Better Deals for Single Travelers - traveling alone now more affordable

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, April, 1999 by Lynn Woods

In addition to its trip to the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Singles Travel International has scheduled four tours for the remainder of 1999, ranging in price from about $1,000 to $3,000: four nights in Montreal and Quebec in July, a seven-night fall cruise of the Mexican Riviera, a ten-day tour of Bangkok and Hong Kong in November, and a stay at the new Hedonism resort in Jamaica ("I'm trying to get guys," says Weiler).

Majestic Sun Tours International (800-995-7245) guarantees to find room-sharers for single travelers (mostly ages 35 to 55) in its escorted groups, which are booked on selected Carnival, Celebrity, Commodore and Royal Caribbean cruises. Fees range from about $600 to $1,700 for a seven-day cruise; 14 Majestic cruises are scheduled for the remainder of 1999.

Of special Interest

After listening to a string of female clients complain that they couldn't take trips because their husbands were too busy, Helen Svensen, owner of Greenbelt Empress Travel in Greenbelt, Md. (301-474-1300), started a travel club called Women in Motion. The 34 members, who pay a fee of $50 a year, tend to be 45-plus, well educated and affluent. In October, Svensen is planning a two-week tour of South Africa for $5,500. She also keeps members apprised of bargain packages, such as a Baltic cruise for $1,200.

Women in Motion has been so successful that similar clubs have been started in Charlottesville, Chicago, New York City, Norfolk and Richmond. Agencies affiliated with the Empress Travel consortium (800-284-0022) can book travelers with the clubs in Chicago and New York.

Earthwatch (800-776-0188; www.earthwatch.org) attracted about 3,800 volunteers last year, many of them educators and professionals who traveled solo. Expeditions usually last from ten days to two weeks and cost an average of $1,600 (not including airfare), which is tax-deductible.

In 1999, 113 projects are on the roster. They range from tracking leatherback turtles during the nesting season on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, to searching for King Alfred the Great's lost tomb in a ruined abbey in Winchester, England. Some expeditions are somewhat primitive, with volunteers housed in tents, but others are almost posh. "Some of the British archeologists hire very good cooks," says Blue Magruder.

The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia (800-942-5004), another nonprofit organization, will sponsor 14 escorted tours this year. In addition to visiting local attractions, travelers get insights into a country's political, economic and social issues from prominent individuals. For instance, the council's 11-day trip to Ireland in May ($4,750, including airfare; supplements for a single room range from $300 to $900) includes meetings with Irish President Mary McAleese and Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Fein. Also departing in May: a three-week trip to Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet escorted by Barbara Crossette, United Nations bureau chief for the New York Times.

Tours are designed for members of 38 world-affairs councils around the country, but they're open to anyone, according to travel director Joan Russell. "A lot of our members tend to be widows," says Russell.