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Solo traveling is both scary and exciting, your experience will depend mainly on you, and you got to start somewhere. Here are a few tips to get you started
Are you tired of waiting for your friends to agree where to go or what to do? You want to see if you can survive in the wilderness of other cities by yourself? Any other reason you want to travel solo? I had one too, and here I am, years later still making the best of my travels. I have made a list that helped me to make the first time that I traveled alone unforgettable, and I'm using it ever since.
Start small
You don't have to drop everything and go to travel for a year, although you definitely can! Just take a few days off and go test the waters. My first solo travel was a week long, and included two cities.
Choose a destination that fits you
You probably don't want to find yourself freezing in the mountains if you want to spend time on the beach. Or having a dangerous adventure when you like to play it safe. Choose a place that interests you and fits your way of handling yourself. My first destinations were Prague and Berlin (for the beers, of course!)
Do your research
Unless you like to improvise every second of your life (and that is ok!) you need to know your plan. Spend some time getting to know the place you want to go to, find out things that are important to you. Be it safety, whether you have to know the local language to get by, whether there are some gestures you shouldn't use (don't try to hitchhike with your thumb up in Greece!), whether Uber works or any other thing comes to your mind. The more you are aware, the more confident you will be while being there.
Stick to your hobbies
The best way to start a conversation with new people is to have something in common, preferably something you enjoy. So whether it is salsa dancing, music festivals, partying, diving or simply having a beer, just find a place at your destination that you can do one of your hobbies in, and who knows maybe you'll find some new friends!
Explore new things
Sticking to your hobbies is a nice way to start, and it is definitely helpful. There is only one problem with them, you already know how to do them. Open your mind to new experiences, be it with the people you already met or just by yourself. Try things you wanted to try before, or discover completely new things. That's how I started hiking, and discovered axe throwing! You don't have to like all the things you try but if you ever wanted to try them and you can do it in your destination take the opportunity, I tried hitchhiking twice and didn't do it ever since.
Join a free walking tour
The best way to explore a city is through your feet. Other than being another great way to meet like-minded people, is there a better way to discover the city with a local guide that can tell you all about it? Find a free tour that you like and start walking! There are plenty of them now, but there weren't so many when I started
Try to avoid the touristic traps (or at least try to do them smart)
Every place you travel to has that one thing that everyone has to see. That place is always crowded, if there is an entrance than there is a huge line. This is one of the things that frustrate me most. I'm not traveling to stand in line and I would prefer to spend my time on something more fun, most of these places are covered by the free tours anyway. I'm not saying that you shouldn't go at all, but put some effort into it. Find out when there are less people, and maybe wake up a bit earlier to see it then. Or better yet, find a local to show you that view point that no tourist knows about but shows you exactly the same thing.
Try CouchSurfing (or any other social traveling app)
As mentioned before, a local is the best source of information about a place, and there are plenty of nice people that are willing to share their time or even their homes with travelers and can show you their version of the city, often out of the beaten path. I started using the CouchSurfing app just to find people to hang out with but eventually tried to host and to surf (and that is even how I met Lucy, my life partner!). Unfortunately since then CouchSurfing became a paid app, but there are still free alternatives like BeWelcome and Couchers.
Choose an accommodation that suits your needs
Whether you like it or not, where you stay has a big influence on how you feel during your trip, so choose it wisely. If your plan is to party all the time, find a party hostel. If your plan is to be up during the day and sleep during the night, find a quieter hostel. If you don't feel like seeing people then get a private room or an AirBnb. If you like to be in the center of things find a place that corresponds to that, and if you like to walk then find a place a bit further away. Do not forget to check the reviews a place has, if you don't like it for whatever reason, be it safety, distance from where you want to be or the amount of noise it is better to know it ahead than to discover it as a surprise
It's OK to rest
Unlike the common belief in this world, you don't have to do something any given moment of the day. Yes, not even on your vacation. It's ok to take a day off and catch those sleeping hours, or talk to your friends that you might miss, or just plainly do nothing and just recharge. I have fallen into the FOMO trap many times, saying to myself that every second counts when I'm on vacation, and it does count but it is much more fun when you are not completely exhausted.
Remember how to travel with people
Traveling alone means that you have all the freedom. What you do is entirely up to you. But, for some people (like me) this can be very demanding. I love traveling with my friends and family even though there are times that I prefer to travel by myself. Don't let that freedom make you forget that the world is better together. You may want to travel with your best friend, with your spouse, or with someone you have just met during your solo travel. Just keep in mind that too much freedom is not good either (what will we do with all the choices). I spent a few years not enjoying traveling with my friends because I couldn't let go of that freedom, but since I did I'm having the time of my life whether I'm traveling solo or with someone
Final thoughts
As I said, most of this is list of solo traveling tips was made before I traveled by myself for the first time. Since then I have travel plenty and added a few things to this list. I use this list when I plan my travels to this day. Did it help you to plan? Did it help you to travel solo for the first time? Let me know!
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