Contrary to popular belief, solo travel offers a unique opportunity to connect with a diverse range of people, share experiences, and build friendships that can last a lifetime

Sometimes, our friends with whom we make travel plans also ditch us at the last moment. Because of this reason, many people prefer travelling solo as one has all the freedom to do things as they like. But let’s admit it: though travelling solo might sound like a good idea, loneliness often kicks in. Because of this, we end up feeling sad and alone, which nobody wants to go through. After all, travel is supposed to be a joyful experience, full of fun and adventure. However, with the right approach, you can make many new friends while travelling solo, which is one of the best aspects of travelling solo. So, to help you have a great time, here are a couple of tips to make friends on a solo trip.

1. Stay In A Hostel

If you’ve ever tried staying in a hostel, you’ll know that people come in as strangers and leave as friends. Some hostels also have a common dining and recreational activities area where one can socialise with others and decide who they want to be friends with. In addition to being a cost-effective option, travellers choose to stay at hostels because of the social factor involved.

2. Start A Conversation

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that to make friends, you have to be friendly and approachable. Nobody would want to be your friend if you don’t care about socialising with others and only care about yourself. In contrast, maintaining a friendly aura would make you much more approachable to other people. Now, if you’re an introvert, then the advice “fake it until you make it” actually works here.

3. Try A Small Group Tour

Group tours are small tours primarily catered for solo travellers, often limited to six or eight people. These tours are a great opportunity to connect with others. You’ll have a guide leading you and other like-minded individuals who enjoy a planned group tour.

4. Try Learning Local Phrases

You will understand a culture better by immersing yourself in learning a couple of phrases of the local language. This is because culture and language are inseparable. Learning a language will help you engage with the locals and also help in forming friendships with them. Though it’s obvious you won’t become fluent in this short span of time, the locals will really appreciate your efforts in trying to understand their language.

5. Online Backpacker Groups

If you’re looking to get the latest updates online, backpacker groups offer a hub of information. The best part about these online groups is that not only the members of these groups are active, but they are also looking to make new friends at a new place. Reddit and Facebook are two great social networking sites that gain better insight and interact with people residing in a particular area.

It might be complicated travelling with your pet, but leaving your best friend behind is worse.

It’s becoming more common to pack your bags and your dogs in the car to head out on an adventure. These tips and tricks should make travelling with your dog a little easier.

Before the trip

1. Ensure your pet’s vaccinations are up to date: You don’t want your dog picking up a preventable disease while travelling, so ensure he’s had all his relevant vaccinations.
2. Address health concerns: Research the area you’re travelling to and inform yourself of potential health risks to your dog. For example, if you are heading to the berg, consider a tick prevention method
3. Research pet-friendly accommodations: Make sure your accommodation clearly states that it is pet-friendly, and notify the host that you are bringing your furry friend along.
4. ID and/or microchip: You can microchip your dog, add an identification tag to her collar, or do both in the (hopefully) unlikely event that she gets lost.
5. Pack all the essentials: Don’t forget bowls, medications, a leash, waste bags, grooming supplies, toys, and a familiar blanket. It’s also helpful to pack extra food.

During your Drive

1. Keep the car cool: With all their fur, dogs overheat a lot quicker than humans. Ensure the car is at a cool temperature to prevent your dog from overheating.
2. Stay hydrated: Have enough water and water bowl accessible, and regularly offer your pup water to keep them hydrated.
3. Regular Stops: It’s advised to stop every two to three hours to allow your dog to walk around, stretch their legs, and relieve themselves. Plan out your stops so that you don’t drive for too long.

