So you’ve decided you want to go on your first solo trip. Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step in the process of getting to the life-changing experience of being out on the road in a foreign country – all by yourself.
Does that sound daunting? Don’t worry. It’s nowhere near as difficult as you’re probably imagining it will be.
Before you go any further, this post is also available as an easily digestible email course. If you’re interested in that, drop your name and email in the form below and you’ll get the course, free of charge.
I was terrified before I boarded my plane on my first solo trip to Dublin. Since then, I’ve travelled to Malta and met some amazing people, I’ve slept in a sanctuary on a cliff, and I visited Berlin earlier this year (Berlin is a great city for solo travellers, by the way!)
Here are some things you’ll need to follow along with this post and actually plan your first solo trip:
- A pen
- Some paper
- Some wanderlust-inspiring music
- A cup of coffee
- Snacks
If you do these ten things before your first solo trip, you’ll go in with the utmost confidence and you’ll rock that trip like the Foo Fighters rocking Wembley Stadium.
Skip ahead:
- Decide where you’re going
- Take small solo trips at home to practice
- Learn how to be comfortable by yourself
- Plan in advance
- Pack light
- Have several money sources
- Install the necessary apps
- Embrace the nerves
- Come to terms with the fact that it’s happening
- Try to get some sleep
Decide where you’re going
The most important thing to do before you can start dreaming about your perfect solo trip is to decide which destination you want to explore.
Read more:
First of all, think about what kind of travel you want to do. Do you want to go on a city trip? Road trip? Round-the-world trip? Weekend break? Anything is possible, especially when you’re travelling solo.
The only limit is your imagination.
The type of travel you’re going to pursue will have a direct influence on which destination you’ll be travelling to. After all, it doesn’t make much sense to take a ten-hour flight just for a weekend trip, does it?
It’s easier to travel somewhere close to home for your first solo trip, but if you’re feeling adventurous, you could always try a big trip overseas. I’m not going to be the one to stop you.
One thing I like to do when I’m feeling the wanderlust but I don’t have any specific destination in mind is head over to Skyscanner, enter my home airport and destination ‘Everywhere’ and select ‘Cheapest month’. This will give you a great list of cheap destinations you can fly to that you might not have thought of otherwise.
A great alternative to this search is Kayak’s Explore option. It does the same thing as entering ‘Everywhere’ in Skyscanner, but it also shows the destinations on a map.
After entering your home airport, select ‘Anytime’ and ‘Any Duration’ if you’re flexible on dates (which you should be if you want cheap flights).
In Kayak Explore, you can also enter a maximum flight time and budget, which is great for shorter trips where you can’t be bothered to take a long-haul flight (like your first time travelling solo – see where I’m going with this?).
Starting from these tools, write down a list of destinations within your budget that seem interesting for your first solo trip.
From this list, you can select a few destinations and do some more thorough research into what you can do there and when flights are the cheapest.
If you’re going to a destination that is close to home, please consider going by bus or train instead of flying there. You won’t have to be at the airport for hours, it’s more adventurous and it’s a lot better for the environment.
Once you’ve got your destination all figured out, continue reading.
Take small solo trips at home to practice
The best way to start getting used to being alone in foreign environments is to just do it. Start travelling to nearby destinations, but do it alone.
One of the most important things to do before your first solo trip is to make sure you’re ready for it. There’s no official solo traveller’s pledge that says you have to go into this with no idea what you’re doing.
And that’s where practice trips come in handy. If you can spend a day by yourself in a city in your country or state, surely you can spend a few days in a foreign city, right?
Practice trips like these will help you become a more confident solo traveller and give you the energy and courage you need to take the leap.
Besides, practice trips like this will let you explore your own country and give you a sense of adventure without breaking the bank.
Talk about a win-win.
Learn how to be comfortable by yourself
This is arguably the most important thing you can do to prepare for travelling alone. If you’re constantly craving someone to talk to or someone to walk beside you, you’re not ready to board a plane by yourself.
You need to be comfortable being by yourself all day. You need to get over the social stigma that being alone is bad. Being alone doesn’t mean you’re isolated. You need to realise that Jerry Maguire was full of shit when he said ‘You complete me‘ because it implies that you can’t be complete if you’re not with somebody.
If you consciously choose to be alone, there’s nothing miserable about it. And that’s exactly what you’re doing by deciding to travel alone.
Here are some things you can do to start being more comfortable without having anyone you know around:
- Pick up a new hobby;
- Continue a hobby but do it alone;
- Go to a coffee shop;
- Visit a museum alone;
- Go see a movie by yourself;
- Meditate;
- Go to a bar and try to make new friends;
- Switch up your schedule and leave your comfort zone.
Once you’re happy and comfortable being by yourself, you’ll never again need to wait until your travel buddies are ready to travel with you.
Plan in advance
Once you know where you’re going and you know you’ll be fine on your own, it’s time to start planning your trip.
For your first solo trip, you should plan as much as possible beforehand. But still, be careful not to over-plan. I know it’s confusing, but it’s something you have to get through.
Make sure you at least plan your accommodation for the first night and some activities for the first two days. Anything after that, you can figure out while you’re already at your destination.
Related: How to create the perfect travel itinerary
I said not to over-plan everything so that you still have room for unexpected activities. My personal rule is to leave at least one day free of any plans per week and at least half a day for anything between four days and one week.
