Single supplement not part of the cost? Sign me up, please!

IN the hotels of Xian, China, three kinds of Americans can be found: tourists who go there to see the 7,500 terra-cotta warriors at an excavation site just outside of town; couples and single women seeking to fulfill the residence requirements for adopting a Chinese child (Xian is a major center for adoptions); and some intensely committed visitors, most single, who have signed up with Global Volunteers to teach English at an elementary school.

The last group has discovered that the best way for single people to enjoy foreign travel is to focus on an activity that’s about others, not themselves.

Whenever singles ask me to recommend a trip catering to their needs, I suggest volunteer vacations, study vacations and themed vacations -- activities where no one cares whether you are single or part of a couple, where everyone is absorbed in a vital cause or special interest, and where the cost of housing is the same for everyone.

Attending a two- or three-week summer study course at an English-language school, such as the University College Dublin; Oxford in England; St. John’s College in Santa Fe, N.M., or Cornell’s Adult University in Ithaca, N.Y., is that kind of vacation.

The accommodations are in vacated student residences where no single supplement is charged; the adults in residence are a mixture of intellectually curious singles and couples, and friendships are easily made.

A quick jaunt through Google will turn up the addresses for applying to these moderately priced programs, and almost all of them are still available for late July and August dates.

Attending a crafts school (such as the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, N.C., or the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, N.C.) or a folk-dancing school (Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, Mass., or Lady of the Lake music and dance camps in northern Idaho), or visiting a New Age resort (the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y., or Esalen in Big Sur) are all superb vacation activities for singles.

The percentage of singles in residence is huge, and the couples there are generally people with open minds and attitudes who do not look askance at vacationing singles.

If you must sign up for an escorted motor-coach tour, choose a program designed for adventuresome people.

For instance, the small-group tours operated by Gap Adventures of Toronto emphasize cultural sensitivity. Accommodations are often in local guesthouses and private homes.

No one cares whether you are single or part of a couple, and a great many singles are usually found.

The overland safaris and trekking expeditions operated by the companies represented by Adventure Center of Emeryville, Calif. (www.adventurecenter.com),also draw many singles of every age.

The same applies to the scientific trips sponsored by Earthwatch (www.earthwatch.org), which send you to aid university researchers. Accommodations are in a local house rented for the occasion.

Each of these opportunities is available to singles of all ages. If any of them seems daunting, repeat the famous advice of Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines! Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”