Vancouver resident Lori Sgarbossa says she was hardly doing handsprings when she signed on for a Caribbean singles cruise in 2005, but she was ready to take a chance - or at least have a good laugh. "I thought I'd be on a boat with a bunch of losers," she admits now.
But between the cabin crawls, cocktail parties, salsa lessons, rock climbing and mingling with other travellers who, like her, were busy professionals looking for friends and fun, Sgarbossa realized she was having a blast.
Not only that, she bumped into Jim Robertson, a fellow Canadian and singles cruiser. She married him last March.
"People always ask us how we met, and we say, 'The old-fashioned way: on a singles cruise,' " Sgarbossa jokes.
Of course, cruises such as those offered by SinglesCruise.com aren't the only way to travel solo, especially if your idea of a good time leans more toward hiking in Peru or cycling through Tuscany. In fact, a growing number of companies are itching to accommodate solo travel by making it easier and cheaper.
According to a recent Travel Industry Association of America survey, 11 per cent of all American leisure travellers are leaving friends and family behind when they hit the open road. Meanwhile, 27 per cent of the AAA/CAA club's U.S. and Canadian travel counsellors say they are seeing an increase in the number of trips for single travellers.
While some vacationers are hooking up with companies such as Contiki Holidays or All Singles Travel looking for romance, there are a myriad of reasons to pack a one-man tent. Maybe you want to backpack along Yellowstone trails, but your spouse is more of an all-inclusive-resort kind of gal. Or perhaps it's tough to find friends to get away with at the same time.
But the world doesn't seem built for solo travellers.
"Singles get a little bit tired of going on a trip and finding out they're travelling with a whole bunch of couples," says Jacquie Burnside, vice-president of sales and marketing for Intrepid Travel in Los Angeles, an adventure travel company that plans to launch its own solo packages next spring.
Then there are the financial penalties for travelling without a partner: Think "prices based on double occupancy." Travel companies know that single rooms lose them money, so solo travellers must cough up a "single supplement." For example, guests who want a stateroom to themselves on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship must pay 200 per cent of the category rate, according to the company's website. In other words, they're forced to pay for a person who does not exist.
Fortunately, single-friendly travel companies such as Cruise West offer "single share" cabins so cruisers can avoid the markup. If the company is unable to find someone to share a stateroom with you, you get to travel alone for the same price you would pay if you were half of a couple. Meanwhile, Crystal Cruises offers select sailings for single travellers with a low 25-per-cent supplement, while Cunard Line, Orient Line and Cruise West have a small number of cabins designated for single travellers - but at an additional charge.
Resorts, hotels, tour companies and travel clubs are also getting into the single-travel market, offering their own incentives.
All Singles Travel and Singles Travel International run cruises, escorted tours and outdoorsy vacations geared toward solo travellers, while G.A.P Adventures boasts a no-single-supplement policy (they pair same-sex travellers together in rooms). Many Club Med resorts offer single-supplement savings of 30 to 100 per cent, depending on the resort and the time of year. Then there is Go Ireland Activity Holidays. The tour company recently introduced solo dates on its most popular walking tour with one bonus: The first six people to book get a room to themselves without paying a supplement. The rest are paired off.
