Here at Just You, we know that all of our travellers are different, everyone has different reasons to travel, different expectations and different fears. We also know that not everyone wants to share their story but for those of you that do, we’d love to hear it.

So, to get the ball rolling, I thought I would share my Just You story….

About 4 years ago, I found myself ending a relationship and being consumed with a sense of freedom and a yearning for adventure. But as a single thirty-something woman, personal safety and a number of other concerns clouded my judgement. What would happen to me if I got lost? How could I understand the locals (I don’t have an ear for languages)? How do I get from A to B? Did I have the confidence to walk into a restaurant and eat on my own? Would I ultimately book a flight and a hotel and spend two weeks staring at 4 walls instead of seeing the world?

Despite all of these issues, I worked for Just You - a singles travel company. I had read so many of our travellers stories and it was about time I “practised what I preached” on the community.

Before setting off on my adventure, I had feelings of both excitement and nervousness but ultimately I needn’t have worried. I met 28 wonderful people on my first Just You holiday, some of whom I am still in touch with today and Vladtka was a Tour Manager simply sent from heaven – welcoming, friendly and very knowledgeable! I never ate alone at mealtimes and I was never short of company during our “free time”. I certainly didn’t spend any time staring at 4 walls that’s for sure!

Since my first trip I’ve taken more Just You holidays, (and built up the courage to travel independently too) and seen even more of the world… I’ll be honest, every time I turn up at the airport I’m as nervous as I was the first time but every time, my worries evaporate as soon as I say hello to my first fellow traveller.

What’s more, this isn’t the end of my Just You story – the world is a very big place and I have far too many pages of the brochure turned over to stop travelling now!

Who knows.... I may run in to one (or more) of you on a Just You holiday in the future!

Julia

Hi Julia, thanks for sharing your story - mine is quite simple although I don't know if anyone would find it very interesting! I travelled quite a bit around Europe and further afield in my 20s (Egypt, Israel/Palestine and the US) and did several inter-railing trips, one with a friend and the other solo. After a lot of great travel experiences, I went as a single traveller with a company to Slovenia in my late 20s. Although I loved Slovenia, I had a very lonely time on that holiday as I was the only single traveller and none of the group mixed with me at all - meals were by myself in the hotel restaurant and I didn't even learn the names of any others in the group the whole week! That put me off "touring holidays" for years and in my 30s I went with friends on holiday a couple of times but also went to an apartment in Spain owned by friends of mine for a quiet week of rest and relaxation for several years.

As my 40th birthday loomed I decided life was too short and wanted to start seeing the world again. After a bit of internet searching I came across JY and decided to give them a go. For my first holiday, I decided to play it safe and went to Andalucia, a part of Spain I'd never been to before but had been recommended by friends. I figured it was only for a week, it wasn't expensive so if I didn't like it that wouldn't be the end of the world! As soon as I met the rest of the group any nerves disappeared and I met a few lovely ladies who were great fun and we met up frequently during the week at meal times and on excursions. On my return I signed up for the Community forum and have never looked back!

I've now done 11 JY tours and 2 with Travelsphere - the fact that the tours offered by the company are so good it encouraged me to go with the "couples" to see some places not currently offered by JY and I had a great time and didn't feel lonely at all! Thanks to JY I have travelled all over the world and although I now have the experience to be confident in going by myself I do like the security and friendship offered by JY tours - my work means I have to constantly organise other people so it's great on a JY tour to have all the work done for you!

There are so many things about the holidays offered by JY that appeal to me - that everyone is in the same boat (even on tours when some friends are travelling together I've found that everyone mixes really well), people are friendly and happy to share their travel experiences so I get ideas for future holidays, everyone respects each other's privacy so it's easy to find some personal time if you feel like it. Best of all, the itineraries are fantastic - a great mix of seeing all the major iconic sights plus some unexpected highlights as well off the beaten track. Pretty much a perfect mix of holiday experiences! I have three holidays booked for next year - two with JY and one with TS and I can't wait! They have given me a new lease of life and a keen interest in learning more about this amazingly diverse world of ours...

All the best,

Bob

I originally started my journey with JY in Sept 2006 (New England New York and Boston) I had looked into single travelling for my mother in law who had been widowed a few years, and she still wanted to travel so I found JY on the Internet and went along with her (to hold her hand so to speak). She has since only travelled once more with JY to Norweigen fjords. She isn't a great mixer with people so that's her journey finished, I have since travelled on my own and travelled the world as far as New Zealand and all in between in total 11 tours. I have seen amazing sights and done helicopter flights in NYC and NZ, I have met so many great people, and I have been on a great journey with JY. Its safe secure and great fun. Yes there has been the odd hiccup along the way, but that's life. I do have a husband at home he works hard but has absolutely no interest in seeing the world and hates the idea of a tour. He is happy for me to travel this way.

