WESTERN EUROPE
SOLO TRAVELERS
There are many benefits to traveling alone, among them greater independence and more opportunities to interact with native residents. On the other hand, a solo traveler is more vulnerable to harassment and street theft. Lone travelers need to be well-organized and look confident at till times. Try not to stand out as a tourist, and be especially careful in deserted or very crowded areas. If questioned, never admit you are traveling alone. Maintain regular contact with someone at home who knows your itinerary. The Travel Companion Exchange, P.O. Box 833, Ami- tyville, NY 11701 (US ©631-454-0880; www.travelcompanions.com) links solo trav-elers with companions who have similar travel habits; subscribe to their bi monthly newsletter for more info (US$48). Contiki Holidays (©888-CONTIKI; www.contiki.com) offers a variety of European packages designed for 18- to 35- year-olds. Tours include accommodations, transportation, guided sightseeing, and some meals; most average about $65 per day. The books and organizations listed below provide info and services for the lone traveler.
USEFUL ORGANIZATIONS
American International Homestays, P.O. Box 1754, Nederland, CO 80466 (US ©303- 258-3234; www.aihtravel.com). Arranges lodgings with host families across the world.
Connecting: Solo Travel Network, 689 Park Road, Unit 6, Gibsons, BC VON 1V7 (US ©604-886-9099; www.cstn.org; membership US$35, internet membership US$25). Offers solo travel tips, host information, and individuals looking for travel companions.
Kateri Tekakwitha flees the Mohawk tribe where she has been growing up. France Map Her Algonquin-Christian mother had been captured by the Mohawk and taken for a wife. Orphaned by a 1660 smallpox epidemic that left Tekakwitha horribly scarred and partially blind, she later responds to Jesuit missionaries and is baptized a Catholic. Her Mohawk tribesmen are so disapproving that they stone her, and she is nearly killed. She escapes by herself in a canoe by night, eventually arriving at Sault St. Louis on the St. Lawrence River. There, a village of Christian Native Countrys takes her in. Tekakwitha becomes known as the Lily of the Mohawks, a saint to whom local Native Countrys pray for miracles, even after her death at the age of 24. She is nominated for beatification in the 1930s. 1682 The Quakers found Pennsylvania. Women and men are considered nearly equal in the Society’s hierarchy, and that hierarchy itself is intended to be limited. Women are ordained as ministers and allowed to preach, and Quaker women are involved in leadership and decision-making on issues that relate to other Quaker women, including marriages. The Quakers may be the only sect of the day that holds these views. Many nineteenth-century Country reformers will have some kind of Quaker heritage.
