Ok, I'll continue. Before the trip I had 2 days alone in London, and while it was a little lonely with no one to talk to, I was fine. But the difference of being alone after your tour, after spending 2 weeks with a group of great people, it was a world of difference. I left Glasgow after saying goodbye to all my friends, so I was sad as it was. Then my hotel wasn't ready, but I was ready, I wanted to get myself going and seeing things before I got depressed being by myself. I had to keep busy. I eventually got into my room and was out and about to Hollyrood Palace. I ended up keeping myself pretty busy for my 2 days. The nights were a little hard though. I did take a tour one night and stayed in the other night - I packed and watched some movies.
The worst part though might be that there is not one picture of me in Edinburgh from after my trip! Glad I got some during the tour.
The good things I experienced were that I had freedom, I could eat at any restaurant I wanted, picking my own hotel (the Contiki hotel was a bus ride out of the city but I was staying a block off the Royal Mile). Seeing whatever site I wanted and lingering over the little weird things that caught my eye. Having already been to the city I already knew my way around. Free free time. The time where you've seen all the big sites and you don't mind spending time in a little wacky site or at the internet cafe, or wandering into random shops because you could.
I've always found traveling by myself a little lonely, but after doing a tour that feeling is heightened. The contrast of being around people 24/7 to being around only strangers is dramatic. The moral of the story - plan for the solo days at the beginning of a trip. I should take my own advice. I planned to spend a day alone pre-cruise, but 2 days post-cruise in Barcelona. But this did work out better as I did meet some people on my cruise who were also staying longer.
