One of the most common questions I'm asked when talking about traveling solo is ..
"Do you have any advice"
whether its someones first time or their tenth its always nice to share my thoughts and lessons I've learned throughout the years. Although I'm no expert I have lived through ALOT.. but so have my friends.. and so have people I meet at hostels.
Each and every person I meet along the way has inspired me in one way or another. (No it's not the red wine i'm currently sipping on talking). There is something so powerful about sitting at a table with likeminded travelers exchanging stories (good and bad). One example I love to tell people is this girl who loved India. India has never really been on my list to visit. I actually never even thought about it before nonetheless could I tell you where it is on the map. One night this girl shared her love for the country with everyone.. the beautiful culture, insane food, and friendliness of the people. A place she found herself in for months and excited to revisit again some day. After that conversation I knew I had to check it out for myself. Since then I've spoke to many other travelers who share the same stories. I cant wait to see this country for myself one day, its added to my list!
Feeling so inspired by these conversations and speaking to hundreds of solo travelers (literally you should see my social battery after these past few months) I decided "hey, I can give my advice but I could also share theirs and put it in a blog that way it could maybe help hundreds of more people"
Knowledge is power. This community is full of it. I want to open it up and share the knowledge so we can inspire more people to see the world in ways we have.
I've asked quite a few friends and fellow travelers I've met along the way to add their advice and I plan to continue adding to the blog. For now here is some of the advice and answer's I've received.
Side note- If you would like to contribute I would be more than happy to add your thoughts on this page no matter how big or small.. just send me a DM on insta!
I'll keep mine short and sweet since I have a blog about advice Here
"The world isn't as scary as it may seem. There are so many good people out there, dont spend your life afraid. Dont let anyone hold you back because their projecting their fears. Book the ticket and dont think twice. It'll be the most rewarding, freeing, self loving thing you've ever done. Yes, it'll be intimidating at times, but we don't grow in our comfort zones. At the end of the day we are just on a floating rock, does it really matter what we do?"
-Taylor (USA)
"If you're traveling solo you can visit amazing places and see incredible things but the best memories are made by the people you surround yourself with - be open, be kind and inclusive, you never know who can majorly impact your trip."
-Ashleigh (Austrailia)
"You cant rely on anyone, when you ask friends they bail. You learn to rely on yourself during the trips. You do whatever you want and never feel bad for it, even if it's staying in bed all day. You go to meet people but if you dont want to talk to anyone you dont have to. If you dont like the place, just leave. You go through rough times like missing home but you have to get through it. Go at your own pace. It's always nice to reunite with people when you come home"
-Felix (Canada)
"First thing that just popped into my mind is don’t plan too much because you could end up making friends somewhere and change your plans to go somewhere else together also how easy going hostels are and that most things work out spontaneously and last minute. I definitely regretted having everything planned out from the beginning and not being able to do last minute plans because I had already booked a flight. If you’re lost somewhere don’t be afraid to talk to strangers and ask them for help.. i’ve had people walking me to my destination because my phone had no service. Its always better going up to people instead of looking lost and being approached by someone with bad intentions. Talking to elderly people or families/people with children in general is safest"
-Rebecca (Germany)
"Dont worry about being alone, you'll never be alone because of the people you meet. If you think you're bad at meeting people just try traveling solo, you'll make so many friends."
-Edmund (UK)
"Something I’ve learned and/or advice. Especially for the solo traveler. Is to not be afraid to approach someone and start a conversation. Or start the conversation with a person your sitting next to on the bus and/or train, at a restaurant, in the supermarket, anywhere that you may have broken the ice by just being in close distance. I usually will say hello, how are you? In his/her native language. If you don’t know they speak your birth language.
A story from me about this;
I was in the supermarket one day and I let an older woman cut me in the line cause she had lots of groceries. So after she said thank you, I began to ask how she was doing. Then one thing led to another. We stepped out the market and sat on a bench talking for an hour. She is the sweetest lady and so genuine. She then invited me to take me around town to teach me history. Then I ended up going to her home, meeting her whole family. Stayed for dinner and hangout with her sons that night.
