UK Ferry Tickets

My comments about holidaying alone received a mixed reaction. I got some terrible stick from Maggie, who began “How arrogant can you get?” It went downhill from there! She makes some fair points, one of which is about how people can find themselves alone through no fault of their own. I understand that and don’t really have an ‘I’m alright Jack’ mentality. I’m saying that if I was in that position, I would probably join a club and go travelling with other single people, because personally I don’t see the attraction of viewing great sights on my own. I need other people to share it with, but we’re all different. Lorna says it’s difficult to find like-minded professional people over 50, so maybe I’m overestimating how easy it is to meet other singles.

Lorna, who plugs her own company, holiday41 (and why not!), says that statistics may be lying. It looks as though people are travelling alone when, in fact, many are travelling with mates, but preferring to have their own rooms. ‘Could this explosion of people travelling on their own therefore be nothing more than an increasing number of us preferring to share our holiday but not our bedroom?, she asks.

Beryl agrees that a breathtaking scene or discovering new places is best done with someone else, but would prefer to travel alone than stay at home. Beryl admits she prefers to travel with a man because so many societies (including our own) are still very chauvinistic and she can feel self-conscious going into a bar or restaurant on her own.

Mike enjoys travelling on his own when friends, family or significant others are not available, but is annoyed by single supplements. He also gets frustrated by supermarkets which assume everyone lives in a family of four. ‘I don’t want to buy a jumbo box of something for £2, just sell me a small one, cheap’, he pleads.

And last, but by no means least, Penelope wonders why Eurostar can’t use both Waterloo and St Pancras, and why Ashford has to be abandoned. Alas, it is the same reason for every business decision that is ever made – money.

Keep your views coming.

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore

Tuesday, January 31st, 2006