Agency Matches Solo Globetrotters : Los Angeles-based Partners-In-Travel publishes singles directory with updated listings.

Solo travel is challenging for almost anyone. Traveling alone is particularly daunting for many mature travelers, especially for those seniors whose traditional traveling companion may have been lost to death or divorce.

Singles directories and matching services find compatible travel partners for many solo travelers.

Miriam (Toby) Tobolowsky operates Partners-In-Travel from her Los Angeles home. For almost 14 years, Tobolowsky has produced a bimonthly newsletter containing travel tips for singles, and a directory for those looking to share travel plans.

While there are other such services nationally, including Golden Companions of Pullman, Wash., and Travel Companion Exchange of Amityville, N.Y., Partners-In-Travel is the only major singles-matching service based in Southern California. Membership is open to all adults, but the overwhelming majority are age 50 and older.

Partners-In-Travel is enlarging its singles directory, which now has about 500 listings. The newsletter is being replaced by four brochures aimed at the mature single traveler, each costing about $5. The directory is $8.

For $25, Partners offers a Super-Saver package for 1993 that includes the annual singles’ directory (and midyear update of new members), plus the four brochures. Or the directory and brochures may be purchased individually: the directory is $5, as are the brochures, except for “Traveling Smart,” which is $10.

To list in the directory, a traveler completes a short questionnaire, including whatever information he or she believes is pertinent in seeking a partner--i.e., special interests, smoker or nonsmoker, etc.

Those who wish to be listed may use their full name or only their first name; their actual address, a post-office box number or merely a phone number.

The brochures are:

* “Singles-Friendly”: A list of tour operators who package tours and cruises exclusively for singles, or who guarantee or arrange shared-room accommodations.

* “The Singular Traveler”: Discusses the specific concerns of solo travel, domestic and foreign.

* “Traveling Smart”: A common-sense guide to savings in travel. * “Ready-to-Go”: Tips on pre-trip planning, packing, insurance, health and other concerns.

For details of the program and the questionnaire for the 1993 listings, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Partners-In-Travel, 11660 Chenault St., Suite 119, Los Angeles 90049.

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The National Date Festival and Riverside County Fair are looking for folks born in Riverside County 100 or more years ago.

They’ll be honored at the annual Date Festival Feb. 12-21. The oldest member of the group will be honorary grand marshal of the Arabian Nights Parade in downtown Indio on Feb. 15. Centenarians who are eligible and would like to apply need not be current residents of Riverside. However, they must have been born in Riverside County in 1893 or before. For more information, call (619) 863-8245.