Why I created Flash Pack to help break down the stigma of being single

Hitting your 30s can be great, but it can also herald in an unnerving time of change. Friendship groups splinter and reform under the guise of weddings, mortgages and babies. If you’re not meeting milestones constructed by society, there’s potential for feeling isolated or left behind. This, despite the fact that opting for a lifestyle that breaks the norms can often come with more autonomy, freedom and time.

That’s the space Flash Pack co-founder Radha Vyas found herself in when she cast around for someone to join her on a trip to Cambodia over a decade ago. “All my friends were busy booking vacations to the Maldives with their children or new husbands,” she recalls. “What should I do? I could either go with, and act as an unpaid babysitter, or go on vacation on my own, which I was tired of doing.”

A growing number of people live alone, and prefer it that way

Radha eventually joined a group tour, but everyone was much younger than her. She felt her single status stood out for all the wrong reasons. An ice-breaker session where everyone introduced themselves was a particular sticking point. “I felt like I had to declare that I was 32 and past it,” she says.

Radha is far from alone in feeling the way that she did. In the past decade, the number of people living alone in the UK has risen by 11%, in a scene mirrored by communities around the world, including the US and Japan. Meanwhile, recent research indicates that many single people prefer being that way, and share similar values around qualities such as independence, freedom and nonconformity. Yet still, we often find ourselves measured to a conditioned script of ‘settling down’ (whatever that means) and gaining a social seal of approval only once this happens.

Flash Pack creates space for people who value independence

As a demographic, single people are often overlooked, or regarded as a little lost or lacking in life purpose. It’s not true, of course. Single people may or may not have purpose, but either way, it’s not a reflection of their relationship status. If anything, being alone can provide greater outlet for self-growth and reflection.

Radha and her co-founder Lee Thompson set up Flash Pack because they wanted to cater for people like themselves, who had – going into their 30s, 40s (and now also 50s, thanks to Flash Pack’s new 45-59 range) – felt marooned by a cultural dialogue around singledom.

That being said, being single isn’t the defining characteristic of Flash Pack or its travelers. Instead, Flash Pack creates a space for solo travelers who recognise the value of independence. We acknowledge that there is more to life than the social construct of getting married and having kids. We understand that, while a thirst for adventure might get more upscale as you get older (hence our boutique edge), it certainly doesn’t disappear.

The kind and fun group dynamic makes the experience

Group travel has traditionally had some negative connotations around it. And yet, it is the one element that people on Flash Pack trips rave about, above all else. “Traveled solo and left with some of the most amazing friends,” reads one recent review on Trustpilot. “The group dynamic truly made the experience, kind, supportive, fun, and adventurous in all the right ways.”

Like being single itself, it seems the concept of traveling with strangers is coated in myth. We imagine it to be claustrophobic or sterile, when the reality is that – done in the right way – it is a life-affirming experience. Guests come away on a high, having met and bonded with other professionals in the same life stage as them. They’re happy not only to have re-tapped the delight of meeting new people (something often bypassed in our day-to-day lives), but also to have done so with strangers who share their values. It’s an experience that frequently leads to a lifetime of friendship.

When you’re surrounded by the same coworkers, friends or family every day, it can be easy to be influenced by their understanding of what’s normal. And this might well follow the tired old narrative that being single is not ideal. Traveling with like-minded strangers has been a wake-up call for many, including Radha, seeing that the ‘poor singles’ cliché is palpably untrue.

With group travel, you’re free to be who you like

Being single is not some Utopian state. It’s not any better than being in a relationship. But, crucially, it’s not any worse either. As Alain de Botton notes in The Art of Travel, “Our responses to the world are moulded by the company we keep, for we temper our curiosity to fit in with the expectations of others.”

When you set sail with a group of strangers, you’re not totally on your own. You have the security and moral support of your group. Yet you’re free from the expectations that normally frame you. You’re at liberty to do whatever you want to do, with others who are doing the same.

Join a small group tour with Flash Pack and explore the world with other like-minded solo travelers aged 30-49 and 45-59.

Images: Flash Pack