Solo Travel: Tips for Your First (or Next) Solo Trip

Speaker A: 00:00:02

Solo travel can be about self seeing instead of just sightseeing. Welcome back to all about being Single. Or welcome if you're new here. I'm your host, Wioleta. I'm excited to give you quite a few practical tips today.

This is just another one of our solo travel series episodes. Okay, let's go through a few different tips. The very, very first one is start small if you're nervous.

So if you're nervous, plan a very short one night stay as your first trip. So maybe do like a weekend in a nearby city.

So basically do like a little exposure therapy for your trip independence or maybe pick a spot you have always wanted to go to. Like you know, again my. If you listen to the previous episode and episodes, actually I should say my very first solo trip was to New York City, so.

And like the heart of New York City, Manhattan.

But either way, I highly recommend a solo trip if you haven't been on one because I truly believe that you haven't lived to the fullest until you've done at least one solo trip in your life. And you're not an independent adult till you've done at least one solo trip. And that is a hill that I'll die on.

I don't think you've even began to explore yourself to your fullest capacity unless you've done a solo trip. That's a hill I'll die on. Okay, the second one, reframe alone as with yourself or on your own.

And I actually highly recommend that you listen to the episode that talks about doing things with yourself as well, because that one explains this a little bit more. I'll link to it in the episode notes. So if you haven't listened to it yet, definitely highly recommended.

I definitely think that alone can feel isolating, but on your own or with yourself feels powerful and just self directed. Number three, don't overbook and don't over schedule your days.

Especially if it's your very first solo trip or your very first few solo trips or honestly ever. I mean I kind of like to just have like one big thing planned for the day.

Unless maybe, maybe if I like do another trip to Europe then I might have like two things planned for the day. But overall I think that not over scheduling is key. So maybe for each day have like a museum or a tour reservation or a neighborhood to explore.

Just one thing per day so you can just explore and just wander the town.

This I think also helps with like asking yourself and trying to figure yourself out on the unplanned parts of the Trip, you kind of get to be like, okay, well, what do I want to do right now? You know, especially if you're used to only going on trips with other people, you're used to compromising.

You're used to doing things that other people might want to do in the moment. And with this, it's like, okay, I have a full afternoon. What do I want to do today?

Which could even just be stay in bed and relax or take two hours getting ready. Whatever it is that you want to do. It's definitely a good practice in freedom. Just let things flow and be free.

Number four, have the logistics of transportation figured out ahead of time. And what I mean by this is maybe not like hour by hour, but, like, book the rental car if you think you're gonna need a rental car.

Look into trains or buses or, you know, bikes, or if you're even able to, like, walk around the city, if you'd prefer to just walk around the city. And I travel on the cheap as much as I can because, again, a lot of my trips are solo trips now, because, again, I just absolutely love them.

But even if they're not, the trips I've taken with other people, they. They tend to also get be to actually expensive places. So then even if we're splitting the hotel room and whatnot, I'm still paying a lot of money.

Obviously not as much as if I would have just gone solo on those trips, but I definitely like to do, like, buses or public transport, like the Metra or, you know, the L in Chicago, if you ever come out here to Chicago, the Metra and the L, those are like the ones you would be taking depending on where you're going. But definitely a big fan of, like, trains and stuff for me, because it saves you money and it gets you places.

I definitely recommend having all the hotels, the addresses saved, you know, so put them in, like, your maps, if you're able to do that, or just take a screenshot or put them in, like, a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet. However it is that you want to keep all of this.

Definitely have, like, screenshots of your tickets or just have the tickets in, like, your Apple wallet. Again, I don't know what kind of phones you have, definitely. Any reservations, have those handy, have them listed someplace again, or screenshots.

Whatever works for you. I sound so old when I say, or just take screenshots of this stuff.

But if you suffer from some kind of, like, social anxiety like I do, I think that helps just having the stuff ready also, you know, so it's not just for the logistics, but it's also like, okay, somebody's asking me a question, and I just don't remember the name of, like, the hotel.

