Updated July 2022.
“Oh wow. You travel alone? By yourself? Aren’t you scared/lonely/bored?”
These questions are asked of me often:
Why do you travel alone?
Isn’t it boring?
Aren’t you lonely?
What do you do all day?
Why don’t you travel with a friend? (You do have friends, don’t you? 🤔)
And always…. I am always asked… But wait…isn’t it dangerous?
And then I’d hear, more softly…”Actually…I’d love to travel solo but I don’t have a clue how to get started!”
- Friends/family often can’t get the same time off as you. 🗓
- People have different ideas about what they want to do while traveling.
- Folks have different budgets 💰 for travel.
- If you’re solo, you can eat dinner where you want, when you want. Feel like sushi 🐠 for the 3rd day in a row? Go for it. 🤷🏻♀️Go to bed late, get up early, sleep in – do stuff on your own schedule!
- Do the things YOU want. Museums? Craft shows? Farmer’s markets? Historical sites? Hot air balloon ride? Winery tours? 🍷You do you. 😘
Rather than wait for your friend, family member, or your significant other to get the days off and the savings to join you, start planning your own trip.
- Go WHERE you want.
- WHEN you want.
- And travel HOW you want.
Here’s my advice in a few easy steps to get you started, comfortable and confident – without leaving your hometown – and ready to head out the door for an adventure like no other on your very first solo trip!
1. Go for a walk around town or go for a hike on your own. In your own city. Or take a bike ride. Or a bus ride to somewhere new. You can do it. I promise. 
2. Go out for dinner – alone. This one’s tough, right? It feels uncomfortable and seems weird – and awkward. But trust me. No. One. Cares. No one’s really looking, and if they do, they’re probably thinking “gee, I wish I was brave and could do that!” Try coffee first…then visit a fast food place next for lunch…then a nice dinner. Sit at the bar if you’re looking for conversation. Or if you’re not interested in chatting with anyone, get a table and bring a book. I often pick up the free local magazine that has the “what’s on in town” section so I can find fun/free/cool things to do.
3. Go see a movie (or a concert, play, musical or whatever you love) by yourself. I honestly thought this was harder than dinner alone. But it’s wonderful! You can really get involved in the movie/play/show since there’s no one there making commentary. It’s lovely. My first concert alone was seeing Brandi Carlile play in Colorado and it was awkward for, oh, maybe 30 seconds – and then it was amazing!! I saw Andrea Bocelli in Verona Italy by myself (which was beyond epic!!) and I made friends with the family from Switzerland sitting on the “cheap seat” steps next to me.
4. Attend an art gallery or a museum alone. This is sooooo wonderful! To be able to walk around a museum (gallery, zoo, antique car show, ComicCon – whatever floats your boat!) taking your time, reading the descriptions, sitting and actually looking at a piece of art or a display until YOU feel like moving along. I stood in front of Picasso’s “Guernica” in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid for maybe 10 full minutes…and there was no one saying, “are you finished?” “why are you reading everthinggggggg???” “Fine. I’ll wait outside.”take your time <sigh>.” “I’m hungry – can we go?” (Can you tell I’m a mother of 4???) 
5. Go for a weekend alone nearby. Yep. You’re ready! Book an Airbnb, a campsite, or a hotel. Go. And then go for dinner. And a walk. And a movie and a museum – because now you’re experienced and have done this before! You’ve got this!!!
When you’re ready to go a bit further afield, a good way to travel alone is to start with a “soft landing” – begin your travels with a friend and extend a weekend or a week past their departure date and just keep going. My first time traveling solo, I began the trip with friends which got me into the groove. When Theresa left Greece to fly back home to Denver without me, I headed back to my room in Skiathos – alone – and panicked and cried for about 30 seconds thinking “what the hell am I doing?!?!” then decided to fly to Portugal the next day, booked the ticket and off I went.
