Solo travel is (1)___________, especially among women, but Rosita Boland has always found it the most adventurous and rewarding way to see the world rosita boland - Kevin Rushby - the guardian
For years, decades in fact, I’ve puzzled over the knee-jerk response most people have when I tell them I (mostly) travel alone.
“You’re so brave.”
Why is it that a woman travelling alone, is perceived to be “brave”, (2)___________ men who travel alone are entirely unremarkable? There are things along the way that cause me deep fear, such as overloaded buses with (3)________ tyres on mountain roads with sheer drops, but being by myself out in the world has never scared me.
The chief joy of travelling alone is the simple act of just doing it: crossing that invisible border in your head. What is the alternative, stay at home and never go anywhere? Travel has always been far too important to me to sit around waiting for a partner in crime to come along and join me.
The first time I travelled alone was when I was 19. I got on trains, checked into hostels, found my way around by myself. It was (4)__________, initially, and then, I got so subsumed by the atmospheric glory of Venice and the exhilaration of the overnight trains that I stopped fretting about travelling alone.
That was three decades ago, and since then I have travelled all over the world. I’ve carried the same rucksack I have had since the age of 25: a modest 45-kilo-capacity one, that is now more or less (5)________________, but I cannot bear to replace it. Travel to me is about freedom, in every sense that the horizons of that immense and beautiful word suggests. Hence the small rucksack that I don’t have to depend on anyone else to carry. I don’t like carrying anything valuable and until I had an iPad, never did.
Mobile phones, the internet and social media did not exist when I first went travelling. I still do what I did then, which is to keep a diary. I never post anything on social media when I’m travelling; I want to feel far away, not to know my thoughts are (6)________________ in real time on screens at the other side of the world.
The greatest gift of solo travel has been those I’ve met along the way. I may have (7)_______________alone each time but I’ve encountered many people who became important to me: other travellers, whom I would never have met had I stayed at home; people who changed the course of my life. I met my ex-fiance in Kathmandu and a long-term partner in Palenque, Mexico.
The highs (and lows) of travelling solo
Sometimes you feel vulnerable and isolated, prey to crime, depression and homesickness. For female travellers there are extra challenges and dangers. There’s no one to watch your bag, or your back, no one to take the strain, and there’s never anyone to remind you why you came, remind you of the dreams that inspired the trip.
Other times, like when I was invited to live with the Baggara tribe of Sudan, for about a week I experienced a way of life that neither I nor those around me realised was soon to disappear: a life without electricity, running water, communications, plastic, indeed almost anything from the outside world. It was, and remains, one of the most remarkable episodes of my life and it happened because I was alone. You are forced into contact with people. Villains are soon (8)_____________________, trustworthy individuals embraced. You ask questions and opportunities come your way. You make decisions and your route changes drastically, without anyone to argue against.
A friend’s daughter, embarking on a trip to Thailand, recently asked my advice. I said, watch out for people spiking drinks, and take things slowly. The most vulnerable moments are when you arrive, so prepare for that. Find a base, among people you trust, and stick around for a while. You have to make an effort to talk to other people. I have always loved this part of travel.
And when you find a friend, you never forget them.
EXERCISES
1. Put the words in the blank spaces
a. knackered b. weird c. popping up d. whereas
e. set off f. bald g. on the rise h. spotted
2. Find in the text the synonims to the following words:
STEEP BACKPACK WONDERED WORRYING VICTIM ADD ALCOHOL
INCLUDED IN SOMETHING BIGGER MONITOR STAY THEREFORE
3. choose A, B, C from the following questions
1. what is the meaning of the expression in blue "knee-jerk " in paragraph 1
a.- a movement of the body
b.- a non-thoughtful expression
c.- a sudden push
2. according to the article, the writer....
a.- agrees that solo travelling women need to be brave
b.- equals being alone to the problems of dangerous situations on the road
c.- does not blame not having a companion on these trips
3.- according to the article...
a.- she would rather travel with more luggage
b.- the biggest reward of traveling is the experiences she carries back home
c.- she values a world away from modern civilization
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