This blog is part of our special rubric: EAT.TRAVEL.LOVE
The solo experience is a ritual. Freedom. Courage to go after your inner voice. Without looking for a vacancy in the schedule of others. Without synchronizing your clock – because your time flows differently. Just like that Japanese philosophy that says if you let the moment slip away, it’s gone forever...
Ichigo-ichie. Every moment of life is one of a kind and will never come twice. Every encounter is unique. This perspective is also part of the intuitive wisdom of the buddhists, where the ability to stay in the present and to achieve an understanding of all of those little simple moments is central. After all, the word “zen” itself means “contemplation” translated from Japanese.
Appreciating the evanescence of life and finding happiness everywhere: this is such a beautiful way of existing. Finding it in the sunrays, which are dancing through your window in the morning, in the warmth of the afternoon tea, which is embracing your body from within, in the colours of the sunset, which make you slow down and just observe.
Giving in to the solo experience completely means moving in the flow of the present with pleasure. With gratitude that you are here and now. With inner peace that it is what it is. And this is how you realize that sometimes happiness is in those little (un)ordinary moments, when the whole world finds a place in your heart.
EAT.
I imagine my first solo dinner as something like a cultural shock. A feeling of total disorientation, confusion and a little bit of panic. What am I supposed to do now? Do I make it look like I am waiting for someone? Do I make eye contact? Should I ask the waiter to put a panic button on my table? Just in case...
After that, maybe I will realize that fearing eating out alone is a silly thing to fear. Why is it normal at home but not in public? According to the American Vogue, Rihanna is one of the celebrities most often spotted dining solo. She goes to her favorite restaurant in Santa Monica by herself, orders ravioli with ricotta and just enjoys it. What else can we add? If Rihanna says solo dinners are cool, then, they surely are. End of story.
Actually eating alone happens to be the new trend and it’s all thanks to Gen Z. Armored with an arsenal of social media channels together with a core desire to live authentically, they successfully normalize a lot of unnecessary stigmas from the past. If just a couple of years ago, dining out alone was unthinkable, now there is officially a tendency of increased number of reservations for tables for one.
Still, let’s start with baby steps and a nice ice cream tasting. And just like that, the door to the world of solo experiences is already open!
Degustation of 6 types of ice cream
Duration: 1 hour
Location: The RITZ Specialty Coffee, Sofia
A special tasting of six unique, handcrafted ice-cream flavors—made with love, meticulous care, and our premium MILBOK double milk, lending every spoonful an irresistibly velvety texture and rich, creamy taste.
TRAVEL.
Solo trips are all about losing yourself in museums, galleries, and the streets of a city you don’t know. When you stop rushing, your senses sharpen, and every moment is deeper and more real. But this is not the only reason why you should go and explore by yourself. Because let’s be honest: travelling is inspiring and enriching but it is also draining when you are travelling with someone that doesn’t have the same interests as you.
It is freeing to be able to spend hours in a museum you like without feeling guilty that someone is just standing there bored to death waiting for you. Maybe you are the one who is bored. And other times you just want to stroll down the streets of the city, but your partner is too tired to do it with you or just doesn’t want to. And don’t even get us started on the disputes between the beach and the mountains.
There is only one important question: are you brave enough to choose yourself? And where is the line between healthy compromise and that inner voice of yours that you never manage to follow. To be or not to be... unhappy in someone else’s company or happy on your own.
Spontaneity is a driver of happiness. Next time you want to go somewhere, just go and don’t wait for anyone. Don’t postpone life for later. Happiness for tomorrow. Don’t put away your favorite clothes – perfectly folded and untouched in the wardrobe. Probably when the moment comes you will be too disappointed to find out that beautiful dress doesn’t fit you anymore and those shoes are now so old-fashioned! Going on a solo trip means living life without postponing.
The Secret Trip. Spa experience in the mountains.
Duration: 2 nights
Location: from Sofia ~ 1.5 h • Plovdiv ~ 2.5 h • Burgas ~ 4 h
The venue is perfect for a variety of outdoor activities—mountain hikes, eco trails, skiing. A spa center with an indoor pool, steam bath, and sauna is at your disposal. An ideal place for relaxation.
AND LOVE.
In order to follow the path of the solo experience you need just one thing: love of the adventures of life. Because truly loving life means appreciating its unpredictability and accepting everything that comes your way with gratitude, curiosity and readiness to learn something new about the world... or about yourself.
One of the most popular solo travelers in history is Annie Londonderry. She is the first woman to cycle around the world. The funny thing is that a considerable achievement like this started with a random bet at a bar in Boston during 1894.
Annie was challenged to complete a journey around the world by cycling. She had to do it completely by herself, come back within 15 months as well as earn 5000 dollars along the way. If she managed to complete it, she would get 10 000 dollars upon her return to Boston.
At that moment, Annie was a housewife and a mother of threee, who wasn’t even capable of keeping her balance on a bike. But she just saw it as an opportunity to learn. During the summer of 1894 Annie started her journey and on the way she managed to negotiate with a couple of companies to carry their advertising on her bike and to help her earn some money.
The spring water company Londonderry was the first to advertise on Annie’s bike and this is how her name emerged! It didn’t take long until Annie gained significant popularity everywhere she went. She even started giving lectures throughout her trip and selling autographed pictures of herself.
15 months later Annie Londonderry returned to Boston as the first woman to ever cycle around the world on her own! This is one of the most inspiring stories in the world of solo experiences, which only shows what wonderful things could happen if you dare to live outside of norms, rules and expectations.
The solo experience is an adventure but also a form of self-love. Love that is deep and quiet. Undemanding. Light as a feather. Because when you give yourself the time to get to know yourself, to understand yourself and to start loving yourself, you feel lighter and freer. The solo experience sometimes means separating from gravitation and resetting your senses to complete freedom, to an absolute weightlessness and to the new version of your own self, who is not afraid to live life to the fullest.
Flotation – the new name of relaxation
Duration: 60 minutes
Location: MettaSpace, Sofia
Dive into perfect nothingness—where silence embraces your senses and your body floats weightlessly in the warm cradle of a “cosmic egg.” Discover the experience that resets body and mind.