For as long as I can remember, I take one week every year and take a solo vacation. I used to camp at a remote site, but as I got older and the bugs/ticks seemed to get worse, I find myself shying away from the thin protection of a tent and now instead rent a small cabin on near a lake with good hiking trails.

This is something that I’ve always been upfront with girlfriends, wife, and now girlfriend again.

In my current job, the pace picks up to a nearly manic level shortly after July 4th and stays that way until about Thanksgiving; this is my was of completely destressing. For the most part I cook my meals over fire and walk thousands of steps per day. Cigars and bourbon typically end my evening before I go to bed and do it all over again the next day.

By Thursday or Friday I’m ready to come home and merge back into civilization again, but there is something to be said for not having to be accountable for anyone else’s concerns or timeframes for that week.

Surely I cannot be the only one?

I have. Usually to Vegas.

I take one every couple of years. I have taken a couple of scuba trips solo and a couple of ski trip by myself. It is nice to go somewhere and I get to decide the activities.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: gw3971,

Are you talking purely by yourself or vacations without your significant other? I do hunting trips every year, but have also done vacations alone in the past as well.

quote:

Originally posted by dking271:
Are you talking purely by yourself or vacations without your significant other? I do hunting trips every year, but have also done vacations alone in the past as well.

To be clear, I still joyfully participate in annual family vacations and get-always with the significant other. But once a year I take a week away with just me, myself and I.

Like dove hunting?

Not until retirement. I recently spent a week with a buddy and my wife spent a week with her sister.

Lock N Load

Michael
USMC Ret

Yes

I have. One year I took the pit bull and I on a road trip up to Seattle. Slept in the car. Took 8-9 days. With a wife and kid and more responsibilities, it’s harder.

All the time. Mrs. Lee just started a new job last week. No vacation for her for a long time. I am self-employed and can take off anytime. Headed to Germany, CZ Rep. and Austria for two weeks in about a month. I'll go to Pittsburgh to binge drink with some college buddies for a week in the fall too. Mrs. Lee and I will go to Puerto Rico in Feb.

Not in a long time, and I'm about due for one soon.

Usually a few days camping in the middle of nowhere. Something to clear my mind for a while.

I love it here (Aus) ... the desert, a swag, a fire and the stars.
Maybe a little. single malt and a cigar too ...

Back on US soil, I would lump for Montana and a cabin in the woods ... Thompsons Fall area ...

If all I had was me for company I would probably want to come home early

It has been a few years since I have, but i used to take a week to 10 days every summer and take off on the bike somewhere.

My wife never minded me going, what drove her nuts was that most times when I rolled out of the driveway I had no idea where I was going.

There is something about time away on your own that allows you to sort out life at your own pace and re-focus yourself.

All my vacations have been solo.

2017 was the last time I took a vacation and went somewhere out of state.
Solo vacation to Key West and I loved it. No one to keep tabs on but myself and no one to argue with.

I have done several in the past. Mostly solo motorcycle trips. Very good experiences. My wife and I are both very comfortable flying solo for periods of time. Just the way we're wired. Her solo trips are usually to visit old friends of hers that I don't really have anything in common so my presence would not really add anything positive to her experience.

I do. I head to the UP of Michigan for a week usually. I have no schedule or itinerary when I go. I like watching the ships so will usually spend a day at the Soo and then make my way west.

When I go up to SIG Academy to train, that's usually my solo vacation. Not usually more than three days, but a vacation nonetheless.

Until she went back to school, my wife would occasionally train with me and last year I took my dad to a class for his birthday, but otherwise they've been solo.

When we've got some more freedom (I'm the only paycheck in the house for another year), I've very much been considering the idea of just going camping by myself.

On my bucket list is doing a solo motorcycle tour in Italy.

When I lived in VA I did numerous motorcycle trips by myself. My favorite was to blast down I64 to Afton mountain, hit the BMW rally and stay overnight in a motel. First thing in the morning get on the Blue Ridge Pkwy (in the fog) and ride it down to NC to end up in Robbinsville at the Microtel. This location gave you the choice of high speed sweepers via Cherohala Skyway, twisties via 129 (Deal's Gap) or leisurely cruising around Tellico Plains. I don't know how it is now but I always went mid-week because there were fewer squids on 129 and less speed enforcement than weekends.

One year my time off was in September so I stayed in Pigeon Forge TN near Dollywood. After Labor Day the room rates there plunge to dirt cheap and riding south to 129 daily was easy. In the early 2000's I had a Mini Cooper S and did the 129 roads - it was almost as much fun as the motorcycle.

My wife used to ride with me and even did a few long trips but tired of it and had no desire to ride herself. We usually did one vacation together and one separately each year so I could do my riding and she could hit resorts like the Biltmore in NC with her girl friends.