An Inner Circle for Solo Traveler
Sherry & Michaela are the women behind Meet Plan Go. They're cool with us using their concept.
Last week I launched a new category on Solo Traveler, the Solo Traveler Project, and in the first post I asked: what can Solo Traveler do for you?
Your Feedback
Among the many kind comments, there were also some good suggestions.
- A forum similar to TripAdvisor to exchange information with other solo travelers.
- A forum plus an iPhone app so that it’s portable.
- Opportunities for members to write for Solo Traveler.
- Battle the single supplement and get better prices on single hotel rooms.
I then conducted two polls on the Solo Travel Society on Facebook.
- Are you interested in a forum on Solo Traveler? The response was cool. 2/3′s said maybe and 1/3 said not likely as it would be just another site to go to.
- How much time in a year do you spend traveling? 50% said 3-5 weeks. 18% more than 5 weeks. 20% 2 weeks and only 12% 1 week. I’d say that we are a traveling bunch.
Forum? There’s not enough interest at the moment. I think we need a larger community for a forum to be successful.
Better pricing for solo travelers? We need to prove that solo travel is a strong, viable niche. Obviously, we travel enough. But, again, I think we need a larger community for me to go after these deals.
Join the Inner Circle: become a Solo Traveler Meetup Host
I thought about it and then I thought about Meet Plan Go, an organization that promotes career break travel by having city hosts run meetups so that people curious/interested/active in career break travel can get together to share stories and learn from each other. I love the concept and I love what it promotes so last year I became the Toronto host of Meet Plan Go. (It will be held October 18th this year in 17 cities. Maybe there’s one where you live.)
Now, with your support, I’d like to steal this concept for Solo Traveler.
Just like I jumped in to support the idea of career break travel, I’m hoping that some of you will jump in to support solo travel. The goal: grow our community of solo travelers so that we can have a vibrant forum for those who want one and we will have the strength of numbers to shift the attitude of the travel industry toward solo travelers.
I feel like I’m going out on a limb but, here are my thoughts:
- I’ll set up a private Facebook group specifically for an inner circle of city hosts.
- The group can be used to discuss solo travel (yes, a version of a forum) as well as ideas on how to be a great city host.
- Each host talks up solo travel and the Solo Traveler Project in whatever ways they communicate with their network.
- Each host holds a meetup – at least once or twice a year. We’ll discuss these in the Facebook group.
- I provide branding, promotion and prizes for the meetups.
- I’ll promote your event on Solo Traveler, Twitter and the public Facebook page.
- I’ll give you an eReader version of The Solo Traveler’s Handbook so that you can read and possibly review it – again, by whatever networking means you use.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a small town or a large city, your participation as a host would be very welcome. If you already blog about solo travel, hopefully you see this as good for you as well as Solo Traveler. By working together to raise the tide around the Solo Traveler Project, we raise everyone’s blogs.
If you’re interested in being in the Inner Circle, please contact me at info@solotravelerblog.com.