She now calls me her adopted son and I still talk to her till this day. (This was in Lisbon)
Another time I approached someone asking for a cigarette. He was a young guy with his family. After some conversation, I ended up at there home eating dinner and staying up till 3AM talking about everything under the sun.
Moral of the story, push yourself to approach someone and start the conversation. Just a simple hello, how are you can go such a long way!"
- Michael (USA)
1. Trust your intuition
2. Let go of the need to control
3. Be open minded to every experience
⁃Angie (USA)
"Travel brings out the silliest, craziest, most random, unexpected, and sometimes frustrating moments. But if you laugh and carry happiness and lightweight energy with you, the worst isn’t so bad and the best is ever more memorable. What I did- lost my phone with all my cards and ID in it, laugh about it and keep going. You have a crazy small world moment- laugh. You have the best night ever- laugh, remember the smiles and bask in the joy."
-Nicole (USA)
"It sounds basic but it's not, there's so much meaning behind not being afraid to start a conversation with a stranger at a hostel. It's a great opportunity to test out who you are. My first morning here in Guatemala I didn't have a single plan and didn't research anything, I only know I had two nights. I was tired and hungry but asked the people sitting next to me if I could join them even though they weren't even speaking English. They asked me to join them for dinner and we ended up hanging out for the next week. I taught one girl how to salsa dance since she didn't really know how while we were hanging out. Fast forward a few days I joined them on their hike to the volcano. When we reached the summit and the sun started to set we all danced salsa together. It's a good memory to have. All because I went up to someone's table and asked to join."
-Armand (Norway)
"Stay in hostels because it's the best way to meet people. You aren't the only solo traveler in the world, they're are a lot of others like you so you'll always have something in common with them. Don't have a plan while traveling, be flexible. If you have plans you might meet someone and want to change them. Try to learn local dialect. When I went to local restaurants today it was easier to communicate. One time I got a shared taxi from the airport with a random person, in the car we were talking about how I should start Spanish school. When I got out of the taxi I asked a random person for directions and he ended up owning a Spanish school. I went on to spend the next two weeks living with him doing school."
-Tom (UK)
"Do it, you get a crazy adventure. Especially if you have no plans. It's important to get out of your comfort zone and it's an amazing thing. We always live in our comfort zones. It makes us grow a lot. My favorite thing to do is to meet people and travel with them."
-Urs (Germany)
"My advice for traveling alone especially as a woman is that it is the most empowering feeling you will ever feel. You will be terrified and you will face obstacles on these journeys where in the moment you will wish you weren’t alone. Maybe even regret going by yourself and think what the hell did I get myself into. But the moment you accomplish it on your own, it will be the most exhilarating experience you could ever imagine. Any ounce of insecurity and any fear of being alone will fade and you will never feel lonely in your own company again. Not only do you fall so deeply in love with yourself and all of your capabilities but you will embrace your own company. So my advice is don’t think, just breathe. Fall in love with the best version of yourself because you’ll never meet this person without losing yourself in the process."
-Kat (USA)
Originally-
"Catch flights not feelings"
Then-
"I wanna change it. Catch feelings have fun enjoy the moment. Maybe it’s only temporary but don’t let the fear of what might happen once traveling is over stop you from building soul connections with people. Maybe it’s only temporary. But it’s worth it just take the risk. Because no matter what happens in the future, I would never change that 2 month love bubble with "X" for anything. It was like cloud nine just being so happy in the most beautiful place with him. Are we gonna be in a long distance relationship. Nah. But would i go back and stop it all from happening if I could. Also no. Because the moments and the memories were worth it. I dont know how to say that eloquently but everyone is all about “don’t catch feeling" I think it’s okay. It might not work out the way you wanted it to but that experience with someone you wouldn’t have met in your home town was worth it at the time and worth whatever comes afterwards.
-Maheen (Canada)
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