Perhaps a spouse can’t travel any more and you have no one with similar interests to travel with? Or perhaps you’re concerned about safety and health or problems with unfamiliar languages and cultures?

If it’s too scary to think of heading off alone, try joining a tour group the first time, one where you’re likely to meet people with similar interests. Find a group that allows for free time to explore on your own and follow your interests. Being alone in a group combines the best elements of solo and accompanied travel. You always have people in the group to talk with and eat with, but you can also explore on your own, close your door, and savor your privacy.

Solo travel arrangements usually require paying some penalties in the form of financial supplements. If this is a deterrent or you don’t like the idea of going with a group, look for an organization that will supply you with a companion of your age and gender (see Solo Travel Resources box on next page). The risk is that you may not “click” with that person. But think of it as a short-term commitment: you’ve at least got to where you want to go and you may even have found a longer-term friend.

Real solo travels—where you decide the destination, read up on it, get your own tickets, and head off alone—is another matter. This is where you weigh concerns for personal safety and where women feel especially vulnerable (nearly all the solo travel advice is directed at women). While it might not be wise to strike out on your own to, say, Burundi, a shake-down visit to a more familiar culture like Mexico will get you started.

Perhaps the most important goal to keep in mind is to learn as much as possible about the people and places you’ll be visiting before you leave home and go out of your way to meet the locals when you’re there. You can do this in small ways: by admiring a gardener’s work, offering to take someone’s picture, asking for information about local landmarks, accepting an invitation into a family home for a meal, etc.

People everywhere, travelers and locals alike, are more willing to take up with singles than with pairs. So leave your shyness at home, pack your bag (preferably a rolling carry-on), and go for it!

Air travel is generally the biggest money outlay—and therefore the biggest deterrent to going anywhere. Consider some key ways around it. One is the extraordinarily low winter airfare to get to Europe that happens every year, usually between mid-October and March or April. Airlines offer transatlantic roundtrip fares of $400 or even less to London, Paris, Rome, etc.

Why would you want to go abroad in the winter? To see and do the same things as in peak seasons and without the crowds and high costs for museums, concerts, theater, language courses. Hotels and all-inclusive packages are generally cheaper at that time too. Book at least six months in advance and pay early to get low-priced promotional airfare, or, if your time is flexible, see what you can get at the last minute for a low price. Most major airlines have discontinued the senior discount fare, making the off-season rates especially attractive. Once in Europe, you’ll find more new airlines to provide cheap travel from nearly all the major hubs to wherever you want to go (see below).

Rail Passes

Once you’re there, even more opportunities to save are available for the over-60 crowd. Most senior rail passes are for single countries or contiguous countries such as Scandinavia or the Balkans.

Eurailpass, good for unlimited travel in about 17 European countries, offers no senior discounts, making individual country passes a better deal. Here are the best ones:

Eurostar, the Channel Tunnel train, and the Thalys train give seniors 25-30 percent off, but you may have to order them ahead.  In many major cities local transportation—subways, buses, and lake steamers—is grouped together in a one-purchase card.

For discounts in general, other than transportation, different countries offer different deals, and the practice is often unpredictable. Some bargains are available to anyone over 60; others are limited to citizens of the EU nations. In Greece, for instance, a few museums and archeological sites are discounted. In Austria discounts vary from one museum or site to another; there is no general rule. You often have to be a member of an association or hold a British pension book in England to get a discount. And so it goes—no hard and fast specifics. Before you go, see what discount cards are available for free or reduced rates to attractions in the areas you’ll visiting.

The point is that discounts are out there. They’re very often available for movies, theaters, museums, tours, local sightseeing, historic buildings, hotels, restaurants, and car rentals. The main rule to keep in mind is that if you think you may qualify for a discount on anything ask. They’re not apt to volunteer the offer—any more than they do in your home town. In the case of hotels and car rentals, ask when you make the reservation, not when you check out. And ask too for weekend or midweek packages at hotels or, better yet, look for lower-priced B and Bs where you’ll often feel like one of the family.

As for evening meals, which abroad are frequently served when American seniors are ready to turn in, look for early-bird menus, often served before 7 p.m.

Another tip: always keep some form of identification like a passport or a driver’s license with you that show your date of birth. You never know when and where a bargain is waiting for you. Finally, verify all published rates and schedules before you assume they’re valid.

Missing home and the various other things that were important to you before you left is normal and is part of the transition into a new country and new culture. It can be especially hard if the culture of the country you have moved to is really different to what you were used to.

In the first few months or even the first year, you may feel as if you have lost your identity. Having this state of mind can amplify the feelings of missing home. Back home, people knew you and knew your personality. It may feel like you have to rebuild your identity. In some respects you have to, but it is important to remember why you moved to a new country in the first place. Maybe you wanted a fresh start in life. Grasp the opportunity this fresh start has given you. You could even give your personality a makeover and be someone new.

Dealing with missing home, friends and family can be made that much easier, but it takes effort. One of the important aspects you can do is to plan. Plan to make calls to friends and loved ones. Plan not to be alone. Don’t let yourself be alone too much as this is not good for your morale. Invite the new friends you make to spend time with you. Arrange for your family and friends back home to come and visit as much as possible. By being proactive and planning, you will have something to look forward to and this helps with the thoughts of missing home.

In this modern age of communications, there are many ways to keep in touch. Telephone, email, Internet chat and even via web cam video. Grasp the technology and get it working in your favor. You may feel that you are missing out on things at home, but imagine what a video of your nieces birthday party would do for you. Sure it would probably make you miss home, but you would still feel very much a part of what is happening back home and have not been forgotten.

Learn to fit in with the new culture you have found yourself in. Forget that back home you would celebrate Christmas like this, or would eat this on a Sunday. You are not at home so learn to live like the locals. Once you accept that the world around you is different, maybe then you will learn to live with it and feel part of something again. Perhaps that is when you can start to deal with missing home.

Missing home is difficult to overcome, but with effort, friends, a social life and enthusiasm to fit into this new life, it can be easier to deal with.

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