solo travel
You've got somewhere to go, but no one to go with; solo travel is the nexus of independence and opportunity.
Galápagos
After years and years of fangirling over nature documentaries, volunteering at the local wildlife sanctuaries, and a zoology degree later I realized I needed a bigger change. And that change was a trip farther than I had ever gone before, solo that is. Freshly out of undergrad, I made the best decision of my life: to go volunteer abroad on the Galápagos Islands, with none other than my favorite animal, giant tortoises.
By Holly Cook3 years ago in Wander
Laufhaus Vienna, Peepshow Burggasse
The Laufhaus Vienna Peepshow is considered to be one of, if not the most beautiful clubs on the entire planet. It was originally built in 1978 and remains a testament to the originality of the club culture that existed at the time. Built in the style of a medieval castle, it is modelled after the same architectural styles of those found in castles throughout Europe. Due to its stunning architecture, the club has been featured on numerous television programs, including Comedy Centrals. These programs have given a vivid account of the spectacular dance floor and elaborate, colourful lighting that permeate its hallways.
By peeps howwien3 years ago in Wander
TikTok Made Me Fall In Love With VanLife
I’m sure many people have seen the beautiful posts on Pinterest and TikTok of #Vanlife. We’ve all seen the clips of someone waking up from their bed, grabbing their already made coffee, and opening the doors of their van to look out onto their view of the beach or mountainside. It’s simplistic and beautiful with just a slice of home brought with you. Of course, living that lifestyle isn’t always as amazing and easy as the posts make it seem, but I fell in love with it anyway. They inspired me to sell my car and buy a van for myself. I was incredibly fortunate to find one for sale that was already converted, and I couldn’t be happier! There are so many reasons I want to live in vanlife, and I can’t wait to get started!
By Jonathan Meyers3 years ago in Wander
Creature Island
The hair on the back of Sydney's neck stood up as she watched the ship disappear into the horizon. Her back rested against a large palm tree, her head turned to the right as she continued gazing at the ocean. When the ship was completely out of sight, she laughed. Whether its source was fear or excitement, she was unsure.
By Brandi Johnson3 years ago in Wander
One lonely sail
As I sit here on this beautiful October day on the beach in Puerto Vallarta, I see a single lonely sailboat on the horizon. It is mesmerizing to watch. Sails have always been hypnotic to me. I grew up in a small town in Ohio but early on I learned to love the ocean. It started with family trips to Florida. The love affair has continued to this day. I am a beach bum at heart. It is the same with sailing. I have always been fascinated with sailboats. I love watching sailboats on the water. They transport me to thoughts of high adventure and romance. They also cause me to reflect on decisions I have made. And decisions I’ve yet to make. Sipping on my beer, on this Mexican beach, all I can think when I see that single sail is that could be me. I laughed as I motioned to the bartender to bring me another round. I have a story to tell, and it will go better with beer.
By Robert Austin3 years ago in Wander
Why Every Woman Should Solo Travel ?
I've been solo traveling for more than eight years. I have traveled to very continent on earth other than Antarctica, hitchhiked on every continent, hiked, backpacked, camped, met amazing people. And it has turned me into the braver, more confident woman .
By Rehana Khatoon3 years ago in Wander
This is what my experience in living in Athens, Greece is like so far
The capital of Greece is most definitely a concrete jungle that is always bustling and never sleeps. It still has traces of Ancient Greece, with famous monuments, landmarks and temples such as the Parthenon standing tall above the city.
By Adrianna Anastasiades 3 years ago in Wander
The Lost Girl From Cincinatti
The bright lights force me to squint. They are hot, like the celebrities always say. I have spent the last hour in hair and makeup. I can’t decide who or what they want me to be. This skintight outfit covered in sequins is suffocating, but it does shimmer in the bright lights. I make a pouty face because the director keeps making hand motions like fish gills and I’m assuming that’s what he wants. I don’t speak Korean and he doesn’t speak English. I motion to my translator, but he just laughs. I don’t think he knows what the director wants either. Eventually, the translator tells me to “sparkle.” How am I supposed to do that? I suck in my stomach, flip my hair, and smile awkwardly at the camera. I do my best to appear sexy or strong anything but shy. Am I sparkling yet?
By Lauren Freedman3 years ago in Wander
To Jumping
I sat on the shore of Matala Beach and looked out at the collage of colors and shapes, waves elegantly cresting before melting into the horizon. It was the type of sunset that would make aliens peering in from a distant galaxy think that the sky was on fire.
