Over the week-end I became a DIVA,  a role I have been auditioning for and failing miserably at for more than six decades.  According to most dictionaries, the word was originally meant to describe a woman of rare, outstanding talent. The Italian word ‘divina’, meaning “divine”, is a derivative of the Latin word diva, meaning “divine one.”  So, there you go.

While pleading to not being divine but with visions of Kate, wearing the Queen’s glittery tiara, still in my head, I’m feeling royal. Having just purchased a crown at K-Mart, tacky though it may be, it’s plopped on my head as I pen this Post. Fully registered as Mary, the Tango Diva, (which translates loosely to travel goddess), the moniker fits as awkwardly as my crown. It’s just amazing who you can become on-line these days!

“One certainty, when you travel,  is the moment you arrive in a foreign country, the American dollar will fall like a stone“.      Erma Bombeck

This nonsense all began after a conversation with my friend, Judy, about traveling  alone, without a playmate. Empowered, knowledgeable, and armed with enough hi-tech equipment to wire the world, modern young women are flying solo to faraways in increasingly growing numbers.  No furrowed brow or tsk, tsk, tsk, from family or friends, as they grab their backpacks or Tumi satchels, and hit the road.

Traveling alone is not common for my Generation.  When I was a young, women rarely travelled to foreign and exotic destinations by themselves. According to a recent AARP report, over 76 million people, Baby Boomers, represent the largest single population growth in US history. Born between 1946 and 1964, about 7,000 are turning 65 daily. Many are women, single, in good physical and financial health, who have caught the travel bug. Despite the obstacles, and there are many, they are applying for passports, exchanging dollars for foreign currency, and dropping the dog at the kennel.  If women our age want to be wild, it may be the “blue yonder”, they’re after.

“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half  the clothes and twice the money”.    Unknown

Travelling solo is no obstacle to my three friends, Judy, Ardyth and Michelle, who may be more qualified for diva-hood than me. Interestingly, these gals span, age-wise, three generations, being 64, 51 and 70. (Ages are jumbled to protect the friendships!)  While none of them throw caution to the wind, they do know how to control it, by thoughtful pre-planning, careful scheduling and painstaking organization. Readers, this is not the time nor are we at the age, to do anything on ‘a wing and a prayer’.

That being said, the manner in which these women travel dovetails nicely into their personalities.

Ardyth is a gutzy woman, brilliant, always pushing the boundaries. No, let me be truthful here. If there’s a border, she is probably on the other side of it. Although she has traveled throughout the world with her family, many of her solo trips have been in her role as a educator. In that capacity, her most challenging have been six month-junkets, on Fulbright Fellowships, in the Ukraine (Spring 2004, just prior to the Orange Revolution) and Latvia (January-July, 2010).

Although just getting to these destinations, armed with six months of apparel, medicines, and technical equipment, would be daunting, finding a secure apartment and navigating a new city safely is even more so. After throwing in university teaching, some by translation; a half-mile, cold Winter walk to the bus stop each morning; and navigating the rigors of a daily routine, you have to wonder if these were borders worth crossing. To Ardyth, the answer is always an enpowering, “jā”.

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” Susan Sontag

Judy, who is well-read, intelligent, thoughtfully low-key but indefatigable, just returned from spending three weeks in her only destination-of-choice, the City of Lights.  Having studied French in school and still being tutored privately, Judy and I met in 2007, when we were both enrolled in a 30-day language immersion course at the Institut de Français in Villefranche. I have never known Judy to  be somewhere, meet some stranger, and not make a friend-for-life. Luckily for me, four years ago, I was her stranger-in-paradise.

Prior to her solo Paris trips, Judy spends hours, even days, on her computer,  scrolling through rental apartment after apartment, pouring over Sites.  Although, she always nestles into an apartment in a 17th Century building on the Île Saint-Louis, this gal knows what’s available in every arrondisement!  Unlike me, Judy doesn’t attack a destination, she strolls through it.  For example, when I was recently in Madrid, I spent a day in the Prado and “knocked-off” the Top 100 Paintings in six hours. Armed with a list, I dashed, I saw and I conquered. Pride in my accomplishment has now succombed to the embarrassment of attaining my goal. Judy prefers a more intimate approach, with a casualness that belies her growth and keen sense of understanding this complex city.

“Most travel is best of all in the anticipation or the remembering; the reality has more to do with losing your luggage”. Regina Nadelson

Everyone needs an over-achiever in her life, and, for me, that’s my friend, Michelle, who is not only a lawyer and judge but also a professionally-trained Chef. When I spend an evening with her, it always makes me want to ‘pick up my game.‘  She’s smart, fun, ambitious, and about to embark on a week-long intensive travel/food writing seminar in Italy. Why not?  If three jobs aren’t enough, let’s aim for another!  Although traveling alone, she’s been in constant e-mail contact with other classmates and has already made plans for sharing cars, rooms and costs.  Michelle is going to be my first Guest Blogger and will be writing about her solo traveling experiences on her return. We’ll wait for her own observations.

If you wish to be a Tango Diva, are thinking about a solo journey, or are just curious about traveling alone, go to Google and go crazy.  There are an amazing number of good Sites to explore. If you want to be a Diva, in your own eyes, start first at “Tango Diva,  An Online Travel Magazine & Social Network for Women Travelers & Solo Travel.”    http://tangodiva.com/

“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” Clifton Fadiman