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Vacations have long gone hand-in-hand with company: family bonding, honeymoons, babymoons, bands of oats-sowing college backpackers. Yet today, more and more travelers are going solo — and they’re not who you might expect them to be.
度假早就不再是增進家庭感情、新婚蜜月、孕期蜜月、大學背包客的集體出游——那種總要與旅伴手牽手進行的活動了。如今，越來越多的旅行者開始選擇獨自出游――而且他們的身份與你所預想的很可能并不一樣。
Some 24 percent of people traveled alone on their most recent overseas leisure vacation, up from 15 percent in 2013, according to the 2015 Visa Global Travel Intentions Study, which was conducted across 25 countries by Millward Brown, a market research organization. Among first-time travelers, solo travel is even more popular, jumping to 37 percent, up from 16 percent in 2013. And while the stereotypical solo traveler has traditionally been single and looking, a solo traveler these days is just as likely, if not more likely, to be married or in a committed relationship.
據維薩公司(Visa)委托市場調研機構明略行公司(Millward Brown)在25個國家開展的《2015年度全球旅行意圖研究》(2015 Global Travel Intentions Study)顯示，約有24%的人在最近一次出國度假時是獨自成行的，較2013年時15%的比例有所上升。在首次出游的旅行者當中，單人旅行的風氣甚至更盛，從2013年時的16%躍升至37%。傳統觀念素來認為，單人旅行者均為單身且在尋求戀情的人，然而如今的單人旅行者卻有同樣的幾率（假使不是更高的話）是已婚人士，或者至少已經訂婚。
As the numbers creep up, more travel brands are paying attention. Take Solos Holidays, one of the oldest and largest companies in Britain offering guided getaways for solo travelers. The company has been around since 1982, but a few weeks ago it introduced an American arm, Solos Vacations, that’s beginning to offer escorted trips (to Italy and Britain so far) through Solosvacations.com. (Guided tours in general are becoming more popular among solo travelers, according to Visa’s research, up almost threefold compared with 2013.)
隨著單人旅行者的人數不斷攀升，也開始有更多的旅游品牌對此投以關注。以單人假日公司(Solos Holidays)為例，這家英國公司專為單人旅行者提供向導游服務，它在英國同業中歷史最悠久、規模也最大。公司成立于1982年前后，不過就在短短幾周前，它的美國分支機構單人度假公司(Solos Vacations)剛剛開張，開始通過網站Solosvacations.com提供陪同游，目前目的地僅限意大利和英國（據維薩公司的研究結果，總體而言，選擇向導游的單人旅行者人數正在不斷增加，相較于2013年時增長了將近三倍）。
Who exactly are these solo travelers?
這些單人旅行者到底都是些什么人呢？
Many are unattached, of course. “I was amazed to find that over half of American adults are single,” said Andrew Williams, the managing director of Solos Holidays. He was referring to research about the percentage of American adults who have never been married being at a historic high. (In 2012 one-in-five adults (25 and older) had never been married, according to analysis of census data by Pew Research Center, compared with about one-in-ten adults in 1960.) “It’s clearly a shift in the same direction that we’ve seen in the U.K.,” he added. “Perhaps you’re a little further ahead than we are in that regard.”
許多人自然是沒有婚約在身。“我很驚奇地發現，半數以上的美國成年人都是單身，”單人假日公司的常務董事安德魯·威廉姆斯(Andrew Williams)說。他指的是一項顯示從未有過婚史的美國人比例達到歷史高點的研究。（據皮尤研究中心[Pew Research Center]人口普查數據的分析結果，2012年時，美國25歲及以上的成年人中有五分之一從未有過婚史，相較之下，1960年時的這一比例為十分之一。）“這與我們在英國所看到的轉變方向顯然是一致的，”他補充道，“說不定在這方面，你們美國人還要比我們領先一點點呢。”
At the same time, plenty of solo travelers are in committed relationships. There are those who travel by themselves because their partner’s job prevents them from taking simultaneous getaways. Some have a yen for a particular activity, like golf, that isn’t shared by their partner. Others are caregivers for a disabled spouse or partner and take the occasional solo trip when a family member is able to help out at home.
