Duane Brown jets off to international destinations seven or eight times a year.
12.08.2024 - 17:02 / lonelyplanet.com
Aug 11, 2024 • 6 min read
As a food writer and restaurant critic, I often find myself eating alone in restaurants. It might be because quite by chance I happen upon somewhere that looks interesting and make a spur of the moment decision to nip in and see if they have room for me. On other occasions it’s because I have a deadline to meet and have failed to persuade someone to be my dinner date, or my companion has cried off.
Given the choice, I would almost always prefer to eat with other people because I believe so much of the joy of food is in the shared experience – but needs must.
The rule of thumb when it comes to restaurant reviewing is two starters, two mains, two desserts, plus cocktails (if that’s a speciality) and wine, as this gives the restaurant a better chance to show off its strengths than being judged on a single dish in each category. So, if I’m eating alone, I have to order enough food for two people, which – as well as being embarrassing – can be a bit of a giveaway, especially in my hometown of Dublin where restaurants often keep photos of reviewers up on the wall.
Funnily enough, although you might think that it’s less intimidating to eat alone in a casual restaurant, solo dining in a high-end restaurant can be a delightful experience – especially if there is a tasting menu with matching wines that merits real concentration so that its nuances can be fully appreciated. Expensive restaurants are used to looking after business travelers eating alone and know how to put them at ease.
And while I endure these slightly awkward – although often highly enjoyable – experiences for the sake of my work, I was surprised to find a number of female travelers actively enjoy the experience of eating out unaccompanied – which, for many globetrotters, is a longstanding source of low-level anxiety. Here are some of their insights.
Martha de Lacey is a cook based in Margate with her partner and young baby. Before she moved to the Kent Coast, she lived in East London and hosted supper clubs and cookery classes in her home. She was also an intrepid solo traveler. For Martha, travel is all about the food, and her enthusiasm for everything from kebab joints in Istanbul to taco stops in Puerto Escondido and cult sandwiches in Puglia, as documented on her Instagram, is envy-inducing. Eating alone while traveling doesn’t faze her at all.
"I started eating by myself when I worked as a journalist in London," says Martha. "I was a film and music critic and spent lots of time out of the office, hanging around between movies or before gigs with no plus one."
"I got used to it and after a while, if I was going on holiday with friends, I started tacking on a few days on my own at the end of a trip, so that I could
Duane Brown jets off to international destinations seven or eight times a year.
People who've traveled with me a lot will tell you that I can be guilty of trying to do too much. To be honest, I didn't fully figure out how to take a proper beach vacation until well into adulthood, because I'd always worry that I wasn't being active enough. By now I've mastered the art of a trip designed expressly for relaxation, but in a city there's still the urge to go, go, go.
A London getaway is always exciting—take it from someone who has lived here for a decade—but first, you must decide the best area to stay in London for you. Do you want to be in the center of the capital, close to the action and the best things to do in London, or a little further out in a more peaceful location? Is it important to be close to public transport options, major train stations such as King's Cross, or iconic cultural landmarks like the Natural History Museum? Or perhaps you'd rather stay in one of the best neighborhoods in London to get under the skin of life like a local? Thankfully, whatever version of London you're interested in experiencing—foodie London, arty London, cultural London, or iconic London—there'll be world-class hotels to book as your base. But we get it—as one of Europe's biggest and busiest cities, it can be overwhelming when you need to decide where exactly to stay. Below we've listed our favourite areas of London for every type of traveler.
If you’re an avid traveler (and even if not), you’ve probably heard the rumblings that sometime soon the 3.4 oz. TSA liquids rule is going to change. Currently, you’re not allowed to bring containers larger than 3.4 ounces (or 100 ml) of liquids, gels, or aerosols through security. Commonly referred to as the “3-1-1” rule, it traces its origins back to a failed plot in 2006 when terrorists in the U.K. tried to smuggle liquid explosives onto planes. The rules were originally intended to be temporary but nearly 20 years later remain in place.
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For Olympics viewers that have recently caught Paris wanderlust, a low-cost carrier has affordable flights to make your trip to France a reality. Norse Atlantic Airways recently updated several one-way flight deals which include New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG) for as little as $112 one-way throughout the fall and even into 2025. From the west coast, travelers can score one-way flight deals from Los Angeles (LAX) to Paris (CDG) for as little as $188 throughout the fall. All of the deals are located on Norse’s main homepage. Travelers can filter the flight results by inputting their home city or destination, and even set a maximum budget. Beyond Paris, travelers can also get deals to London's Gatwick airport for as low as $72 one-way.
The Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehment Nuri Ersoy, has announced the tourism figures for the first half of 2024. Nearly 1.8 million UK tourists visited Türkiye in the first six months of 2024, marking an impressive 19% increase from the first six months of 2023.
Left-wing anti-racism protesters rallied in London on Wednesday to counter far-right agitators amid concerns of another night of violence across the country.
As a frequent traveler, I sometimes take flights with long layovers.
Is a grand tour of Europe on your bucket list? We bet it is.
School was out, and we were in holiday mode. Buzzing with excitement, we headed to Heathrow Airport, our destination, Dallas, where my sister, husband, and three teenage daughters live.
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