By Shanoon Occean3 years ago in Wander
The Bridge Within III
The summer couldn’t come soon enough, and the day came when it was time to leave. Samantha picked me up early in the morning and we headed northwest out of town towards Lansing. I had only $15 in my pocket, a gallon of water and a gallon size bag of granola with a can of food and some shelf stable tofu. All of this tucked inside an REI hiking pack I had bought with money from Christmas the winter before. By lunchtime we were outside of Lansing, we decided to stop at an Applebees on the side of the highway. As we pulled up to turn into the row of chain restaurants lining the street I instructed Sam to park in the adjacent parking lot. She did, we got out of the car and walked across the street to the Applebees. I was vegan at the time and to this day can remember ordering a portobello burger. We ate quickly. When it came time for the bill the waitress laid our check on the table. Aside from culinary vocational high school the majority of my high school career had been spent working in restaurants. Neither of us had any intention of paying but to mitigate our guilt we decided to leave the server a fat tip. Whether it truly served its purpose as a tip or not was beyond our care and we hastily made our exit across the street to the adjacent restaurants parking lot speeding off down the highway towards East Lansing and the Michigan State Campus. After a short afternoon of record store perusing Sam had to leave. We drove south from the Grandriver strip littered with head shops, restaurants and the random assortment of collegiate supplies and memorabilia stores. There near the highway and across the railroad tracks she dropped me off at the tiny outpost of a building that was the Greyhound Station. With a Styrofoam to go container and a goodbye hug she left me and so I waited. It must have been at least 2 hours by the time the bus came. Evening was nearing as the growing number of passengers that had gathered outside the station shuffled aboard the old bus.I was quiet and giddy with excitement, poised and paying attention I watched as we pulled out of the stations parking lot and onto the highway. Several folks chirped back and forth about their plans and where they were headed, I sat quietly listening but never said much. A middle aged gentleman slightly younger than my father asked me where I was headed. I told him Chicago. He immediately assumed I was planning to catch the Amtrak and began to tell me that the bus was running late and that we might miss the train. I smiled to myself and didn't say anything playing along. When we departed from the bus the man was behind me, many of the bus passengers hurried towards the Amtrak platform on the other side of the greyhound station. As I made my way off the bus I walked in the opposite direction. The man called out after me as I walked across the parking lot towards the overpass running over the tracks just west of the Greyhound and Amtrak Terminal. "The Amtraks this way!"motioning in the opposite direction I was headed. I gave a incoherent hand gesture waving him on in acknowledgement and kept walking. There at the edge of the lot I waded into the brush to urinate and after the Amtrak left I walked up to the empty tracks and began to meander west following the vacant lines disappearing into the horizon. Under the bridge, I discovered, was a small amateur built skate park. I ogled it briefly before continuing on down the tracks. As I walked, several trains headed west passed by. A few hundred yards past the bridge the tracks split branching north to Kalamazoo and South to Chicago. Most of the trains that passed contained auto carrier cars all of which took the south split to Chicago. Like the inexperienced rider I was, I had no clue just how fast these trains were going nor how dangerous my futile attempts at trying to catch them really was. Eventually however, I clued in and after dozens of attempts to keep pace alongside these barreling freakishly large pieces of steel I decided It would be a lot smarter to head back towards the bridge look at my maps and devise another plan. The sun was beginning to fall. It had been overcast earlier in Lansing and I had been worried about rain but as we arrived in Battle Creek the sky had cleared and the bright sun was slowly lowering its self on the horizon. It must’ve been 5 or 6 pm when I headed back towards the bridge. Looking around I noticed a small group of people in a veterinary clinic opposite the road running alongside the tracks from where I was. The map I had printed out showed the tracks headed west but my mind, in its haste to catch my first train, didn’t stop to reason that the yard could be further east of where the Amtrak station was. I had gotten ahead of myself and now I was backtracking. I made my way across the tracks down an embankment and across the deserted street towards the group of people. They circled around each other at the back end of a green pickup’s bed with the tail gate down talking. I approached and asked the man nearest me if he new which way was west? I was just trying to orient myself to my map to make sure I was reading it correctly. The man in blue jeans and a cowboy hat stepped towards me and pointed in the direction of the sun, the same direction the tracks ran off in, across the road, before they made their split. “Sun sets in the west.” he said matter of factly. I nodded and felt silly, “first lesson in train riding,” I thought to myself, “sun sets in the west.” I thanked the man and headed back across the street up towards the train tracks and made my way back to the bridge. Several more trains passed, again I tried to run alongside them and see if I could keep the pace but quickly became discouraged. I retired back under the overpass and pulled out my camp stove and cooking pot. Lighting the stove I opened the package of shelf sustainable tofu and a Pad Thai seasoning packet and dumped them in my pot. It slowly began to heat, crackling and popping. Impatiently I took the half heated mush off the stove, it was tasteless and I really wasn't all to hungry. I threw the tofu into the drainage ditch I had crouched next to, to set my stove up and eat. Putting the stove away I wiped out my pot and stuffed it into the brain of my pack. Wandering over to one of the structural pillars that held up the overpass I tossed my pack on top of the piling that formed a 10 foot high wall. Taking several steps back I ran kicking off the face of the wall and grabbing its top lip, I hoisted myself up. The wall was laden with a large graffiti piece. End to end it must've been 30 to 50 feet. A group of kids my age and slightly older came from the skateboard park area walking up to the wall talking amongst themselves. They were graffiti writers and they were planning a new piece on the wall. I sat at its edge listening to them, after having acknowledged each other when they first walked up. They asked me what I was doing. I told them, “I’m gonna catch a train to Chicago.” One of the older kids said with a sort of challenge and curiosity, “I wanna see this.” I jumped down from the wall feeling inspired and determined again. Another train was coming and It looked like yet another string of auto carriers. I was at a loss but felt like I had something to prove. This had to work out, I had to catch a train, but how? After running up alongside yet another train going dangerously way to fast I walked back confounded and discouraged. The group of graffiti writers were still at the wall. One of them, the one making all the plans, looked at me and said, “you might want to go to the yard, theirs trains gassed up and ready to go all the time there,” It was a stroke of luck. I quickly asked how to get there and was given a long string of bus directions that left me confused. The kid could tell I was not going to retain all the details and so he simply said, pointing the other direction, back towards the Amtrak station, down the tracks, “just follow the tracks that way a couple miles and you’ll run right into it.”
By Jeff Spiteri3 years ago in Wander