No dating, no drama: just single people travelling together

Here at Flash Pack, 80% of our customers are single. We specialise in holidays for solo travellers, drawn together in the framework of a group. Yet, our adventures are about as far from a messy singles getaway to Magaluf as you can hope to get.

Why? The people who join our trips aren’t looking for the travel equivalent of match.com.

They are independent professionals in their 30s and 40s with an ability to fly solo around the world, and a shared sense of wanderlust. Ergo, most happen to be single, too. But it’s not a defining characteristic of Flash Pack trips.

Instead, being single just happens to chime well with the high-octane adventures that we curate, from scooting through the streets of Spain (above), to swimming with seals off the Cape Peninsula and trekking in the lava fields of Costa Rica.

Of course, you could do these things if you were in a relationship or had kids, too. It’s just easier and more appealing to do them when you’re single, with fewer ties to hold you down.

The perks of being single

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We’ve come a long way in the past 100 years, but society still perpetuates the myth that marriage and mortgages are somehow the best option in life. Even now, there’s an unsaid pressure for people to couple up and have babies once they hit their 30s. If you don’t happen to follow that script, you can feel like a bit of an anomaly.

One advantage of Flash Pack adventures is that you get to meet a whole ream of successful single people of a similar age and life stage as you, who are also breaking with the tired old convention of “settling down” (to borrow a deeply depressing phrase).

Read more: Solo travel fuels this major happiness habit

And by sharing an adventure together somewhere far-flung, you grab a timely reminder – if you even needed it – of why being single can be brilliant.

This has nothing to do with hooking up with other people, and everything to do with meeting travellers who hold a similar outlook on life to your own.

And it can be a powerful boost for those lost within a myriad of married friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSeD3Xb-9Ek

“If only Flash Pack was around when I was single in my 30s, it would have been perfect,” says Lee Thompson, co-founder of Flash Pack.

“Having a group adventure is just a lot more fun than travelling by yourself. We’re doing epic experiences and you want to share these memories with other people.

Read more: “How I learnt to embrace solo travel as a man”

“Meeting a whole group of like-minded people, who also happen to be single, can really make you feel great about being single. It’s about surrounding yourselves with like-minded people and making new friends… and just living for the moment, and being proud of the fact that you are actually single.”

No hook-ups here

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Dating is so far removed from the Flash Pack experience that it doesn’t even come into the equation. Neither does the gender balance of our trips, which typically stands at around 60% women to 40% men (but the latter category is growing).

“It was almost as if there was not an awareness of the fact that there were like, 10 women and two guys,” says Oliver, who joined us on a Flash Pack trip to Myanmar.

“Because everyone just got on. And everyone was on holiday on their own, not on holiday to hook up with someone. Or not on holiday with someone. It was just people on holiday together.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-gIAspLAoI

Flashpacker Victoria, who travelled with us to Finland, Jordan and Myanmar, agrees.

“Instantly, we all gelled and started to find similarities and just became friends,” she says. “The single thing is not the big feature because it’s not a hook-up holiday. The most important thing is that it’s a bunch of people who are like-minded.”

So, if you’re ready to embrace your singledom by meeting a bunch of travel buddies who share your interests and values, get set.

2018 is bursting with opportunity for travel and adventure. Kick-start yours by scoping out a wish list of places to visit right here.

Photos: Flash Pack