Not that I tell anybody where I'm going, but, like, if I need to remember the name of the hotel, if I'm, like, out around, like, a lot of people or I just landed, I might not even be fully thinking and being able to, like, answer my own question. So then I just look at my phone quickly because it's all in, like, one spot for me.

Definitely figure out how you're gonna get from the airport to the hotel. You know, I tend to mainly, for the most part, just use Apple notes for, like, my trips. You know, it's simple, it's easy to use. It's convenient.

It's convenient. I can also add people to the Apple notes. So that also works a ton if we're taking, like a non solo trip. And I know this. This topic is about.

This episode is about solo trips. But just saying for the non solo trips, but overall, tip number five is just be more prepared. You know you're going to.

The more prepared you are, the safer you'll feel. And the safer you feel, the more relaxed you're going to be.

And the more relaxed you're going to be, the more confident you're also going to get to be on this trip. And the more confident you are, the more fun you're also going to have.

Definitely research what the neighborhood is like, maybe which hotels are in, like, the safer areas. So get one of those if you're able to spend the money.

Another good idea is just to send your itinerary to someone that you trust, maybe with the flight information too. Usually I check in with somebody once I've landed someplace, and as the trip happens, maybe just kind of tell people where you're at.

Every now and then, I share my location with a few people in my life. So if I ever go missing, at least we'll know kind of the area where to start the search. I'm not gonna go missing.

I'm just saying this, and I'm not saying that in a paranoid way, because I don't ever feel like I go anywhere where I feel like I have to be paranoid. I'm just saying that this helps to sometimes give us a peace of mind.

But same thing with, like, at the end of the night, maybe tell somebody, hey, I made it back to the hotel room, not just to the hotel.

Like, make sure you make it to the hotel room and then tell People, you know, back from, like, the hike, back from the walk, whatever it is that you're doing. Okay, number six, research what the neighborhood is like, that you're going to be staying in and the city in general. Like, is it walkable?

Is there a lot of cafes? Where are the cafes? Which one do you like? Is it well lit? Is it kind of lively? Or is it more isolated?

And definitely try to stay in the more lively places, at least that's what I recommend. And well lit, obviously. Maybe research where, like, any nearby pharmacies are, any hospitals, if that makes you feel more at ease too.

And then again, bookmark them, take screenshots, put them in, like, a folder, put them in, like, a spreadsheet, whatever, whatever organization system you decide to have. Number seven.

If you're extremely nervous or anxious, especially if it's on your first trip, maybe the very first day, don't plan anything but just kind of walking around the town and getting used to, like, the area. And maybe just stay in the hotel more.

Maybe just go to, like, a cafe, have a coffee, just kind of look around, you know, see what's up, see what's going on.

But also some of us are like the opposite, where maybe just being too chill and just not having anything planned is kind of either boring or just doesn't you think you're going to overthink?

Maybe then just be busy that very first day, you know, so you're not stuck in your pad and just actually do stuff in the trip starting from the very first day. So maybe.

So maybe book like a museum tour the very first day or some kind of a tour, some activity just to get yourself out there and maybe just meeting other people. I will say this for number eight. Do not tell anyone you're there by yourself, even someone who seems safe.

I don't condone lying very much, and I've dated plenty of liars, which is definitely why I absolutely hate liars. I definitely think in this case it's okay to lie to keep yourself safe.

And sometimes I tell people I'm meeting somebody after, especially if they start giving me a weird vibe, maybe worried they're gonna follow me, whatever the case might be. I like to tell people that I'm meeting somebody after. I don't think this needs to be said, but I'm gonna say it.

I think it's best not to go anywhere alone with a stranger, but obviously I can'. You what to do or what not to do. So just exercise caution. If you feel unsafe, get out of there and just.

And don't care about anybody's feelings or what their perception of you is going to be. You got to keep yourself safe.

I remember when I went to Italy, my friend and I, the friend that I went to Italy with, we separated for a day because she didn't want to go with me to Florence. And I went to one of the bars overlooking like one of the domes, like one of the very beautiful cathedrals.