For the first time since 2006 I will have no JY tour booked for 2016, our son in getting married, but I will be seeking out a great tour for 2017 God willing.

Cindy

In my 20's and early 30's I travelled with a friend to Sorrento quite a few times and once with her to Makarska. Then she got into another relationship with a guy after her first marriage and I decided to try travelling on my own within a conventional holiday company.

After a disastrous first holiday to Benidorm (not the right place to pick and I was ill most of the week) I decided to give what was then Yugoslavia a try again. I went twice to what is now Slovenia and twice to what is now Croatia to Rabac. 😛 Many of the couples I met were very welcoming and I had lovely holidays. I also felt really safe there.

In 1991 I paid what was my last holiday to what is now Slovenia. 3 weeks after I came back everything went wrong there and I was so upset because I had loved the country so much. I then spent most of my time travelling within this country apart from a TS coach trip to Ireland in 1995.

To cut a long story short I went to Italy a couple of times to stay with a friend, and in 2009 paid my first visit to the States to meet up with Internet friends. I have been back a few times since but because of health problems it's difficult for me to make long flights now.

I discovered JY by chance when I was trawling the internet one night. They had a brand new holiday to Cilento Coast, and on a whim I booked it. The first trip out too. I loved it. Good company and a brilliant place.

Since then I have been back to Cilento again. Also to Tuscany, Costa de la Luz, France/Belgium Battlefields, a long delayed trip to Slovenia for my 60th birthday :thumbup: and yes back to Rabac where I took had V as a TM. In fact I have had her as a TM twice (beat you Julia) as I went back to Istrian Coast this last September. Next May I am going to Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian Riviera.

I have met some lovely people (some of whom I am in touch with still, my apologies for lack of emails folks), had some superb TM's and seen some lovely places. Thank you JY. 😃

In 2008 I was a single with 15 couples with Thomas Cook. We started in Atlanta, travelling through Nashville, Memphis, Natchez and New Orleans. The other 2 singles were in their 70's and had no interest in going out after we had arrived at the hotel in the evening.

2010 saw my first JY trip. Jordan, Sinai and Cairo. So many ticks on my To Do list. Petra was an 'Oh Wow' with a camel ride to top it off. Wadi Rum and Lawrence of Arabia took on a whole new meaning with the Seven pillars of Wisdom. With the devastation of Palmyra in Syria, I worry for Jerash.

The Sinai was amazing with St Catherines Monastery and the burning bush. Who could forget the Suez Canal and the huge container ships. Pyramids of Giza, Bent and Steps Pyramids. My favourite was Hard Rock Cafe at the Hyatt Hotel does not exist anymore in Cairo. I took 4 other women and we had lunch there. 3 months later was the Arab Uprising and much of the beautiful exhibition at the Egyptian Museum was damaged or stolen.

I have just been on my eighth JY trip with Flavours of Tuscany- the third this year. I have had so much fun since 2010, thank you JY for given me that chance to tick so many boxes :)

Jan

OK Here's my story as how I came about travelling with JY and alone

I had travelled before on several occasions with Travelsphere, sometimes with friends and the odd one on my own, I did the states twice with them and also Egypt at a time when TS had this share with another single traveller scheme, my first big outing with them being to the usa west coast in 1989 where I shared with another traveller and the tour included return coach travel to Heathrow

anyhow for some unknown reason I started going with other tour companies to places like the far east ( asia ), the Caribbean, Canada etc, I just think which ever tour took my fancy, I also visited family in Spain and did holidays with other friends, then in 2008 I did Kenya with a friend for my 50th where we met a couple of women from Wolverhampton and so stayed in touch after, from here we did Sri Lanka in 2009 and India in 2011 as well as New York, all independently booked, and met up for many other things as well, these two began getting a bit dominating and were extremely nasty with me on many many occasions, my mate could do no wrong, it all came to a head in 2012 when we went to a Lady Gaga concert in Dublin, I wasn't originally going just my mate and them two and so could i not get in the same hotel and was seated in a different section of the stadium, we arranged to meet after inside the stadium but when the concert finished security ushered me out of the stadium and so I could not get to our meeting place, basically I was lost and along with the volume of people had no choice but to make back for the hotel, soon after I got back I got a phone call from them tearing a strip off me and i ended up telling them where to go my mate offered me little support as he didn't like to rock the boat with them, we had another event lined up and another India tour independently booked and i decided enough was enough and had no option but to pull the plug on these two and began cancelling all i had booked in India, hotels, flights etc, my mate still went with them, its a long drawn out story but you wouln't believe how much i took from these two who had the ability to turn on you just at will

