How To Travel Solo

How To Travel Solo

How To Travel Solo

Traveling on your own can be a pretty scary proposition. There is the stress of planning the trip, being lonely, and then thinking about what happens if something goes wrong and you are alone. If you have felt this way, you’re definitely not alone. My first solo trip was to Istanbul for five weeks to better my Turkish. I had traveled to around 10 countries before my trip to Turkey, but I had always gone with a group, family, or friends. I had already lived in Armenia for two years without family or friends, studied in Russia, and traveled around other atypical countries but Turkey was going to be different. I was going to be alone. I had a very limited knowledge of Turkish, and, if anything went wrong, I had no one near that I knew. It was quite intimidating. This experience did teach me, however, how to travel alone, and how to overcome a lot of these fears. Since then I have booked numerous trips by myself and learned to enjoy traveling on my own when no one else was able/willing to go with me.
Here are some of my thoughts and advice about how to travel solo:

Take the leap

Lame slogan aside, there is really only one way to learn how to travel alone?—?and that is to just do it. With all of the fears that you may experience, or concerns you may have, you will never confront them by sitting on your couch at home. Maybe you aren’t adventurous, or brave?—?so you tell yourself. Neither am I. But I have learned my limits, learned to embrace the anxiety that can come when traveling alone, and learned to enjoy it. One thing that may help is taking baby steps from solo traveling around your state or country, and then working up to larger, longer vacations. Take a bus ride a couple hours away. Organize a small trip for a weekend. Work your way up to the next state/country over, depending on where you live. By going through the process a couple of times on less scary adventures you can build up some confidence that you could manage a bigger trip.

Embrace the solitude

Traveling all by yourself can be lonely or it can be an opportunity to grow. When you are by yourself there is more time for self-reflection. In a world where we are constantly consuming content, it is really helpful to have some time with just your thoughts. Don’t listen to music while you walk around. Turn your phone on airplane mode unless you need it for directions or an emergency. Really just disconnect from everything. It can be quite liberating, trust me.



This solitude also means that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. It is one of the beautiful things of traveling alon you are responsible for what you do and what you make of the trip. There is no drama from group dynamics, no going where you don’t really want to, and no compromising. Your trip is truly in your hands, so make of it exactly what you want.

Traveling alone also allows you to meet new people, if you want to. I always stay in hostels when I travel alone, which allow me to meet new people, or not, if I’m not feeling particularly social. Either way, the option is always there. Even if you don’t want to spend the day with these new friends, which is often the case with me, there are still people waiting when you get back to the hostel: people to talk with, and people to replace any of the loneliness you may feel.

Take a tour guide with you

I don’t mean a physical one, obviously. To be up front, this is not a plug for any one author, and I’m not being paid for this, but I have taken Rick Steves' books all over Europe with me. There is something about the way that he writes, it feels like I am traveling with him. Now it doesn’t have to be his books, it can be any sort of book, as long as you enjoy it and follow it. I have found that by having something to read as I go to places, something that explains the history and also gives me some tips for along the way, has made a huge difference for me when I travel alone.

Push yourself

More than anything, I have learned to push myself when traveling alone. For example, I have what I call a healthy fear of heights?—?some might even say borderline unhealthy. When I am with others it can be easy to climb to the top of a hill, building or mountain. I feel a pressure to join along. The real challenge is when I’m all alone and no one will know if I made it to the top or not. I am reminded of my experience at the Eiffel Tower. It was cold and windy, and for whatever reason the wind makes my fear of heights worse. It kind of throws off my balance and causes me to panic more. Because of these factors, I didn’t know if I would make it all the way up. But, I started anyways.

I went up to the first level of the Eiffel Tower, was doing ok, but could feel the fear begin to creep in. By the second level, however, it got worse, and there was still one more level to go. I knew that, because I was alone, no one else would know if I went all the way up or not. I could easily have given into my fears in that case. So, I didn’t go up. Joke. I obviously went up, otherwise I wouldn’t be telling this story. The point is, when you are by yourself, you are forced to push yourself more, which can lead to greater growth.
Don’t wait



Here is the key for me if you enjoy traveling, don’t wait for other people to decide to travel. This was one of the main reasons why I started traveling alone. Before, I would try and organize these big trips with friends, and they never happened. Everyone seems keen in the beginning, but when it comes time to commit, it is always a coin toss. And then your trip doesn’t happen, and things get pushed back. So figure out what you want to do, invite others, tell them when you are booking everything, and then make your bookings, whether they have decided to come or not. Even if they are on the fence, still make your own travel arrangements. I have found that more people will join when they realize that I am actually going, with or without them. And then all that is left is to enjoy the journey, with or without them.

Those are some of my thoughts and advice about how to travel solo.