And I was having, I was just drinking by myself. There was a bunch of like women around me. I had some people take some pictures of me.

And then as the night went on and once it got dark, I like was still sitting there just drinking. And I did have this older, not older.

I mean, he was a good looking, maybe 40 something year old Mateo guy who got me a drink and was flirting with me. And I just started feeling. He did mention he had a wife, I think, back at home. So it felt kind of icky.

And at some point I just felt like he was definitely trying to just like take me home and I, I was just not having that. And I definitely didn't want to leave with him.

And at some point I actually, I don't know, I just got a weird vibe from him at some point and I ended up just like telling him I was going to the bathroom and I just ran out downstairs and left.

I just, I dipped and you know, could have been me being paranoid that time, but also my intuition told me something was off and I, I just needed to go. It didn't matter. I actually did not pay for that drink.

But I assumed, I mean, he was, he bought me that last drink so I assumed it was going to be fine. I did, I did feel a little bit bad about just leaving and not paying for the drink as far as like the establishment goes.

So, you know, your girl might have gotten locked up in Italy, but I didn't. And I'm definitely glad that I did that because I just, at the time I just needed to listen to my intuition.

And it doesn't matter what the guy thought, it doesn't matter what the restaurant people thought. I needed to be safe for my never again. Today I will never again be afraid to ask for photos from strangers.

But I will also definitely give them clearer directions on what I want, on what I want in the photo and to be nice to and for it to be fair. I also usually just ask them if they want theirs taken or I'll just set up a tripod and take my own pictures.

And I will not feel, you know, weird about either asking People and interrupting them for like the 5 second, 10 second photo. Well, just kidding. It's definitely going to be at least a minute because I take my time with everything, especially taking photos of myself.

But either way doesn't matter. It's not odd, especially in the world that we live in today. It's not odd to ask somebody to take a picture of you.

It's not odd to set up a tripod and take your own pictures.

But it definitely, I used to feel discomfort doing that before, but now it's like, okay, you know what, I want to have memories out here and I'm here by myself. So somebody, somebody has to take the photos. So for today's note to self, very simple one.

Which of these tips helped ease your fear about traveling alone? So think about that. If you've been listening, I do a little break right, right about this point.

So I'm going to go ahead and dance and that will give you a little bit of time for you to think about the answer and then I'll come back, share mine and then we'll end with the glow up. Okay, I'm back.

So the note to self today was which one of these tips that we've discussed on this episode helped ease your fear about traveling alone? So for me really it's just planning for the trip. So I know transportation, I know hotels, I know my main activities and the areas to stay in.

And putting it all into like an expression, like an Excel spreadsheet, I didn't really. Or like a apple note, I didn't really used to put them into spreadsheets or notes.

But I remember two of my girlfriends when we were planning some trips separately. So these are two separate trips. They both wanted to like do a little shared note and then that's where it started and kind of clicked for me.

This doesn't have to just be a shared note between me and somebody else.

When I go on a trip with somebody else, I can also just leave a full blown note for myself so that I have all the information in one place so that it's easy for me to reference it. So now that's what I do. Okay. And I cannot believe the episode is coming to an end, but this is the glow up. So for this week, our glow up is this.

Just book something in loan in your own city or nearby and maybe like a nearby metro city, whatever. And it could be an activity. It does, you know, it could just be dinner or a cafe experience, you know, whatever, whatever.

I think whatever you think it is you want to do you know, for me, it could just even be like a museum in the city of Chicago on one of the free days for Illinois residents, which I do want to plan soon, but it can basically mimic the new environment feeling without necessarily leaving town. So book something small. Just one activity that you can do over this week or over the next few weeks. Doesn't have to be just book it, think about it.

This week, book it. So make some kind of a plan towards it. But you don't actually have to carry it out this week.

But I do think just doing more solo activities in general always helps build your confidence and we deserve to have that confidence.

And before I leave you for the time being, if you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment and share it with somebody who you think might benefit from it as well. I'd love to keep growing our little community. Thank you so much for listening as always. Even if we're late, we're right on time.

I will talk to you next Tuesday.