from here i looked at Australia and wanted to do the tennis there in January 2013 when i came across 'Just You' and a full tour without all the hassels for just under £6000 covering all i wanted to see and so much more so i booked for November 2013, had some great people on the tour some i am still in touch with then followed that up the following year with Peru and now Vietnam and Borneo in May, countries and continents i certainly wouldn't have visited had i still been in with them two women as all the pressure is now been released of going where they wanted and being hounded to book things from one moment to the next

so there you go a new life with JY seeing more of the world and i hope my indepth journey hasn't bored you too much now, don't get get the violins out too quickly now lol

Dave

I had a fear of flying so hadn't been on a flight for years. However, after my husband died I couldn't see me travelling over land and sea on my own. Most of my friends still had their partners/husbands and my family had to go away during the school holidays so I felt a bit lost. While looking online for holidays for singles I came across a Telegraph article and one of the companies they mentioned was JustYou. That inspired me to go to a Hypnotist and after 3 sessions I felt brave enough to give flying a go and I am so glad I did. Like everyone I was very nervous when I set off for Mijas but the butterflies soon flew off after I met the group. It was such a good experience for the first holiday on my own. Since then I have been on 3 other JY holidays and have met some really nice people. I am still in touch with some and usually manage to catch up with them at least once a year.

Every time a new JY brochure arrives I can't wait to get into it and end up with such a long list. I am now trying to spur myself on to going somewhere out of my comfort zone of Europe and the Canaries!

Interesting places, good company and laughter sums up the holidays I have had so far. Thank you JY.

Travel has always been an interest for me but in 2009 my partner suddenly passed away, was a real shock as she was only 45 years old and of course effected me for a long time.

Almost a year later i decided i wanted to travel again and although i was experienced and had travelled completely solo i decided i wanted to go with others.

An internet search found me on the JY website and i took the plunge and booked "Music Cities of the Deep South".

Sadly i got a phone call from JY saying the holiday was cancelled so after a bit of consideration opted for "Americas Golden West".

Despite my travel experience turning up at the airport i felt nervous wondering what the others would be like, also a bit emotional due to travelling alone again.

Met some of the others in the lounge and soon got into the holiday mood it was a really nice group only 18 of us and we all got on great.

On my return I'd so enjoyed it i booked another holiday (Andalucia) for later that year and the rest is history and am now in double figures.

Mick

My first holiday was to Malta with my two sisters in mid 1970s. In my teens, 20s, 30s and 40s I used to holiday with my sisters, brother and sometimes my mum used to join us. We did a lot of package trips to Europe and then in 90s started going a bit further afield - Dubai, Bangkok, Bali, Singapore, Penang, Toronto, Florida and Hawaii. One year they went to Seychelles and Mauritius and whilst I would have loved to go, I was between jobs and decided to stay at home in case a job opportunity came up. I did my first solo independent trip in 2004 when I travelled to Frankfurt to see some ex-colleagues. I flew with Ryanair from Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn. I was quite petrified but amazed myself by travelling on my own by train from Heidelberg. I did get lost when I got off the train and could not find the hotel as there was a Christmas market and I just got confused. I did eventually find the hotel. The second panic was when I decided to take the train by myself from the hotel and get the coach to the airport - a colleague had offered to drive me, but I said I could do it myself. Once I got out of the train station, I could not find the bus stop. It was snowing and I asked a few people who did not know. I did start panicking as obviously I did not want to miss my flight. Luckily I found a woman who knew where the bus stop was - I was quite near it - and I made the coach with few minutes to spare. What an adventure. I then travelled to Berlin on my own. A daughter of an ex-colleague was studying there so I did have someone to show me around. I had to make my own way from where the coach dropped us to the train station. I knew where which stop I had to get off, but had no idea how to get a ticket. Again, I was lucky and there was a lady who helped me buy a ticket. One day after some sightseeing I decided to make my own way to the hotel from the train station and since I got out at a different exit, I again got lost. I did not panic too much - went back into the station and got out of the exit I knew and found the hotel! I am not too confident travelling on my own and have no sense of direction. I purchased my house in 2005 and did not travel for 2-3 years. In 2009 I decided to go on a holiday and had no clue where to start. I went on the internet and typed 'holidays for solo travellers' and Just You came up. I saw that Jordan was one of the holidays on offer and since I always wanted to see Petra , I booked it then and there before I got cold feet. I felt quite apprehensive and was very nervous on my way to the Airport. But all the nerves and fears evaporated as soon as I got to the Airport. I had a great time and booked my second holiday to Andalucia straight after my return. Since then I have not looked back and have travelled to Costa de la Luz, Israel, Italian Dolomites and Croatia, Calabria, Istanbul, Troy & Ephesus, Marrakech, Namibia, Battlefields and am off to Kerala in two weeks time. When I went to Israel, I extended the holiday before the main tour and travelled on my own to Tel Aviv and made my way to the hotel by myself. This in itself was a big achievement on my part. Travelling with Just You has given me lots of confidence and opened the wide world to me. Here's to many more happy years travelling with Just You. Just need to either win a lottery or find a rich man to help with the cost!!