Pack light
When you’re travelling solo, there’s nobody to help you carry your bags at your destination. You have to lug them around all by yourself.
That’s why it’s important that you pack light and reduce the amount of effort it will take for you to get around as much as possible.
Here are some tips to help you pack lighter as a solo traveller:
- Consider travelling carry-on only for shorter trips;
- Use layers of clothing so you can pack your wardrobe more efficiently;
- Only pack enough clothes for seven days and then find a laundromat;
- Use multifunctional items, such as a sarong;
- Don’t take non-essential items;
- Wear your bulkiest clothes on travel days so you don’t have to stuff them in your bags;
- Ball up your socks and underwear and stuff them into your shoes;
- Don’t take towels, but buy or rent them at your destination;
- A phone weighs less than a camera, a notebook, a map, a novel and a guidebook.
Have several money sources
As a solo traveller, you’re more prone to robbery than someone who travels with other people and definitely more prone than a local.
There are some things you can do to prevent a stolen wallet from ruining your first solo trip.
Related: Budgeting for solo travel – Tips & tricks to save money
The most important part of this is to make sure that you have several money sources. Just like it’s a good idea to diversify passive income, you need to store your money in different places.
This way, if your wallet does end up being stolen, you still have some money tucked away.
- Bring two credit cards (and don’t keep them in the same place)
- Keep cash in your wallet (and hide away some emergency cash in your bra or in your shoe)
- Use your banking app to transfer money between accounts in case one of your credit cards is stolen or lost.
- Don’t keep your wallet in the back pocket of your jeans. Just don’t.
Install the necessary apps
As I just said, phones nowadays can easily replace a lot of bulky things that travellers had to take with them in earlier years. Travel documentation, guidebooks, dictionaries (okay, that one might be a bit of a stretch, but still), and so on.
You no longer need to lug around a crazy amount of paperwork in order to travel. All you need is a smartphone and some apps.
Related: The best free apps for solo travellers
Related: get $35 off your first Airbnb booking by signing up through this link!
These are some of my favourite travel apps:
- Airbnb: to find funky accommodation options that go beyond a hotel room that you’ll pay too much for.
- HotelTonight: to find discounted last-minute hotel rooms in the Americas, Europe and Australia.
- Uber / Lyft: to find a cheaper alternative to expensive taxi rides.
- Google Maps / Citymapper: to help you find your way on offline maps, for all modes of transport.
- XE Currency: to get a better idea of how much something costs converted to your own currency. (can also be used offline)
- Yelp / Foursquare: to get an idea of how well-liked a certain restaurant or bar is, or to find recommendations for food or drinks.
- Google Translate: to translate stuff. Duh.
- TripIt: to help you keep an overview of everything you have planned.
- Tripcoin: to keep track of all the money you spend (so you can budget your next trip better).
Embrace the nerves
It’s completely normal for you to feel stressed about your first solo trip. After all, you’ll still be in a foreign location, all by yourself.
There are so many things that you’ll be liberated from as a solo traveller.
- You don’t have to consider your travel companions when it comes to picking an activity or a restaurant.
- You can do whatever you want. Literally.
- You don’t have to spend money on things you don’t want to spend money on.
- You get to see the world from another perspective, even more so than when you’re travelling with somebody else.
Embrace your fears. Deciding to travel alone is the biggest step, and you’ve already taken it. Breathe. You’ll be fine.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the fact that you’re scared to do this only means you’re doing the right thing. Doesn’t this fear tell you that the memories will be worth the hassle?
Come to terms with the fact that it’s happening
This is not a drill.
It’s actually happening. You’re going to travel alone.
From this point on, you get to start telling people you’re a solo traveller. Or, at least, you’re going to be one very soon.
People will try to convince you you not to do it. They’ll come up with every single possible reason not to travel solo.
“You’ll be lonely.”
“It’s expensive.”
The truth is, if you’re prepared for your first solo trip and you’re ready to face all the things that might go wrong, it’s not too dangerous. You won’t be lonely and it won’t be too expensive.
Related: The insider’s guide to solo travel on a budget (free ebook!)
Most of the people who come up with reasons not to travel alone are just trying to protect you from the scary world, of course. But sometimes, you have to stand up for what you want and take the damn leap.
Live your life.
Try to get some sleep
Now it’s getting real.
The day before I leave for the airport, I always have trouble sleeping. I’m just too excited to fall asleep.
If you don’t have this issue, great. Go to sleep and wake up as a solo traveller.
If you do, here are some tips to help you fall asleep.
Also: don’t go to sleep too late. Even if you’ll be travelling all day (read: on a plane, bus or train), it pays off to be well-rested before embarking on your first solo trip.
There.
Admit it: those 10 steps were a lot less difficult than you thought they were going to be, right?
Now that you’ve done all of it, you’re 100% ready to travel by yourself.
There will be things that you’re unable to plan, but that’s okay. It’s a part of the adventure. You’ll look back on this with fond memories and you’ll wish you could go back. And even if you don’t, at least now you know that solo travel is not for you.
I hope this post gave you the courage you needed to finally take the leap and travel solo. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know (send me an email at [email protected]!)
Thanks for reading!
PIN IT!
