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Solo cabin on Riverboat has windows at the water FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MARCH 2021 11 recommendations from people I would meet along the way. I now try to book at least two trips each year and I have had fabulous experiences. People ask me about how I can venture out on these trips alone. "Aren't you afraid?" they ask. "I could never travel like that alone!" they shiver. Well, let me tell you, this kind of traveling is nothing like traveling on your own! You have everything arranged for you. All tours are organized with a guide. All you have to do is pack. And, there are fellow travelers to meet and to join you for meals and the evening on board activities. You never feel like you are alone. My first river cruise was a Christmas Market cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, with an extension to Lucerne and Zurich. Wonderful! Highly recommended - bring warm clothes and good boots. The next spring I took another river cruise which started with three days in Prague. I earned an extra day ahead from my travel agent, so I had my first day in Prague all to myself as the rest of the group would be arriving the next day. I am very comfortable exploring new places on my own. One tip I recommend is to read up on the city before you arrive, and learn a few words in the local language — especially words on street signs, along with yes, no, please, thank you, hello, good-bye. Find out where tourists need to be especially careful and always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. (Of course, this is common sense even if you are not solo!) I have never had an incident and I attribute this to those habits I have developed from all of my traveling. Since I have my husband home now to take care of the pets, I decided to take a longer trip in 2019. Why go for only 10 days when you have already taken the long flight to get to Europe? My travel agent helped me coordinate and book three back-to-back trips. First, I flew to Milan, and took a car (included) to Bellagio on Lake Como, Italy. This was the start of a two-week Italian land tour with only 21 people and a guide — Milan to Rome, via Venice, Florence, Siena, and Vatican City. Excellent. From Rome, I flew to Paris to join a river cruise out of Lyon through the Provence and Camargue regions. We then went on to Monte Carlo and Nice. (A little French came in handy and enhanced my experience). Fabulous. To save a little money, I booked a "solo cabin" this time. Quite a lot less money, but simpler, however, still really a great experience. I would do it again. Most companies charge a solo "supplement" to make up for the double- occupancy that they plan on. But more and more they are offering specially designed smaller cabins for solo travelers for much better prices. I had decided to add a month, and another destination to this trip, in an attempt to relive my previous experiences in Spain from 20 years ago in which I lived in local homes and took Spanish classes. As much as I loved the guided tour experiences, I missed the adventure of being on my own. So, I flew from Nice to Madrid. I had preorganized the classes and home-stays of two weeks in Madrid, and also two weeks in Avila, so all I had to do was take a taxi from the Madrid airport to the address where I would be staying. I will have to say, it was quite a bit more challenging doing this in my 60s compared to when I was in my 40s. My Spanish had become more rusty than I had realized, and I was the oldest person in my classes of mainly 20-year-olds from a variety of countries. It was still a great experience, and the other students included me when they went to local cafeterias on breaks. You know how when Venice, Italy September 29, 2019 Entrance to the walled city of Ávila November, 2019