Hi, Just did a trip of 3 weeks to the Flinders Ranges, I travelled alone with a slide on, on my hew Amarok, I am working still and independent used to being alone and this was a try out for travelling around Australia later. I loved the driving and the new sights and history of the place, but I found out that travelling alone can be very lonely. I wanted to share what I had seen, and sometimes in the evenings have a group of people to laugh and talk over the day with. I wonder if there are groups of people who travel independently but in a loose group, and how I find them.!
Hi Stretch
I have travelled a bit on my own over the past few years and in some places you are on your own yet a majority of the time I've found most people are welcoming when camped nearby. There's a lot of single nomads out there and I'm sure you will find them around the country. Enjoy the journey.
Welcome to the gang Stretch, enjoy here and out in the playground.
If you get lonely mate just walk around the camp site and say hi, most times someone will chat and end up having a drink or two. Then on the other hand If I have done a long days drive towng the van around I like to relax and have some time to myself. That also applies after a day of sight seeing. Not all the time time though.
Keep Safe on the roads.
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Hi Stretch
I have found that a bit too and have also found that, generally, if I take a walk about and say hi then people are happy to have a chat. What I have also found is that the vast majority of travellers are couples and that they don't have the lonely thing as they have their partner and don't tend to just come over to be social, so it's up to me to get out there and do things if I feel the need for company. Which can be a challenge if I am having a shy day. As for loose groups I have not been part of one but if anyone is heading out of Wagga tomorrow for St George or Roma in Qld then get in touch and we can meet up on the road.
Cheers, Andy
Hi stretch, welcome. You can buy a sticker from this forum. found a lady at boonah last week who was visiting a friend near us Who had it on her back door window. I would never have gone up and said hello but the sticker was an icebreaker. Good luck. Regards rocket n strop
I have been a member of this forum since 2007 and have not seen a Grey Nomad sticker in my travels , Have bee in a caravan park for 2 weeks people seem to not want to talk some will say good day if you say good day not many want to talk , Has for happy hour yet to see one maybe people in caravan parks don't want to mix .
I call it the solo's cloak of invisibility - some couples can only see the matched pair. That said, best friends I met on the road are couples.
For me, the most sociable times were heading up the centre, where everyone was on the big lap and there were campfires every night. And in Tasmania, where you keep running into the same people. It might not be eveyone's experience, but a lot of short-term holiday campers and groups travelling together seem less inclined to socialise.
My 'shy days', are fewer over time as I've got pretty good at finding company, and better at enjoying my own company. It is tough on winter evenings when everyone disappears into their van at 5pm. I favour campsites that allow campfires...always room for one more. I have never seen a sticker, but always keep an eye out for the 'solo's signature' - the lone camp chair.
Where you set up can make a difference too - find a spot where people pass by, sit outside with a book or crossword. I once met a man who invited conversation by doing woodcarvings outside his van, and another who set up a chess set and extra chair. My conversation starter is my rare Avan slide-on - it usually attracts someone's attracts attention.
Give it time, as you gain confidence builds you will meet many wonderful fellow travellers.
Hi, I have also found travelling by myself lonely.....I will be travelling in convoy mid May up the centre, but when we get to Alice I am then on my own. I am hoping to meet some sole travellers heading up to Darwin otherwise I will be heading back home. When there is a campfire its easier to join in...
I've found caravan parks less welcoming than free camping sites. I think it's because a solo has to effectively pay for 2 people in a caravan park that they're more likely to be in free camps or sites where you pay per person. When arriving I ask if it's ok if I park next to them, that's normally all it takes to get a conversation going. If I want time to myself (which I yearn for on Occassion) I park well away from other people. People recognise this as an idication of some one wanting me-time and usually leave you alone. :)
hi there is a post above you with same issue. hmm perhaps a facebook or android app is needed here. there probably is one out there.. using simple gps location and a "g'day" ping
Hi Krusty I think you have got it down pat. sometime me time is me time, and most aware people recognize it. I find if you say hello in a free camp all people will have a chat.
freddie
-- Edited by surf and turf on Thursday 12th of May 2016 10:46:18 PM
Solo or otherwise, you will have better luck joining a happy hour in a freedom camp. We only stay in caravan parks when absolutely necessary, preferring freedom camps. We have had the best impromptu happy hours at freedom camps. At caravan parks, it just does not seem to happen (unless it is the peak of grey nomad season)
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