A By-Myself Vacation

“Girl, are you crazy?”

“Don’t you know that it’s dangerous to travel alone?”

“I would never travel anywhere by myself!”

“Aren’t you afraid something will happen to you?”

“Why?”

These were all questions and comments I received from family and friends when I have mentioned traveling somewhere alone. And these were my answers, in order, to these questions…

“Sometimes.”

“Yes.”

“That’s you, not me!”

“No.”

“Because I want to and because I can.”

Traveling alone has never been a big deal to me. I feel that I shouldn’t give up going somewhere and doing something I really want just because there is no one else that can or wants to come along with me.

Until last summer, my alone trips consisted of day hikes in the Georgia mountains or four hour drives to Savannah so that I could eat fresh seafood, lay on the beach for a couple of hours, drive to my favorite scenic spots, then eat again at my favorite restaurant on River Street and drive back home. I had never driven any long distances alone until July 2005, when my friend in Columbus, Ohio invited me to visit her over the Fourth of July week.

It’s not a long drive (to me). It takes only about 9 hours, but of course, anyone that knows me very well, knew that I couldn’t just drive there directly, but must get my side trips in! I had two main side destinations to hit, Big South Fork Recreation Area (on the Tennessee/Kentucky border) and Red River Gorge in Kentucky. I planned to hit Big South Fork and Cumberland Falls on the way up and the Red River Gorge on my way back home.

I mapped out my hiking trails in BSF and decided how long I wanted to spend there so that I would still have time to drive by Cumberland Falls and make it to my friend’s house in Columbus by a decent hour.

Everything worked out as planned. I had to leave very early in the morning to do it but Tom Petty, Bush, Radiohead, and some cheesy 80’s music kept me company all the way to BSF. It was the beautiful outdoor hiker’s haven that I had hoped for. The Big South Fork River was beautiful. There were tall cliffs. There were waterfalls. There was enough greenery to clothe the entire Sahara Desert.

I learned something there, though. Loneliness is not being home alone watching TV. Loneliness is not wishing you had someone to talk when no one else is around. Loneliness is not a dateless night. Loneliness is the absence of all human generated noise, knowing that you are the only human around for miles, and an overactive mind due to the combination of these two things. I have been in pretty deep wilderness before, but never alone. It was so quiet that my own footsteps seemed loud. It was eerie at first, but I soon become comfortable and happy to have this all to myself. I took care to appreciate everything I saw.

My second stop a few miles down the road, Cumberland Falls, was anything but loneliness. People were everywhere, rafting beneath the falls, gawking at the falls from overlooks, walking trails, and having picnics. Some have nicknamed the falls “The Niagara of the South”. Well, I find it a far cry from Niagara Falls, but what I did find very interesting is that this is the only place in the Western Hemisphere where you can take in a moonbow. On a clear full moon night, an arc of white light is reflected in the mist at base of the falls. That would be pretty cool to see I think. However, I had to hit the road. Maybe I can be lucky enough to see the moonbow another time.

On a side note, I have to say that I have some really sweet friends, too. Four of my male friends plus my dad called to check on me before I made it to Cincinnati! Who the hell needs a boyfriend?

I made it to my friend’s house well before dark and we had time to drive to the nearby town of Granville, Oh for a nice fireworks show. My friend showed me around the Columbus area and I stayed with her for a couple of days.

On my trip home I stopped at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky as planned. I had hoped to have time to check out this via-ferrata trail in the gorge. (It’s a rock climbing trail with metal bars in the rock that you basically follow.) I didn’t have time to check it out, but that’s okay since I plan to try out the new in Ogden, UT this summer. I did have time to try out many of the hiking trails, though. The Red River Gorge is a unique place in that it has more natural bridges and stone arches than any other place except Utah. But of course they are gray and not red like Utah’s. I found myself lost in solitude much like I did at Big South Fork, though I did actually come across people on occasion. It was a nice spot full of great photographic opportunities. I would really like to come back when the fall leaves change. I saw some postcards of the area in the autumn and they were beautiful.

That trip was totally fun to me. I have the feeling that if I had waited to find someone else who would’ve liked to have joined me, I’d have never had the chance to see the things I did. I’m glad that am fine with by-myself vacations!

Though I did notice that this post is rather dry and lacking the typical humor I add in my other trip tales. I guess funny things don’t happen when you’re alone….Though I did somehow twist my knee while climbing down a section of steep trail and had to walk like an invalid for two miles back to my car. No wait…that wasn’t funny either, just painful.



Big South Fork River, Tennessee


I tried posting another pic from here of a waterfall I hiked to but it wasn't cooperating!







Cumberland Falls, Kentucky











Story of the moonbow







Fireworks in Granville, Ohio










Red River Gorge, Ky
Look at the people on the rocks! I tried to figure out how they got out there, but couldn't. I was mad about not finding the trail because I wanted to do it, too!



Base of one of the many natural bridges in the Red River Gorge.










Not only are the by-myself vacation posts unhumorous but I can't post any pics with me in them. I know that is very disappointing for all, as well! ;)