At Your Destination

1. Pet-Proof your accommodation: Before letting your pup run free, look around for any potential hazards, like sharp objects or electric cords, and remove them from your dog’s reach.
2. Research pet-friendly facilities: Look into places in the area where you can take your dog. Check out pet-friendly restaurants and local parks; if it’s unclear, you can always call the facility to find out.
3. Stick to your pet’s routine: When you’re on holiday, routine tends to go out the window, but try to keep some things in place. Stick to their regular feeding and sleeping times, and exercise daily to keep your puppy happy. Having familiar items like their bed or toys is also helpful to keep them comfortable.
4. Explore: Allow your pup to explore the area to get used to their new environment.
5. Be prepared: Look up the location of the nearest vet and save the number in case you need it during your holiday (hopefully, it won’t be necessary).

Although the pandemic is over and professionals are able to travel again, it seems they are being more selective in choosing the meetings they’ll fly to. This is likely due to the gained familiarity of online meeting platforms (e.g., via Zoom, Teams, GoToMeeting, WebEx, etc.), travel budget restrictions, airport delays on the news or just being too busy to leave the office.

That means companies who host customer advisory boards (CABs) need to create extra value and incentive to get their customers to travel to their in-person meetings. If your CAB members don’t recognize the value, benefit and exclusivity of attending your meeting in person, they likely won’t travel to it and may provide the “too busy” excuse, or perhaps send a (lower-level) alternate in their place.

Given this, here are six tips for ensuring your CAB meeting is worth traveling to:

1. Create a member-driven agenda.

When companies begin to consider topics for their upcoming CAB meetings, they generally think of things they want to “show and tell” their members—about their company, new products and latest features coming. But this is the wrong approach; instead, your members themselves should determine the topics.

This means interviewing (or at least surveying) them before your meeting to determine the top topics and issues that are impacting their own operations. With this information, you can create a member-driven agenda that they will be eager to discuss face-to-face with their colleagues.

2. Consider what you want to learn.

Along these same lines, instead of thinking what you want to tell your customers, consider what you want to learn from them. What challenges is your own company facing? What budget trade-offs are you considering? Who are you thinking of partnering with or acquiring? What marketing campaigns are planned for the year ahead? What other uses for your products or services might exist?

Being honest and open with your own struggles, and getting your customers’ input to these and many other issues will provide material insights into your own company.

3. Get people moving.

Don’t have your CAB members travel all the way to your meeting just to subject them to hours of PowerPoint presentations or product demos. Get your attendees out of their chairs by planning engaging breakout sessions in which they prioritize their challenges and needs, and how your solutions can help mitigate them.

Make CAB sessions interesting and even fun with sticky notes, Monopoly money, whiteboard brainstorming sessions—anything to get members engaged and thinking out of the box. If you don’t, and your only content is a lineup of boring presentations, you might as well just make your meeting an online webinar and invite all customers to attend.

4. Deliver learning opportunities.

CAB members want to learn from their peers at other companies to overcome shared challenges, and take these lessons back to their own firms to implement. That means holding sessions that uncover and highlight innovative solutions to common roadblocks from which everyone can learn.

This might include sharing use cases from your successful customers, or, better yet, having one of your more advanced CAB members lead a session on their operations or success overcoming a challenge. But be cautious of other third-party speakers (e.g., analysts, economists, authors, etc.)—such outside speakers rarely engage members well and as such make better webinar speakers to all your customers.

5. Enable benchmarking.

In addition to learning from each other, CAB members are always looking for opportunities to benchmark themselves against other industries.

For example, a CAB member who deals with supply chain may want to know where others stand in terms of electric delivery van adoption—the percentage of electric vans out of a total fleet, the utilization metrics, fuel cost savings, plans moving forward, etc. Armed with this knowledge, this CAB member can return to his company and communicate that they are leading in this area, or perhaps are significantly behind the market in adoption.

A successful CAB should proactively provide multiple opportunities for such benchmarking.

6. Hold engaging social activities.

A big part of CAB meetings are the opportunities for members to interact with each other and create relationships that will help with their companies and personal careers long into the future. As such, host companies should ensure quality meals and social activities that facilitate such engagement. Such activities are always well received by members and are a big draw for making the effort to travel.

