Some people cannot imagine traveling alone, but it can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life! I went to Paris and London alone and I will tell you, while I arrived alone on the trip, I was able to meet new, incredible people and had the time of my life! So if you can’t imagine doing such a thing, this is the post for you!
Here are some ideas on how to make solo travel, the world’s best way to travel:
- Plan, Plan, Plan: This blog has reviews of great places to visit but if you want a broader view, IG and TripAdvisor are my favorite sources for info on various places around the world. Search hashtags for your potential destination and people will have tagged amazing places they have enjoyed. Save those and then look the details up on TripAdvisor!
- Plan not to be alone:
- Use your network: You know where you are going, now mention to friends where you are headed! My first trip to Paris, I was linked up with a friend’s mutual friend and I had a great time meeting up with them for drinks and a tour of the city. Your network expands farther than you might think!
- Meetup.com: If your network is tiny, then use the internet. Meetup is a great way to find people that want to do what you are interested in. If you wanted to go to a museum and you weren’t into doing it alone, there are meetups for that.
- Viator.com: I love to tour places and Viator has great tours to must-see sites all over the world! They are well planned and even if you are solo, it’s the tour guides job to make sure everyone has a good time, so be buddies with them and you will definitely make friends with others on your tour!
- Be open: while you are touring, people will ask you to get a drink or a meal. Make a friend, but tell someone before you go, cuz girl…the killer lives (that may not have helped LOL)
- Stay in a VRBO or Airbnb: A lot of these are run by locals and they are very open to sharing places you can go visit or the may even be open to going somewhere with you. Make friends with them and you can see something cool and not touristy.
We now have an awesome plan for you to travel solo.
Here are a few things you can do now to get comfortable with the idea of solo travel:
- Get comfortable with you. Try to take some extra “me” time if you are always around others and free yourself from distractions. A Netflix binge will not help you accomplish this goal. Maybe try going to a park or somewhere you can escape and enjoy your own thoughts and company.
- Grab a table for 1: Try breakfast in a restaurant first, if you have never eaten alone. I happen to love eating alone, but for 1st timers here is my reasoning: there are more business people eating alone at breakfast, so you may feel less awkward. Grab a book and a table for one. You can do it!
- Go see a movie alone. This is my favorite thing to do! On a random weekday, go see a movie you are dying to see. There are very few people in the theater midweek and you may feel more comfortable then. It has become something I look forward to doing a couple times a year by myself.
- Grab a room at your favorite hotel for a day of pampering. I love going to the W for a day of pampering, great restaurants, and cool bars. Find a hotel you like and make the best of it. The staff will be very nice to you and you will have a micro travel experience in your hometown.
- One note, stay present. Cell phones can be a huge distraction. Try not to spend your whole time on the phone or on IG. Be in that moment and enjoy the experience.
Traveling alone teaches you a lot about yourself. It makes you value yourself and those around you more than ever before. I still apply these pointers to myself and when things get overwhelming I sneak off for a trip to regroup. So get ready…download a few books into your kindle, update a playlist or 3 and you will soon be a solo travel expert!
xo Danie
The meetup.com tip is absolutely priceless! I use it all the time to meet new friends and it’s really easy to get into. Just because you leave alone, doesn’t mean you’ll arrive alone.
Katja xxx
http://www.katnapped.com
I still plan on doing a longer trip by myself one day. I just haven’t gotten the courage yet. Thank you for inspiring us all 🙂
Wonderful tips, thank you for sharing these! It has been a long time since I traveled alone & usually me and my hubby have been a package abroad haha.
I’ve always wanted to travel alone but it’s something that has always scared me. Thank you for sharing your useful tips, I hope that someday I’ll make good use of them!
I love travelling alone, i always love my own company. The only thing i don’t like is eating alone, and that is because i like sharing dinner or lunch with a good company of friends or family. Great tricks Danielle!
When I was 19 I traveled to Europe by myself and it was once of the scariest yet liberating experiences I could’ve had. I loved every minute of it and learnt so much. Would definitely recommend everyone to travel by themselves at least once!
Wow great post. Some awesome tips here. I never knew that there was the website meet up to find nearby people !
I would love to be able to travel alone, but I’m just such a nervous person, I need someone else there to reassure me haha!
I’ve always wanted to travel alone but it’s something that has always scared me. Love your post and amazing tips!
This is a very helpful post! I have never travelled alone but I can imagine it’s amazing meeting new people all the time.
I love, love, LOVE that you include action items of things you can do to settle into solo travel BEFORE actually taking the plunge. That is so smart and definitely something many people would overlook when thinking about taking a solo trip. So helpful!
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I’m so glad that part of the post is helpful. It’s not easy to go alone, but it can be done and you can get mentally prepared for it. I can’t wait for my trip to Chicago, it will be alone and it will still be fun 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment, I really appreciate it.
Thanks for sharing these I always wanted to travel alone but was a little intimidated. Your post really helps Xoxo
Great, positive article with nice tips. When I got my first job after college, I took a 10 day trip to the Hawaiian islands by myself but with the Collette tour group. It was one of my favorite vacations, doing what I wanted when I wanted on the the non-structured days, like a helicopter ride and seeing the sun rise at Haleakala volcano on Maui or finding an interesting place for breakfast but also having the company of others when I wanted it.
I use to love travelling alone. With a family now I don’t get much opportunity, but would grab it with both hands if it came up!
Greatpost, and theme i was researching lately, i was pretty scared of traveling alone, but after reading this it looks pretty good xo
On the one hand, I do think that I can do the traveling alone without a problem. It’s when I am at the destinations that I feel a little lost being alone. But just the traveling part isn’t a problem.
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I definitely can understand that. That is where the planning comes in. You do feel a bit alone because you are alone. But if you can be a little friendly to staff that you meet or people where you are eating you will definitely make friends while traveling.