My Biggest Solo Travel Tips
Share This Post
If you are considering solo travelling for the first time, fear not: It will be the greatest gift you can ever give yourself. Yes, there are challenges and things you want to learn in order to enjoy your time to the fullest. But the experiences you gain are like no other. These tips are based on my biggest challenges and lessons learned while solo travelling, and I really hope they can help you out!
Why Solo Travel?
If you have spoken to others about solo travelling, you have probably stumbled upon quite the contradiction. Those who haven’t solo travelled talk about how they could never do it and might even fear it. Those who HAVE solo travelled rave about it to everyone else. But why is solo travelling such a big and great adventure, you might ask? Solo travelling is one of the biggest challenges you can give yourself. If you do, you will be confronted with your own insecurities and lacks, and forced to face and overcome them. You will learn things about yourself that you never knew, and it will change the way you view yourself going forward. In fact, you will never truely understand until you experience it yourself – but this might help you on your way.
My Biggest Solo Travel Tips
Solo Travel Tip #1: Know How To Stay And Feel Safe
The most important tips for solo travel is without a doubtthose that will keep you safe, as you explore the world. Not only is your safety essentiel, but FEELING safe as your travel on your own will highten your experience of any destination. When you don’t, you will constantly be looking over your shoulder, unable to relax in the environments you explore and enjoy the interactions you have along the way. Personally, my worst travel experiences have been in destinations, where I haven’t felt safe – and luckily, I have learned a ton of ways to avoid that along the way!
Solo Travel Tip #2: Remember Who You Are Travelling For
One of the greatest parts about solo travelling is that you have complete control over what you want to do, when, with who and why. But unfortunately, I have found that we often forget this along the way! I have had countless experiences, where I have pushed myself to do things, that I haven’t felt up for, simply because I felt like it was something I HAD to do at THAT destination. This is your sign to ditch that mentality. It is OKAY if you spend a day relaxing instead of exploring. It is OKAY if you didn’t get to see everything you set out for. And it is OKAY if you ditched an activity because you felt unsafe or uncomfortable. You are travelling to enjoy, to grow, to be happy – and this can take different shapes each day!
Solo Travel Tip #3: Know What To Do When You Feel Lonely
If you are solo travelling over a longer period of time, you will likely experience loneliness. And loneliness can feel completely overwhelming, if you are in a foreign country without any clue of what to do. My biggest tip for tackling loneliness is to ACT. It can be a huge help to get out from your accommodation and simply BE amongst others – even if you aren’t interacting with them. To me, this has always reminded me that I am not – in fact – alone. Go to a café – take a long walk in the city you are exploring – go to a museum and entertain yourself for a few hours, and the loneliness will slowly fade.
Another great thing to do is to reach out to the people at home – calling or facetiming a friend or family member will almost always do the trick and help you out of a rut. And if nothing really helps, it is completely okay to accept that today is just a hard day. Do what you can to take care of yourself – rest – and treat yourself to something, that will lighten your day just a tiny bit. The feeling will pass, I promise!
Solo Travel Tip #4: Use These 10 Tips For Meeting New People While Solo Travelling
One of the most predominant questions I get about solo travelling is how to meet new people, if you are normally shy or introverted. And starting interactions on your own can be SO daunting at first! I am not scared to admit that I have had to do some serious peptalking to myself on several occasions… I knew I wanted to socialize, but I felt SO nervous to get out there and do it. Being an introvert myself, this became a steep learning curve for me – but it has probably been one of the most valuable lessons in my life so far! To help you out, I have gathered my top tips on how to meet new people when solo travelling here.
Solo Travel Tip #5: Learn How To Feel Less Awkward Doing Things On Your Own
When solo travelling, you are bound to experience the awkwardness of eating on your own in a restaurant for the first time. But don’t worry: It gets easier. The biggest tip for overcoming this challenge is to simply get out of your own head. We tend to overanalyze what people around us are thinking – and everyone who has solo travelled has been in situations, where they have felt like others were looking oddly at them for being on their own. More times than not, people haven’t even noticed you – and either way, it shouldn’t limit what we choose to do! And with time and experience, you will feel more and more comfortable in your own company entertaining yourself.
Solo Travel Tip #6: Don’t Underestimate Pictures With Yourself In The Frame
My biggest regret from my first, big solo trip was that I barely got any photos with me in them. I spend 2 months interrailing through Europe, exploring the most beautiful destinations and having the best of times – but when I look back at photos, they could easily have been taken by anyone else. At the time, I felt too embarrassed to ask others to take a photo of me, and barely even felt comfortable enough to take a selfie. Nowadays, I have a tripod and a remote control for my phone, so I can make sure I capture myself in the photos too!
Solo Travel Tip #7: Taking Time Off Is Perfectly Normal
Solo travelling is HARD WORK. You are the only one in charge of planning and executing everything your days entails: from transportation and navigation to socializing and exploring. And in some destinations, you will spend a lot of energy trying to navigate your way around, always thinking of staying safe and avoiding uncomfortable situations, buying tickets and booking accommodation for your next destinationalong the way. Personally, I have often felt guilty, if I spend the majority of my day at a destination just lounging on a couch at the hostel. But on some days, this is exactly what you need! Remember: You are only travelling for yourself, and your top responsibility is doing exactly what YOU need at that given time.
I hope you feel more at ease about solo travelling after reading this post! Don’t worry: just as I did, you will learn things along the way. But following these solo travel tips is a great start!
Share This Post
