8 Ways to Start Traveling Alone and Love It!

Well, it’s actually really easy to start traveling alone, book flight, board flight, and go!  No, but really, it can be nerve-wrecking to think of wandering a far-off land by yourself.  You have no one to depend on but yourself. No one to share the experiences with. You’re responsible for your itinerary and filling your days.  There is no one to influence which restaurants and sights you need to visit.  So how do you get started as a solo traveler? 

---

Building the Foundation for Solo Travel

---

Traveling alone can be daunting, especially the first time. But there are steps you can take to ease into it. These steps are really just working to give you a solid foundation of travel skills and experiences. Using a progression of experiences, you’ll find out if you like traveling alone and if you feel confident in your abilities to travel solo.

Here are some of the foundational skills and self exploration you’re looking to develop before booking a big trip.

• Building confidence in your travel and navigation abilities

• Getting comfortable with silence and being alone

• Learning to enjoy your own company

• Establishing your own routines

• Finding your likes and dislikes when traveling alone

• Determining how you want to spend your free time

---

Start with Small Steps Near Home

---

It might seem cliché to say every journey starts with one step, but it’s true.  You need to ease into it.  And honestly, chances are you already have, and just didn’t realize it.

Here are a few ways to dip your toe into the world of solo travel in your own hometown to determine if it’s for you.

Grab Coffee or a Meal Alone

When you start traveling alone, you may have days or even weeks of dining alone. Try out the simple act of dining alone in your own city to see how you feel about it. Is it uncomfortable for you? Do you find yourself tied to your phone the whole time? Do you enjoy people watching?

That’s right, walking into a restaurant alone, waiting for a table, ordering for one, and then enjoying the meal by yourself is a big first step. It will really help you learn about yourself and how you feel being alone in a scenario you might typically encounter with friends or family.

Explore Something in Your City on Your Own

Whether you decide to go to a museum on your own or to a nearby state or national park, you will get to experience what it’s like to spend your time for you. Pick something you’re interested in. This gives you the opportunity to put yourself out there and see if you want to take the initiative on your own.

You certainly don’t want your first solo trip to be overwhelming and spend all your time in your hotel or hostel. Your own city no doubt has places you haven’t been where you can get your feet wet.

Attend an Event By Yourself 

Another great place to start familiarizing yourself with solo travel is attending an event by yourself. I recommend starting with some kind of a networking event. It’s an easy way to get you out of your shell around other people who are looking to meet new people.  Every city offers networking opportunities, whether it be a professional networking event or a more casual Meetup. They offer different activities from hiking to happy hour to trivia. It’s an easy way to get used to walking into a room where you don’t know anyone.

Or, you can take it one step further by attending an event like a festival or a concert alone locally to see how you feel. Do you want to make friends while you’re there? Can you? Do you not care because you’re having so much fun at the event itself?  It is an easy way to get insight into how you handle slightly uncomfortable or unnatural situations.

Traveling solo is all about getting comfortable with yourself. Being confident that you are able to do things on your own and don’t need that safety net of family and friends constantly around you. Once you feel comfortable doing things on your own, its time to take the next step – your first solo trip (kind of).

Related: How to Make Friends While Traveling Alone

---

Expand to Something Larger Outside of Your Own City

---

Now that you have some insight into what solo travel might be like, it’s time to jump into something bigger. Your first solo travel experience! 

To ease into traveling alone, start small with one of the ideas below. You can get the feel for navigating new cities and finding your way through the needed transportation at a much lower cost and with a bit less intimidation factor.

Visit Family or Friends in a New City

Get a feel for traveling alone by going to visit family or friends in a city that isn’t your own. You’ll still have to navigate the airports or roads alone, and likely try to coordinate schedules and figure out a few things that you’re interested in doing while you’re there.

Of course, visiting friends or family does provide the safety net in that you don’t have to figure everything out for yourself. You not only have local tour guides, but you also have people to explore with. And, if anything goes wrong, you have other people to help you troubleshoot the problem!