另一方面，也有大量單人旅行者都擁有一段經過承諾的關系。他們當中有的之所以獨自出行，是因為他們的伴侶出于工作原因而無法在同一時間內一同出行。有的則是因為十分向往某項活動，而其伴侶對此卻并無同樣的興趣。還有的一直在照顧身患殘疾的配偶或伴侶，只能趁其他家庭成員方便幫忙照顧時，才出門享受一下難得的單人旅行。
“Many people seem to think that solo travelers are single people, with many or most looking for love,” said Priscilla O’Reilly, a spokeswoman for Overseas Adventure Travel, which caters to baby boomers and seniors. “That’s not the case with our travelers.” Plenty of people who book with the company — where more than 40 percent of travelers are solo, up from 35 percent in 2013 and 27 percent in 2007 — do so without their spouse or partner. “If a spouse or partner can’t leave work, has a conflict, or is disinterested in a destination that his or her partner is pining to see, the partners have no qualms about heading off on their own,” said Ms. O’Reilly. Most of them are women, she added, “and, some of them admit that after having taken care of spouses and kids for so many years, it’s nice to have an experience on one’s own without worrying, ‘Is Fred having a good time?’ ”
“許多人似乎都認為，單人旅行者都是單身人士，其中有很多甚至大部分都在尋找戀情，”專門服務嬰兒潮世代和老年旅客的海外歷險旅行公司(Overseas Adventure Travel)的一位女性發言人普莉西亞·奧萊利(Priscilla O’Reilly)說，“但這并不符合我們公司的旅客的情況。”在這家旅游公司訂購旅程的人中有很多――其中有40%以上的旅行者都是單人出行，較2013年的35%和2007年27%均有所上漲――都是在沒有配偶或伴侶陪伴的情況下出游的。“如果配偶或伴侶無法放下工作，日程安排有沖突，或者對另一方想去的目的地沒有興趣，那他們對于獨自前往也不會有什么心結。”奧萊利女士說。她還補充說，這些旅行者多為女性，“而且，他們中有的人承認，在照顧配偶子女如此多年之后，他們很高興能有機會獨自出游，而不必顧慮‘弗雷德現在過得好嗎？’”
Indeed, of Americans 45 and older who have traveled solo, some 53 percent are married while 39 percent are single or divorced, according to AARP.
的確如此，據美國退休者協會(AARP)數據，曾獨自出游過的45歲及以上的美國人中，約有53%都是已婚者，僅有39%是單身或離異者。
These changing demographics and lifestyles mean that the climate for solo travel is (slowly) improving. Some fees are being dropped, and more packages and deals are being marketed to people who plan to vacation on their own.
這些不斷變化的人口統計數據和生活方式說明，單人旅行的風氣正在（緩慢）發酵。有的費用正在被廢除，更多的旅行套餐和優惠正在被推介給那些計劃獨自出門度假的人們。
Cruise companies are not only adding more cabins dedicated to solo travelers, some are also doing away with single supplements (surcharges that can be anywhere from 10 to 100 percent or more of the standard rate). In March, Tom Harper River Journeys, a river cruise company based near Boston, said that in 2016 it would introduce a ship with supplement-free staterooms and French balconies for solo travelers. A few weeks earlier, the Majestic Line, a small-ship cruising company based in Britain, announced that next year two of the seven en-suite cabins on a new ship will be for solo travelers and won’t have single supplements. And Holland America, based in Seattle, plans to add 12 new ocean-view cabins for solo travelers next year on its forthcoming ship, the MS Koningsdam.
郵輪公司不僅在增加更多專為單人旅行者準備的客艙，有的還在廢除單人附加費（這種附加收費可相當于標準費率的10%到100%不等）。今年3月份，美國波士頓附近的一家內河郵輪公司湯姆哈珀河旅行公司(Tom Harper River Journeys)表示，將在2016年新增一艘郵輪，所有的特等艙和法式陽臺客艙全對單人旅行者免收附加費。就在幾周前，英國的一家小型船舶(small-ship)郵輪公司雄偉游輪公司(Majestic Line)宣布，明年的每艘新船上，將有七個套間客艙中將有兩間留給單人旅行者，而且不會收取任何單人附加費。美國西雅圖的荷美郵輪公司(Holland America)則計劃在將在明年下水的新船“荷美科林丹號”(MS Koningsdam)上，為單人旅行者增加12個新的海景艙。
Meanwhile, companies that do require single supplements are dropping some of them here and there. In March, Zegrahm Expeditions eliminated the single supplement on three of its 2015 trips: a circumnavigation of the Black Sea; a visit to India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives; and a circumnavigation of South Georgia Island. Another operator, Tauck, did away with the single supplements on category 1 cabins on its European river cruises for 2015.
與此同時，那些收取單人附加費的公司，則開始在各種不同的場合減免部分此類費用。今年3月份，集廣公司(Zegrahm Expeditions)在2015年的所有航線中，免除了三條的單人附加費：黑海環海行，印度、斯里蘭卡和馬爾代夫行，還有南喬治亞島環島行。另一家運營商塔克旅游公司(Tauck)，則免除了2015年所有歐洲內河郵輪行一類客艙的單人附加費。
One doesn’t have to set sail to score a solo bargain, however. In April, the on-demand car service Uber sent customers an email before a San Francisco Giants game that said, “If you’re headed to today’s game solo, or even with one friend, opt for uberPOOL. UberPOOL will match you with a rider going to a similar destination, and get you there for $7 or less.” (UberPOOL is available in a few major cities including New York.)
不過，你想要享受單人優惠的話，并不是只有選擇出海才行。今年4月份，應召專車服務優步(Uber)在舊金山巨人隊(San Francisco Giants)的一場比賽前，向所有用戶發送了一封電子郵件，其中說道：“如果您準備獨自去看今天的比賽，或者只跟一個朋友一起，就選擇優步拼車(uberPOOL)吧。優步拼車會為您匹配一位目的地相近的乘客，讓您全程只需7美元甚或更低便可抵達。”（優步拼車僅在紐約等少數幾個大城市開通服務。）
It’s becoming par for the course for online travel agents and review sites like Orbitz and TripAdvisor to include search filters for singles and solo travel. Hotels have yet to make many strides, though a few, including the Westin New York Grand Central, have gotten creative. In July the hotel offered what was seemingly the first getaway package from a major American hotel brand directed at solo female travelers without children. It included a consultation about healthful eating with the hotel’s executive chef and discounted yoga classes. The hotel’s website described it as “a memorable experience for guests traveling with friends or recharging on their own.”
