Sometimes I feel like I live in a different planet from the rest of you.

- 80% of my hotel stays are solo. I've never seen this result in getting the "WORST" hotel room. I'm guilty of the common FT whinge - a lack of upgrades - but I don't believe the hotels I visit alter their room selection for me based on the number of guests I book for. I get the same not-a-suite when I check in with my wife and/or kids.

- There are some restaurants I'd probably avoid as a solo diner, but when I do go into a place I've never noticed poor treatment. I tend to aim for sushi when I'm doing a solo meal on a business trip, and they can often get you right in as a single. Sit down, chat with the chef a bit, and usually get really nice treatment.

- People can try the seat-swap game with me on a flight, but am pretty consistent in the answer I give. Accommodating if it is a thoughtful request that results in me getting an equal or slightly better seat. I'm not overly picky - I consider one aisle seat in the general area of another aisle seat equal unless there's some obvious difference in the seats. But I'm not accommodating if the people proposing the swap are using it to try to get better seats for themselves. It's not that I'm greedy, it's just that I would personally never approach someone and ask them to take the worse seat. I'll offer up my better seat in exchange for their worse one - or I just won't ask.

- I'm not a woman, so if people assume that solo business travelers are in *that* industry, I've never noticed it. I travel with female colleagues all the time and have not personally witnessed this, nor heard them complain about problems if they happened to be the first person to show up at a hotel or dinner location. I've sat next to women at hotel bars many times, had completely normal conversations with them about whatever, and not seen others either approaching for "services" or thinking I was doing the same. Maybe I go to the wrong hotels?