Jaya

Jaya,

Enjoyed reading your story (& all the others)....it seems that you are something of a legend at JY! My story is much simpler & not really sure if it is that interesting, but perhaps new travellers gain a certain amount of confidence in reading where we all came from. I remember on my 40th birthday admitting to my husband that I really yearned to travel more. At the time he was never off a plane for work & understandably suggested I went alone, which didn't appeal. Less than 5 years later I was a widow in shock, but happily a friend quickly dragged me off to Kenya, which was a real turning point. In the following years I visited relatives in Uruguay, where I was born, returned to Kenya alone & did a very successful Saga Singles holiday to India & Nepal. Interspersed over the years, a group of us ex Uni friends have also met in various parts of the globe, organising things ourselves. Slowly getting used to the Internet, the pertinent search brought up JY, amongst other companies. What impressed me was the range of destinations available & relative pricing. So,my first trip was to China....wonderful & I can honestly say I have never laughed so much having teamed up with some of the others in the group. Somewhere along the way it became clear that I am quite capable of travelling on my own, being organised & not easily spooked, but it is hard to match the prices & the ground that can be covered in limited time with those offered by a group. Immediately I appreciated that with JY you encounter a range of age groups which adds variety, & that, whilst you are "shepherded" along, you can always retain a sense of independence (does that make sense?), & you never have that eating alone moment....do I pretend to be interested in my surroundings, read a book?....I think singles can relate to this. Peru & Costa Rica/Nicaragua have been the 2 other trips, both tremendously enjoyable on all fronts, that I have done with JY. Now the problem, with finances perhaps stretching to one long haul a year, is where to go in 2016. I have the list down to Namibia, Sri Lanka, Borneo, Kerala or Cuba, not necessarily in that order, & spend many a happy hour researching it all. What is perhaps relevant to mention is that I live in Greece, where there is a real dearth of holiday opportunities abroad on offer, so always have to travel through the UK which adds to the cost. I believe JY would be ameanable to me meeting a group at a particular destination, but so far haven't come up with a cheaper mode of travel from this location. Personally I have enjoyed meeting the other few ex-pats who have been on these trips, as we can share some different experiences. Story to be continued.......

For a few years I had a beautiful apartment on the Red Sea - I was going over there 4 times a year. It began to dawn on me that there was a big world out there and that I wasn't seeing any of it! So I sold the apartment and started travelling solo (but always on a group tour - I'm not so brave as Jaya!) - my first trip was to Moscow and St Petersburg and I was so blown away that I've barely stood still since. India, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Sicily, Morocco, Peru. Cuba and Kerala next year. And now planning the Trans Siberian Express. I found out about JY last year - they don't do all the tours that I'm interested in but I use them whenever I can - it's so relaxing knowing that you're not going to be the only single amongst many couples. None of my friends are interested in travelling and for a time I thought I'd never have the courage to go away alone - but you only need to do it once and then you know there's nothing to stop you.

Hi Fleurby

I am not really brave and have no sense of direction at all! This is the reason I enjoy travelling with Just You. Mind you, I have become more confident over the years and the thought of travelling to the airport on my own no longer bothers me whereas a few years ago, I would have dreaded this. I agree with you that you have to travel once on your own and then there is nothing to stop you.

Jaya