How to Solo Travel? Do not be Lonely but Alone!
Travel, or some called fernweh, can be described as passion, instead of a hobby. There are many quotes, books, and YouTube channels about traveling. People try to seek the virtue of traveling as Buddha stated.
It is better to travel well than to arrive.
Buddha
There are many solo travelers all around the world. I decided to be one after a breakdown at my job. I decided to quit my job and I arrived at my office, opened Skyscanner, and bought the cheapest ticket.
At the time, I had no idea where I was going and how long my trip would be. In the end, I arrived in Macedonia for 15 days. After I landed, I attended private parties, I broke my finger (well that is not a sad story at all because there are always people taking care of me!). I arrived in Macedonia with lots of uncertainties but in 15 days I had amazing experiences. Also, it gave me the courage to travel solo more often!
There are some tips on how to solo travel from my own experiences:
1) DO NOT BE LONELY
That must be the first rule of solo travel. It is a good thing to be alone, to find yourself, and to understand what you need. However, there are differences between being lonely and being alone! Being alone is your choice to discover yourself, however, being lonely might be a miserable thing if you need advice or if there is something that happened to you (like broking a finger).
2) BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE STAYING
I always read the comments on the places that I want to stay. Most of the time, if it is my first arrival in a particular city or country, I am trying to choose the places which can provide some atmosphere and create an event to socialize.
I honestly believe that traveler comments are precious. Actually, they never misguide me. The places that I stayed by looking at the comments helped me so much for socializing and making new friends. Furthermore, I always can get advice from those people as well.
Do not forget about it: travelers’ paths are mostly the same. So, you can meet people who already visited the places that you are planning or (which is better) there are people who are planning to travel to the same destination as you. So, you can split some of the travel expenses if you are planning to attend a tour, rent a car for travel or you can get valuable advice which you cannot buy or find anywhere else!
I usually meet people at the hostels that I stay. In this way, I can go wherever I want during the day. When I get bored or I need a company, I can get connected with my new friends! Actually it is better than traveling with a friend because you can choose to be alone and there is no one that you need to do an explanation.
3) USE 21st CENTURY SKILLS
You can use the Couchsurfing meeting app, tinder (at some of the cities it can be used just to meet people), and other local apps that you can find on the internet!
These apps always help solo travelers to meet new, especially local people, and get advice. Also, you can meet in crowded places at the center, just to be safe! Being safe is the top priority so please do not forget about this issue!
Meet people, do not give SO MUCH information since you do not know the person well, just have a good time, share experiences. At the hostels, it is much safer to meet others because there is a record of this specific person at the hostel. However, by using apps, you can meet some not saying bad but people with different intentions! Thus, being safe and being careful always a top priority.
4) DO NOT OVER PLAN ABOUT THE TRAVEL
It is a good and actually wise thing to read about the cites, plan your travel, and get tickets where you want to go. However, you need to be careful while you are doing this search and plan. You can meet amazing people (actually all travelers are amazing so it is most likely to meet amazing people), you can get really useful advice and you can change or add some destinations to your plan as well.
For example, after traveling solo for 3 times, I decided not to make any certain plans about the places. I just bought my plane tickets for arrival and return. That would be all most of the time!
If I want to change countries, I just check how many days I need for this certain city or country. That’s all! I think this is already so much. Because every time I meet with others, I learn some new destinations and the days that I have planned to stay were not enough for me! So, do not over plan your travel. Just bought the necessary tickets and
Trust the wind, breathe the air and there is a place you meant to be, you have already there.
“Trust the Wind” by David Friedman
