TRAVELING ALONE?
In late spring 2025, my destination was Asia. A woman, of advanced age, sporting gray hair, who walks with a cane neatly tucked into the side of a backpack, I was often asked, “Are you traveling alone?”
The tone of the question amused me more times than not. Young people tended to look either in awe or in shock. Folks closer to my age would eye me with pity, sadness, or a mixture of such. My response? A modest smile, a nod and silence. Inwardly, doubt would peek in. That’s when I would strengthen my resolve and quiet the inner voice by saying to myself, “You can do this.” When doubt nudged in, I was comforted by the knowledge that a loved one would be meeting me on the other side of the journey.
WHEELCHAIR SERVICE IS A GODSEND
Thank goodness for a world wherein airports have wheelchair service. Passengers needing assistance have grown in numbers since the first time I needed to use the service in 2016. It was the first time I could travel having weaned myself from wheelchair to walking cane. The diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) did a real number on my body rendering me mostly wheelchair-bound between late 2013 to mid-2015. (My healthy journey is well-documented in my Blog). Assistance navigating large airports and getting through the process safely on and off the airplane is useful.
To make traveling with ease possible, I ensure that my check-in luggage and carry-on are of manageable weight. Yet, navigating the airline check in and security lines could get tedious, lengthy in duration and distance. Assistive services in the San Francisco International Airport could be a coin toss when comes to efficiency and reliability. This is true when so many passengers need assistance, availability of the equipment goes down. All other places I have traveled in the world have surprisingly been a godsend!
Bravo to the show of care for the elderly or disabled, and promptness at the international airport in Manila, the opposite of the stereotype. I think the Philippines’ international travel has set impressive standards in attending to passengers needing assistance. The warm and humid weather notwithstanding, I couldn’t have been happier or prouder of the experience. I was grateful for Michael pushing and accompanying me through the process of retrieving my luggage and passing through Customs plus waiting until I was securely with a loved one.
Traveling alone, as in getting to and navigating the airport process could get dauting. I’d look around to feel comforted that there are other people these days who are like myself, requiring a wheelchair. I always set aside a few small bills ready to give a tip to my attendant, even in Spain even when I know they have turned it down enough times, saying they are doing what they’re paid to do. One even said, he gets paid well enough. Besides tipping isn’t the norm in Spain in general. But I am empathetic to attendants who could use the spare change.
YOU’RE NOT TRULY ALONE
When traveling alone, I do my best to limit what I carry with me. My purse is big enough to hold my documents, snacks, and medicine I must take while on flight. The carry-on suitcase or tote-bag has the rest of my medicines, some needing refrigeration so there are usually icepacks wrapped in several layers of Ziploc in padded pockets in my backpack or small tote bag. My small luggage has the rest, mostly clothes, two or three pairs of footwear and other essential travel items. I bring minimal clothing pieces; it gives me an excuse to shop wherever I go. I had my fill of food shopping, and dress shopping in the Philippines--Metro Manila, Iloilo City and in Malaysia--Kuala Lumpur in spring 2025.
I am extremely fortunate I only travel alone to get to my destination. Once there, I always have company—my husband James, sometime his friends or our extended family. I’d like to think that if I want to sightsee or get to know a location abroad that I could still do it. The bigger concern is my medical condition, to keep it at bay. I keep contacts handy if needing to reach out for help. And that I have done, thanks to friends or family in Spain, Metro Manila, or Aklan in the Philippines.
Besides, even when traveling alone and boarding the plane alone, one is never alone. I take time to chat with the flight attendants, my neighbor in the departure gate area or on the plane.
Writing about traveling solo reminded me when hubby met a friend to hike the last sections of the Camino de Santiago in our spring 2024 visit to Europe. I was alone then for ten days in our home-away-from home in the suburb of Madrid. There was friend or two who regularly checked in on me by phone, text, or an invitation to pick me up for lunch. While in Spain alone, I walked to the grocery store or neighborhood restaurant once I got over a bad cold, albeit taking several brief rests along the way. The RA body would have its complaints. Nothing new for me at this phase of my health journey.
MUST BE READY TO TRAVEL
I will travel while I still can physically and mentally, even if it means traveling alone for parts or all duration. The mental factor is as crucial as the physical. Physically one can get assistance, but entrusting your safety to the process is not as easy for some. When uncertainty or fear gets in the way, I tell myself, I’d rather be engaged actively in life than wait not knowing how much more gift of time avails me. My choice, heaven help me, is always to be ready to say, “yes” to travel.
Photo Essay © Lu Sobredo
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Photos (c) James Sobredo
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August 27, 2025
*Photos with flight or airport personnel were taken with permission on April 23 or 25, 2025.
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