I did another type of “soft landing” when I arrived in Portugal – in Lisbon, staying for the first 3 days at a Marriott with some hotel points I had left over from business travel. It made me comfortable, felt familiar and wasn’t scary. When I realized I loved Lisbon, I made the courageous decision to stay in a hostel down the street for the next 3 days – and it changed my life.
Literally.
I had the best time ever, made some incredible friends and some great connections, and enjoyed the heck out of myself. 
I’ll admit it was kinda scary walking into the hostel for the first time. After all, I’m not a college kid or a gap-year student. I’m a 50+ year old woman traveling by herself. But honestly? If you smile, say hi, sit in the common room and join the conversation, no one cares what age you are. In fact, I journeyed to Morocco with Lizzie, a 21-year-old Aussie I met in the hostel in Lisbon, and I traveled and hiked through Montenegro with a woman my age I met in a hostel in Dubrovnik. Traveled a bunch with Alysha, 24, after we met in the hostel in Da Lat, Vietnam. She and I have become great friends and have traveled together in Italy, Australia and Canada since then. (Read my blog post on why you should stay in a hostel while solo traveling – I can’t recommend this enough!!!) And if you don’t want to chat or make new friends, it’s perfectly ok. A hostel offers you the choice of hanging out in your room for some alone time or socializing with the others at trivia night, watching Netflix in the common room, drinking a margarita at the bar onsite, learning how to salsa on the rooftop deck at the free class, or reading a book off the book-swap shelf most hostels have.
A great way to see the sights of the city and meet people (if you want to) is to take the free walking tour. Almost all hostels offer one, or just google “free walking tours” for wherever you are if you’re not in a hostel. It’s a great way for solo travelers to get out and about and get acquainted with the city. Do this your first or second day in a new place and you’ll see the city in a whole ‘nother way, getting interesting commentary from the guide (almost always a local), finding out about the history of places, sculptures, street names, graffiti and more.
You’ll likely hear about a cool place to go back to for coffee or dinner based on the tour guide’s recommendation as well!
At the end of the tour, simply tip your tour guide what you feel is appropriate. I usually give $10 or the equivalent.
And then I ask them if they’d like me to take their picture…usually by doing so it begins a conversation, and I get great recommendations from travelers that have been where I’m headed, and sometimes an invitation to join them for a beer later.
And as far as traveling alone being dangerous? Use your common sense, just as if you were at home:
- Don’t be out alone late at night.
- Don’t get drunk.
- Stay out of alleys.
- Be aware of your surroundings.
- Trust your gut. If it feels wrong, it probably is.
That’s all – it’s not rocket science – be smart, be aware. 👍🏼
In all my travels, I have had ZERO personal safety issues. None. Nada. Seriously. Yes, my phone was snatched on a crowded bus in Mexico City, but I was with a group. Shit like that happens if you’re not paying attention. So – pay attention. Put your phone/camera/wallet in a zippered hard to reach spot.
Be aware. 👍🏼
Traveling solo does not mean traveling in a lonely way – it opens up the door to new friendships, and a heightened awareness of what matters to you. It creates confidence and empowers you to be more, do more, go more. It gives you quality time with yourself – something that is sorely lacking in our busy, frantic, connected lifestyles these days.
Try it. At least once, travel solo. Be your best travel partner and enjoy your own company.
Want to follow and travel along with me? Join my adventures at Facebook or on Instagram…
See you there! 😉
When traveling solo, we’re removed from all that is familiar. We discover who we are when no one is looking. thrust into unfamiliar situations, we sometimes learn that we are not who we think we are – we discover aspects of our personality that we weren’t aware of. And when we have to rely on strangers for help we learn to trust our intuition. All these experiences – this learning – promotes spiritual growth. ~~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer
You really should have your own talk show!!! I’d watch it 🙂
Would DEFENITELY travel solo, again! To see what YOU want to see, at YOUR own pace makes things less challenging.