Conclusion

To convince busy executives to travel to your in-person CAB meeting, it’s important to show them the value of doing so. To do this, provide engaging content, stimulating exercises and exclusive opportunities to talk to their peers and learn proven best practices that they can utilize immediately within their own organizations.

Wellness holidays are vacations or retreats that focus on promoting relaxation, rejuvenation, and overall well-being. They provide an opportunity to escape from the stresses of everyday life and prioritise self-care. Wellness holidays often incorporate various activities and treatments that aim to improve physical, mental, and emotional health.

What modern lifestyle robs us of, a holiday should restore detoxifying us physically, spiritually, and digitally. What does a wellness vacation really entail? Is it attending yoga retreats, indulging in spa sessions, or there’s more to it? Let’s balance our inner self with wellness vacations that promise a truly therapeutic experience.

Become one with nature in Japan’s wellness island, Awaji

A small island off the coast of Kobe city in the Kansai region of Japan, Awaji Shima is an offbeat wellness destination replete with naturally occurring hot springs and awe-inspiring viewpoints. Interestingly, Awaji is touted as ’the region of food’ for its rich variety of gourmet options made using locally produced herbs, vegetables, and livestock. It has wellness centres, such as Zen Wellness SEINEI where travellers can find solace in the lap of nature.

Rewire your system in Thailand’s wellness capital Hua Hin

Formerly a fishing village, Hua Hin has reinvented itself as an essential detoxifying retreat over the years. Its combination of natural beauty, wellness resorts, yoga retreats, traditional healing practices, healthy cuisine, and active lifestyle options make it a popular choice for those seeking a wellness-focused getaway.

Among resorts with a holistic approach, Chiva-Som Hua Hin stands out. It is designed to rejuvenate and restore the human body and mind to the absolute peak of health and wellness by offering various therapeutic activities.

Indulge in Omani traditional healing with frankincense

Shangri-La Muscat, one of the grandest resorts in the city, has exceptional wellness facilities waiting to be explored in its twin properties. Chi, The Spa at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah offers an elaborate menu of wellness services designed to soothe the senses, such as deep tissue therapeutic massage and Himalayan salt stone massage. The adults-only Shangri-La Al Husn has Oman’s only Luban Spa and offers treatments inspired by the region’s age-old traditions, such as frankincense (luban) and rose wrap, and organic Omani honey scrub.

Unwind in Cam Ranh, Vietnam

Perched on the south-central coast, The Anam Vietnam is a colonial beach resort in Cam Ranh renowned for its Indochine-inspired architecture, idyllic charm, and stimulating wellness facilities designed to render complete rejuvenation. The Anam Spa interweaves Asian healing traditions into holistic wellness journeys.

Recharge your soul in the largest atoll of Maldives

What better destination for a digital detox than the Maldives? The tropical archipelagic state is a perfect mood-changer, and The Residence Maldives couldn’t be more perfect for a wellness retreat. Connected by a one-kilometer bridge, the two properties on two different islands – Dhigurah and Falhumaafushi – offer guests a secluded repose in the first and only Clarins Spa in the Maldives.

Bask in the sun of Seychelles with your partner

While there are tons of water and inland activities, this idyllic archipelago also has award-winning wellness resorts including Raffles Spa, Six Senses Spa, and Kempinski – The Spa, where one can cleanse, rejuvenate, and regain balance. These spas offer bespoke sensorial experiences and treatments that integrate Seychelles’ indigenous herbs to the best effect.

Reconnect with yourself in Qatar

Equipped with some of the world’s best spas, resorts, and health retreats, Qatar is an apt holiday destination to relax, unwind, and rejuvenate. Zulal Wellness Resort blends traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine with a holistic health philosophy. The resort’s wellness programmes designed by health practitioners offer therapies and nutritious food options. The facilities are tailored for adult guests seeking an immersive lifestyle reset as well as families embarking on a wellness journey together.