss had physically cornered me in a hotel elevator on an overnight shoot. That resulted in a permanent career demotion when I politely refused to let him penetrate me. Sadly, my story, this story, is a tale as old as time. #metoo!

So, is it any wonder women have had enough? 

Ah, Istanbul. A city where you're just as likely to get run over by a motorcycle on the sidewalk as you are crossing the street. It was my first trip to Turkey, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had visions of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express mixed in with a smattering of Midnight Express. And fortunately for me, it was nothing like the latter. The city's soundtrack is a melody of street vendors barking their wares, a constant "lady, lady, lady", mingled in with the blasting of car horns, all punctuated with the haunting, melodic Call to Prayer five times a day. Istanbul is an exciting mix between ancient and modern. Opulent luxury pushed hard against the hustling assault of markets selling spices, handbags, kababs and rugs.

Vietnam. I could go on and on about the vast variety of things to see in Vietnam. Its stunning physical beauty, the friendly welcoming people or its complex history. Or I could credit Anthony Bourdain’s culinary exploration of the delicious food I discovered as I ate my way across the country not gaining a single pound (take note Italy and France).

I have the extreme privilege of being able to take a month every summer and head to one of my favourite places on earth, Muskoka, Canada. For those who do not know Muskoka it is a spectacular lake region just a few hours north of Toronto. 

Muskoka consists of two contrasting lifestyles ~ The First, Old Muskoka

Old Muskoka families who have rustic cottages whose grandparents or great-grandparents had purchased. Years ago they would come by train to summer in the Canadian wilderness of crystal clean lakes, miles of untouched shoreline, countless islands and the gentle peaceful sound of the “dip dip and swing” as their paddle propels them across the lake in their red Hudson Bay canoes.  But these old Muskoka families and their cottages are quickly disappearing.

Going back to the time of The Late Show with David Letterman I had become obsessed about two things, Stupid Pet Tricks and Top Ten Lists. Although it might be more visually entertaining showing you a Rottweiler fit five tennis balls into its toothy mouth I have decided to focus this week’s blog on a Top Ten List I found, one that includes two things I love, London and music.

Since Downtown Abbey I have become obsessed with British period dramas, a genre I am now addicted to mostly thanks to Mathew Crawley (sigh) and Colin Firth (double sigh) as Mr Darcy. So in my binge watching I discovered you would be hard pressed to find in any aristocratic storyline some outing that didn’t have at least one scene around a shoot or hunt. The British elite, royalty, or even peasants (not pheasants) like myself dress in their scratchy wooly tweed and their rubber wellies as they step out on the English countryside, guns and dogs by their side as they prepare for one of England’s longest standing traditions, the shoot.

Ever since I read Eat, Pray, Love (confession, I never got passed the “Eat” part) I was obsessed with Italy and the idea of exploring that incredible country. The food, the wine and the glourious picturesque landscape. As I was needing to make a hasty retreat out of London (a blog for another time) and looking for a journey that was not only great for the soul but a treat for the rest of my senses I decided to do a three day solo trip to Cinque Terre, my own mini version of Eat Pray Love. I am calling it “Eat, Drink, Repeat and I think I decided I want Chelsea Handler to play me in my movie adaption unless of course if Charlize Theron is dying to play me.

When you talk about a bucket list adventure for me riding the Orient Express was right on top of that list.  I mean what other trip has been at the centre of a murder mystery best selling novel and several movies. The Orient Express is everything that you would think it would be. Glamorous, romantic and a very special adventure. Come onboard as I take you inside the world's most famous luxury train ride, The Orient Express. I even found a mysterious man with a moustache to rival Poirot.

SEVEN SISTERS CLIFFS, EAST SUSSEX ROAD TRIP

If you are anything like me the lack of sunlight as you approach the dead of winter is so unbelievably depressing. Living in London it actually starts getting dark at 3:30 in November AND we haven't even got through the worst of it. So what is that saying, make hay when the sun shines?  So in order to survive the long, dark winters you have to make the most of the short sunny days and a road trip is exactly the way to do it. 

A-BROAD OBSERVATION - TOILETS OF ASIA

I have always consider myself a student of the world, you know... open to celebrate the vast colourful differences between one world, culture and traditions and my own. I have been fortunate enough to travel different parts of the globe and I willingly drink in those cultural differences between countries, ....until now.

Ever bored with London? Ok, that is a trick question. But sometimes you need a get away. Turn down the volume, unplug, breathe fresh air and exhale. New Forest is just the wonderful escape to do just that. Just a two hour drive south of the hustle and bustle of London where the only traffic you are likely to hit are a herd of wild horses taking their own sweet time crossing the street.