Field notes

What we learn on the ground, written down. New notes land in the newsletter first.

Solo travel · 5 min read

The first dinner alone is the whole trip

Every first-time solo traveller names the same fear. Here is what actually happens, and the one script that makes it easy.

Behind Sola · 6 min read

How we vet a retreat before it earns the Solo Standard

Seven checks every route passes before we sell a single place, and the red flags that end the conversation.

Practical · 6 min read

What a week away actually costs, country by country

Benchmark daily prices for retreats across ten countries, and how to read a price that looks too good.

Practical · 5 min read

How to choose your first solo retreat without drowning in tabs

Forty open tabs, three spreadsheets, zero bookings. Here is the sixty-second method we use instead.

Practical · 5 min read

Why autumn is the smartest time to book a solo retreat

September and October are the quiet secret of the retreat calendar: warm sea, thin crowds, lower prices, and rooms that are actually available. Here is how to use the shoulder season.

Destinations · 4 min read

Morocco's surf season opens in October. August is when to book it

The first Atlantic swells reach Morocco's coast in October: 19 to 22 degree water, air around 25, and villages small enough to fill up six weeks out. For solo travellers, the window to book is now.