How To Ease Yourself Into Solo Travel

I get it. Solo travel can be daunting. Travel can be daunting when you’re with someone too in different ways, but going by yourself is when you truly wander away from your safety net. I was fortunate enough to be well traveled in my early years, but the process that I went through is one that can be replicated at your own pace. Ready? Let’s go!

#1. Go on a trip with a loved one.

Never travel with someone you don’t love. It doesn’t matter if it’s a parent, a friend, or a partner. Try to choose someone who has traveled a couple of times before and knows the ropes. You might also aim for someone who you know travels well; that is, they’re fairly calm, confident, and unlikely to get you into a mess you can’t dig your way out of. When I travel, I find that the energy of the more experienced traveller is amplified by those with less experience. If they’re not panicking, then there’s probably no reason for you to panic.

If you don’t have a friend who has travelled before, choose someone you love and trust. If you feel comfortable you can book your travel yourself. If not, do some research online and choose a travel company or agent to help you along the way. For the future, you may want to purchase a travel book or take a few pamphlets so that you can get an idea of where you’d like to go for the next step.

#2. Go on a group trip without any friends.

I’ve gone on two group trips, and it may take a few before you’re ready to move on completely to solo travel. The first trip was to England. I went in high school and although I knew who the kids I traveled with were, I didn’t really have anyone I would consider a friend. I ended up getting two new friends out of it, though! The second was a youth volunteer trip I took to New Zealand, and I didn’t know anyone before I went.

If you’re in high school or university, speak to your schools about any upcoming trips. My high school trip was only meant for members of the theater club, but I begged them to let me come with them. The teacher running the club agreed, but only if someone dropped out of the trip. Luckily for me, someone did! When I was in university volunteer groups would come in before lectures were scheduled to start to advertise volunteer trips. I ended up going with International Student Volunteer (ISV) and I recommend them wholeheartedly. Our flight was delayed because of a volcano eruption and they took such good care of us, one day I intend to devote a True Story Tuesday to just how well we were treated.

If you’re not in university, college, or are over the age that these groups will take you, there are still a couple of other options.

First, there are paid group trips or escorted travel. They’re expensive to be sure, but you won’t be alone, you’ll have a guide the entire way which is especially handy if you aren’t fluent in the language spoken wherever you’re heading, and a lot of the stuff is included in the price. Fancy hotels, breakfasts, entrance to the attractions, and your gratuities. The downside is that these trips might not hit every place you wanted to visit, and for all that money, that might not be something you’re willing to accept.

The second option is church groups. Sometimes they’ll have volunteer trips, in which case they usually provide a day or two of rest which you can use to explore the local culture or relax on a beach. It’ll be well earned, usually those volunteer trips involve building things; wells, churches, schools, homes, etc. Churches will sometimes also get a group together to make a pilgrimage to whatever land their faith considers holy. For Christian churches it’s a good chance to explore Israel and Palestine, and to be safe in the knowledge that although things are turbulent, your local guide can do their best to make sure you don’t come to any harm. The only downside is having to navigate the touchy subject that is religion; and it can be touchy even when you’re dealing with someone who has the same religion as you! At either end of the spectrum you’ve got zealots and people who believe others stupid for holding certain beliefs. It’s terrible to be caught with a crowd your not part of when you’re just trying to enjoy your trip or have a spiritual experience, so be ready to either have your faith tested and stretched by these people, or to ignore them.

#3. Comfort Zone Travel

Whatever is in your comfort zone, go, but go alone. It’s a wonderful time to get to know yourself. Do you enjoy wandering around the streets of a large city, stopping into a shop here and there? Are you at your happiest hiking in a new forest? Take your time, explore what you like and what you don’t. My comfort zone is linguistic, so places which have large populations of English or French speakers are well within my reach. If you’re not big on going out of the country yet, try the next city or province over.

#4. Outside Comfort Zone Travel with a Friend

Whatever your comfort zone is, be it language, physical distance, or culture, it’s time to break out of it. Bring a friend, and something to help you ease your discomfort. Be it a phrase book, a map, a translator, a stress ball, what have you, it doesn’t matter. My first trip out of my comfort zone like this was going to Germany with Forest. I prepared myself not only by having a little phrasebook courtesy of Forest, but by learning some German words and phrases that could help us if we got lost or hurt.

#5. Solo Travel Unlimited!

Congratulations! You are now ready to go solo! Don’t worry if you have to flip back and forth a few times, going with groups or friends the first time you visit a new place or country. The only thing I would impress upon you, gentle reader, is not to wait on people. If you constantly wait on people to travel with you, you might never go.

Be brave, go forth, have a wonderful travel adventure!