ROAD READS
Road Reads
"Solo Traveler," by Lea Lane
Sunday, January 22, 2006; Page P02
BOOK: "Solo Traveler," by Lea Lane (Fodor's, $15)
TARGET AUDIENCE: People who know that life isn't always divisible by two.
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Ah, the joys of traveling solo: no agenda to follow but your own, no reason not to self-indulge -- but nobody to guard your luggage while you go to the restroom. Lane covers the pluses and minuses and throws in some common-sense advice (go to a town during its festival -- people are friendlier then) as well as some succinct homilies ("invitations happen, if you smile"). Security becomes paramount when you're a soloist, and paranoia is not inappropriate (if the hotel desk staff announces your room number while others are present, ask for a new room).
Lane has been traveling a while (as a baby, she shared a flight on a DC-3 with New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia -- and spit up on him). She has developed quite a database of tips: on "packing for one"; on getting sick alone; even on "the solo traveler equivalent of scaling Mount Everest" -- eating alone in a fine restaurant. " 'Alone' does not mean lonely."
-- Jerry V. Haines