Add Days to a Current Trip

If you’re going on a trip, whether it be with family or friends or a work trip, consider adding on a few days to explore on your own. You could use that time to explore more of the city you’re already in or to head to a new neighboring city

This type of trip allows you to start traveling alone in a very short, and reasonable cost, scenario. You aren’t jumping into the deep end of traveling alone, but you are giving yourself time to spread your wings and fly. You will get to determine what you want to do with your time, how you’re going to get there, where you’re going to eat, and of course how to navigate your way home.

Try Out a Group Trip or Tour

Group trips can be a great way to ease into solo travel. For one, you typically have to get to the tour starting location on your own. This means navigating the process of packing and leaving home on your own and doing the actual travel part solo. You may even need to get to your hotel or tour office on your own leaving the opportunity to learn transportation systems in the city.

During a group trip, you will also have the opportunity to venture out on your own during your free time. It’s a great mid-way step as you have a built in social safety net, but you can opt to be by yourself and explore some things on your own.

Also, there are endless options for group trips and tours around the world making it an easy way to start out. If you don’t know where to start, take a look at Intrepid Travel, REI Adventure, or G Adventures tours. While many group trips may have solo traveler supplement fees, some do not. Of course, those that don’t have a single supplement fee will likely pair you up with a random roommate, but it can be a great way to make new friends!

Read more: 44 Ways to Save Money While Traveling

---

Book Your First Solo Trip

---

Having built up your confidence and experience in traveling alone, it’s time to test drive your true first solo trip. Is there somewhere you’ve always wanted to go, and you haven’t been able to line up friends or family to travel with?  It’s time to make it happen! Whether you opt for a weekend trip or a weeklong adventure, you’ll get to test drive the solo traveler experience.

Try a Solo Road Trip

One of the lowest risk and lowest cost ways to start traveling alone is to plan a solo road trip. You’ll get to plan your route and destinations according to your interests and feel the full independence as you go. Put those windows down, or keep them up. Blast that music, or listen to a book on tape. Pack healthy snacks, or pick up fast food every day. It doesn’t matter, because it’s all up to you!

Book that Dream Trip and Go It Alone

If you’ve enjoyed the process of fine tuning your skills for solo travel, then you may be able to “Go Big or go Home”. Book that big adventure that you’ve been waiting for! Whether you want to eat your way through Cinque Terre, Italy or hike up to Mount Everest Base Camp, there’s no reason not to give it a go!

Stay safe on the road with 35 Critical Safety Tips for Solo Travelers.

---

Are you ready to become a solo traveler?

---

As you read through this, you might have noticed that you already have the experience you need to start traveling alone and love it!

Honestly, my first solo female travel adventure was actually my around-the-world trip which lasted more than a year – or so I (and my parents!) thought. In reality, I had been traveling solo for years.

Those weekend, spring break, and Thanksgiving trips to New York, Florida, or California to meet up with friends count! That road trip to visit friends at a different University also count!  I had built so many of the skills that I needed to jump into my solo around-the-world adventure from my many smaller trips. While I was not alone the whole time, I had already learned to navigate airports, cities, and roads alone to meet up with my friends.

If you’ve done any traveling on your own, you’ve likely already established your routines when you arrive at an airport or how often you like to stop on a road trip. You’ve also likely navigated a metro in a city or negotiating with a taxi driver. All of these things help indicate how you will travel on your own. It also gives you insight into if you enjoy the solo time or if you feel lonely and a bit depressed. 

Now it’s time to go out and take over the world!  From one solo traveler to another…. You got this!

---

Other Helpful Tips to Start Traveling Alone

---

These steps will really help you get acquainted with solo travel and your own travel style, so that you can start traveling alone and leave your fears behind. And, just to be clear, traveling alone is not lonely. You will make friends along the way and have plenty of interactions with other travelers and locals. You just have to put yourself out there!

And, honestly, you may never want to go back to traveling with friends or family once you learn the ins and outs of solo travel!

Learn more about solo travel and traveling abroad to prepare for your first solo trip:

• 9 Essential Things to Do Before Traveling Abroad
• Top 6 Considerations for Picking a Travel Destination
• 35 Critical Safety Tips for Solo Female Travelers
• The 5 Stages of Culture Shock and How They Impact Travelers
• Is Travel Insurance Worth It? An Inside Look from an Avid Traveler

---

Like this Post? Pin it.