“The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.” – Albert Einstein
It’s ok to be alone, no really it is. You don’t have to feel bad for the person eating dinner alone or traveling by themselves. She could be perfectly happy by herself and maybe even prefers it. Good for her for doing what she wants and not waiting for someone else to come along. When I am going somewhere a little geeky, expensive, or just somewhere I want to reflect and spend a lot of time exploring, I typically go alone.
As an introvert, I need alone time to be with my thoughts and feel at peace. I have traveled alone recently and the first question that came out of stunned people’s mouths was, “Are you traveling alone?!! Followed by, you’re brave! Good for you, I would never go on a trip by myself.”
Why wait for someone else? Are you going to wait until you find someone that is interested in going to that expensive restaurant or the 100th Buddhist temple or are you just going to skip out because you can’t find anyone? I wouldn’t.
Solo travel can be the ultimate experience. You decide where you are going and how long you want to spend. Another benefit is that your mistakes are your own, and your triumphs all the more exciting. The fact that I managed to figure out the trains in Tokyo is an accomplishment I am seriously proud of.
Traveling alone has major perks but many challenges as well. Here are a few tips for solo travelers.
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Open Up
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Be open to the people around you. There are plenty of people you can talk to at the park, dinner or bar. You can make new friends that are out of your circle.
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Budget
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Traveling alone is much more costly. The cabs and hotels you may normally split will be twice as much.
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Hostels
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Staying at hostels is not only cost effective but is a great way to meet other travelers to spend time with. They also usually have 24 hour staff which not a lot of hotels in other countries have which could leave you stranded.
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Tours
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Go on meetup, air bnb experiences, allsinglestravel.com or join a tour which is a great way to learn a skill, see the city and make new friends.
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Sit at the bar, cafe or outdoors
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Sit at the bar and strike up a conversation with the person next to you. You never know the connection you may make. Sitting at a cafe or outdoor area with a book and nice meal can be less awkward then being in a fancy restaurant at a table for 1.
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Clothing
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Don’t wear flashy clothes, jewelry, etc as you don’t want to draw attention to yourself and you don’t want to look like a tourist.
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STEP
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Apply for your governments step program to let the embassy know where you will be traveling.
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