眾多在線旅游代理商和在線旅行點評網站，像旅程網(Orbitz)、到到網(TripAdvisor)等，在網站上加入專門針對單身人士和單人旅行的搜索條件，正在逐漸成為一種常規做法。酒店界尚未對此做出多少讓步，不過也有少數幾家拿出了一些創意，其中就包括威斯汀紐約中央酒店(Westin New York Grand Central)。今年7月份，這家酒店推出了直接面向沒有兒童隨行的女性單人旅行者的旅行套餐，這在美國的主流酒店品牌中似乎尚屬首例。這份套餐包含由該酒店行政主廚提供的一次健康飲食咨詢服務，還有享受折扣的瑜伽課程。該酒店在自己的官方網站上將其描述為“一次難忘的旅行，獻給與友同行或獨行充電的你”。
Cath Cole, 42, who runs a fund-raising consultancy in Britain and has been on several trips with Solos Vacations to places as varied as Turkey and Northampton, England, first traveled solo with the company to shake off work stress with a week in the sun in the Dominican Republic.
42歲的凱斯·科爾(Cath Cole)在英國管理著一間融資咨詢機構，她已經在單人度假公司訂過數次行程，目的地遍及土耳其、英國北安普敦等地。她在該公司的安排下完成了第一次單人出行，享受了一周多米尼加共和國的陽光，以此來消除工作壓力。
“I was single at the time and none of my friends could get away,” she said. “Being self-employed, I often get holiday time at late notice and many of my friends can’t be flexible, so whether I’m in a relationship or not, I still consider Solos. It’s not the dating scene everyone who hasn’t been thinks it is. Sure, some people get together, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about independent travelers, not dating holidays.” (Solos Vacations attendees can be as young as 25, Mr. Williams said, but on average are about 55.)
“我當時正值單身，朋友中也沒有誰能夠抽身出門，”她說，“身為自由職業者，我經常很晚才能獲知自己的假日時間，而我的很多朋友在時間安排上都沒法做到那么靈活，所以無論我是否在與人交往，我都會考慮單人度假公司。這并不是任何沒有過親身體驗的人所設想的那種約會情景。當然，有些人也會在中途集合，但這并不是這類旅行的重點所在。這類旅行是為了單人旅行者準備的，而不是為了假日約會。”（威廉姆斯先生稱，單人度假公司的顧客中，最年輕的只有25歲，不過整體的平均年齡為55歲上下。）
Ms. Cole is one of countless women who travel by themselves. At Overseas Adventure Travel, for instance, 80 percent of solo travelers are women.
獨自旅行的女性不計其數，科爾女士只不過是其中的一人。以海外歷險旅游公司為例，有80%的單人旅行者都是女性。
“Looking back, the one thing I wish I’d known was not to be so nervous the first time,” Ms. Cole said. “The best part is definitely the people you meet, even the ones you don’t stay in touch with, because they are what make the holiday. I’ve become Facebook friends with a number of them and still meet up with one or two of the ones I clicked with the best.”
“回想起來，我希望當時我就能了解的一件事，就是第一次出行不必如此緊張，”科爾女士說，“這趟旅程中最棒的部分，絕對是你所遇到的人，哪怕是那些你并沒有保持聯系的人，因為正是他們成就了你的這段假期。我和遇到的許多人都成了Facebook上的好友，而且還與我最常互動的幾個人不時會面。”
Like Ms. Cole, many solo travelers enjoy their trips enough to strike out on their own again. More than 80 percent of people 45 and older who have taken a solo trip plan to take another within the next 12 months, according to AARP. And among affluent travelers, solo travel has more than doubled, research from Visa shows.
就像科爾女士一樣，許多單人旅行者都很享受他們的旅行，很愿意再次獨自出行。據美國退休者協會數據，曾獨自出游過的45歲及以上的人中，有80%以上都計劃在未來12個月里再來一次。而據維薩公司的研究顯示，在經濟富裕的旅行者當中，單人旅行的次數更是增長了一倍有余。
One recent morning, Mr. Williams of Solos Holidays received a letter from two solo travelers who met on one of his company’s trips. They wrote to tell him that they were planning to get married.
不久前的一天早上，單人假日公司的威廉姆斯先生收到了一封信，是兩名在他公司安排的旅程中結識的單人旅行者一起寄來的。他們寫信告訴他，他們已經準備結婚了。
“So I’ve lost two customers,” he said.
“于是我就這樣少了兩名客戶，”他說。
Then again, if reports about spouses traveling solo once in a while are to be believed — maybe not.
不過話又說回來，如果那些認為已婚人士仍會不時獨自出游的報告真的可信的話――或許他并沒有。
