I took a risk. I risked spending money on a solo trip during COVID-19 in the hope that a few nights in a hotel would be better than a few boring days in quarantine at home.
Was I right? Yes.
Was I safe? Yes.
Was it fun? Yes.
What did I learn? Lots.
It All Started With A List
Back in January 2020 my friend Brooke had her bachelorette party in the Lake Travis area just west of Austin, TX. We had a lovely time, and got to visit Hamilton Pool Preserve, a destination on my Texas Bucket List. That is, the list of places in Texas I've never been to. As a native Texan, I'm embarrassed to say that I've not ventured far beyond I-35 in my lifetime. In my defense, most flights out-of-state take less time than driving this gargantuan state of mine! I digress. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the trip to Hamilton Pool was the first of many Texas Bucket List check-marks in 2020.
A few months later my friends and I took a weekend trip to Amarillo. We had a lovely time in the great outdoors, and were exceptionally safe. I brought my COVID-19 travel kit made up of bleach spray, rags, bags, and masks. We prepared all meals ourselves and even brought our own sanitized groceries from home. During that trip I realized that travel is possible, and much needed to start to feel content with the "new normal" we keep hearing about.
Fast forward to August 2020. Remember August? Much the same as March, April, May, June, July before it, only hotter outside. I thought to myself that a trip to New England in the fall would be perfect. I could time the flight so it would be less full. I could rent a cabin in Maine. Revel in the foliage. Drink coffee in a rocking chair. Sweaters would be involved. You get the picture. But Maine and most of New England had different plans for me. Texas is on the no-no-no list for most of these states (even at the time of writing this), and 14-day quarantines aren't my idea of a fun travel experience.
So I needed to look closer. Where could I drive? Austin? Nah, not with school back in session and cases spiking. Same with Oklahoma. Louisiana is out due to hurricane season. Same for Florida and any of the coastal options. Driving to Santa Fe would be a beating. Driving anywhere more than 6-hours is a beating.
Then I remembered "The Emma." Hotel Emma that is. The crown jewel of San Antonio. The Emma has been on my Texas Bucket List for years, and I decided it was time I did something about that.
I'm doing it. I'm going on a Solo Trip
I've wanted to do a solo trip for a while now, and this felt like the perfect chance to do it. I wanted to know what it's like to keep myself company for days on end. I wanted to know what it was like to plan a trip with only my own interests in mind. Would I hate it? Would I get lonely? Would I end up spending a ton of money to sit alone someplace different than at home (that wasn't supposed to sounds so sad, but I guess that's the reality of WFH these days). I ripped the Band-Aid off and booked the trip.
The trip, in short, was a four-day road trip to San Antonio with stops in Austin, Belton, West, Wimberly and Waco, Texas. A real grand-tour of popular I-35 destinations. I broke up the drive with plenty of stops along the way to keep me energized. I had a rockin' Spotify playlist. A couple books. And a cooler full of Topo Chicos and kohlaches from Slovachek's in the back (no I-35 road trip is complete without a stop there in West, Texas).
I had a blast. I'll be posting separate blogs about my itinerary and stays at Lone Star Court and Hotel Emma soon.
What I Learned
Solo travel has its perks. You wake up when you want to. You make decisions for yourself, and have so much freedom in your day to do and see whatever you want. If you're hungry you eat. If you're tired you sleep. If you don't like something you leave. It's magnificent.
Was I ever lonely? Surprising not, but I easily could have. The first hotel I stayed at was in Austin. Lone Star Court has a series of internal courtyards throughout the property. These courtyards are filled with active fire pits, corn hole boards, a pool, Adirondack chairs, etc. I went to grab dinner, which I brought back to the hotel. I sat at a fire pit to eat and had 3-different families come sit with me (keeping a fire and several chair's distance from each other). We chatted about where they were from, how they were liking Austin, etc. It was nice, and allowed me the chance to socialize without feeling like a loner. Likewise, I stayed at the Hotel Emma in San Antonio where guests and staff were exceptionally social. Not to mention store clerks and anyone in a hospitality/guest relations position. I had lots of (socially distant) human contact throughout my trip. I can say with certainty that my experience would have been different if I'd stayed at chain hotels where interactions are limited to check-in and the continental breakfast.
Was I ever bored? No, but this was by design. I kept my days pretty full intentionally. I wanted to avoid sitting in an empty hotel room wondering what to do next. So the learning here is to have a plan in place, but give yourself the flexibility to make adjustments as needed. For example, I spent most of my downtime by the pool at Hotel Emma, which was great until a roaring Texas storm rolled in, which forced me inside. Thankfully I'd had the flexibility to do most of my outdoor activities earlier after checking the weather forecast the day before. I substituted the pool bar for the hotel bar, and made my way to the library lounge with my book and drink until the storm passed.
The hotel room was even equipped with a bluetooth wireless Bose speaker, so I could play my music and watch Netflix on my iPad when I was in the room. This saved me from the endless channel scrolling we've all come to expect when staying at a hotel.
What was eating alone like? I'll be honest, this is the part I was most dreading about traveling alone. Do I take a book? Am I the person that reads alone at a restaurant now (no...I didn't bring a book to a restaurant, but I certainly could have). To start, I ate my breakfast in my room each day of the trip. I could enjoy my coffee while getting ready for the day. This saved me time, and was one less meal to consume in public alone. I've always been a big breakfast kind of gal, and can usually wait to have lunch until the mid-afternoon. This is when the restaurants are usually dead, which meant I had the place to myself and service was attentive and quick. I could hardly get an Instagram post published before waiter had returned with my lunch order. Dinner is a different story. Like I mentioned above, the first night of my trip I grabbed food and brought it back to the hotel to eat, which I was able to do outside with company. The second night of my trip I'd eaten a huge lunch late in the afternoon and didn't end up eating dinner. Instead, I had the leftovers from that same lunch the following night to avoid being seated alone at 8:00 p.m. in a bustling restaurant. The Hotel Emma has silverware, napkins, and plates available in the room, which made dining in-room feel more sophisticated. So it all worked out. I had great food and didn't subject myself to awkward solo dining and public scrutiny.
Will I travel solo again? Absolutely. The world is my oyster!
Stay safe.
AB
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