Adventuring alone sounds exciting, but its also scary.
Like most people, Ive done the majority of mytraveling with friendsand family.
My friends all had work commitments or needed more time to save up for the trip.
If you have someplace in mind and cant find anyone to go with, take the plunge yourself.
The nice thing though is that you get to pick exactly everythingyouwant.
Find Solo-Friendly Accommodations and Activities
As you plan your trip, youll start to get excited.
To start, pick a great location.
Think of someplace youve always wanted to go.
After youve got your spot settled, figure out how youll get there and where youll stay.
Unlike when youre traveling with others, I dont recommend you book an entire place to yourself.
Look for rentals or hostels that offer shared rooms or will be hosting multiple travelers at once.
Once youve locked in a place to sleep,research activities and eventsyou want to do.
You might be surprised at how many others are also traveling alone.
You dont necessarily have to make a strict itineraryafter all you could do whatever you want whenever you want!
Create somefinancial goals to save up for your trip.
If you wanted to go to a museum with a $40 entrance fee, you could.
Bounce ideas off of others while you plan.
They may have great recommendations or suggestions.
Do research before booking your trip to confirm the place youre going is okay for you to travel alone.
Familiarize yourself with scams common in your destination.
Have the necessities on you at all times in case you should probably make a quick escape.
Also, arriving and navigating to your accommodations when it is light out will make you feel much safer.
Embrace those feelings instead of pushing them aside.
Prepare yourself mentally to deal with them.
Then, focus on the positives of your solo trip.
Remember why you wanted to go and how youre empowering yourself.
Recognize that youve created an opportunity to enjoy life at your own pace.
Before you leave, know that some parts of your trip are going to feel really weird.
One common one is eating out alone.
Try a self-service cafe, a local-style fast-food restaurant, or a small ethnic eatery.
Visit a supermarket deli and get a picnic to eat in the square or a park.
Eat in the members kitchen of a hostel; youll always have companions.
Make it a potluck.
Take time to enjoy those lonely activitiesbring a book to read or journal to write in.
Send photos and videos to friends and family members to say hello and show them what youre up to.
you’re free to even go the snail mail route and send postcards.
After all, youre on vacation when others are stuck at work or school!
you might also share your experiences by buying souvenirs for everyone back home.
Show them that you were thinking about them during your trip.
With luck, youll give a little bit of the travel bug to them.
However, remember not everyone will react to your travel tales with the enthusiasm you felt during your trip.
They werent there, so its difficult for them to connect on your level.
Lastly, document your experience.
Youll be able to give recommendations when people ask in the future.
Making someone elses trip a little bit more awesome with insider information always feels great!
Traveling alone isnt for everyonebut you should at leastgive it a try.
Youll have a chance to completely embrace your interests and engage in some self-reflection.
Remember, its okay to go alone.
Illustration by Tina Mailhot-Roberge.
Images fromlordcolus,185scouts,usacehq,destinywings_veno, andinggroup.
