In Florence. At a bunk-dorm in a hostel, got my wallet stolen. Shouldn’t have left it my pack while going off to shower.

Solo travelled overland to Rome after that. Had a memorable time in the hills at Sulmona, going to a hole-in-the-wall cafe for home cooked pasta.

I mostly travel solo nowadays, but have travelled with groups of different sizes in the past

Pros:

• you get to do whatever you want, whenever you want. No more endless debates about what to do, trying to please everyone and ending up pleasing none
• you can be more spontaneous and not need to plan in advance
• you can enjoy it more if you’re an introvert
• with modern phones it’s incredibly easy to not get lost

Cons:

• it can feel lonely at times
• you might need to spend more time on organizing the trip, compared to being in a group. But if you’re the one organizing the group anyway, you might actually spend less time when you’re solo. It really depends if you like doing this sort of thing
• it’s probably going to be more expensive, since you’re not splitting costs

heyo, I’ve been traveling for ~15 years now, been to ~30 countries so far and it continues to be extremely rewarding and fuuuun.

I’ve had travel partners now and then, though I prefer solo traveling for the absolute wide-open “guess I’ll go walk toward that mountain in the distance for 4 hours” and “guess I’ll try 8 gelato flavors today” type of freedom that is very difficult to attain traveling with others.

I’m traveling solo in Matsuyama, Japan right now. Today I decided on a whim to take a train to Imabari, hung out at a temple, found my favorite yuzu ponzu sauce at a grocery store, spent a couple hours at a public bath, practiced some Japanese, stopped at a random yakitori restaurant on the way back, talked in terrible Japanese with the staff who were very kind and gave me a free shirt I’m wearing now! Pictures of the amazing food here.

I love solo traveling so much I keep doing it and talking about it, nothing else really compares for me. it’s certainly worth looking into and If you have any specific questions or concerns, I and the travel community are here as resources for anyone interested, so feel free to reach out. Apartments, healthcare, jobs, transportation, budgeting, whatever, I’m happy to talk.

Yes, it’s the best. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want.

Ditch or change plans if you don’t feel like it.

Fart freely.

Go to the lobster soup place twice in one day. And again the next day.

Wander off into the fog.

Stop on the side of the road to meet the horses.

Travelling with others is fine, but you should definitely experience solo travel too.

It’s a great experience! I did a lot of solo travelling by train, bike or even hiking as a girl of 17-25 years old in europe. In my experience 99% of people are super nice and helpful and most people that weren’t had an issue with me not speaking the local language or were drunk at the time (daydrinkers, I did not go out to clubs or cafes at night on my own). Italy was the only place where I constantly felt unsafe as a woman, and they unfortunately have a bad record. Other countries I visited include czech republic, romania, hungary, austria, france, spain, belgium, germany and the uk, with no issues (I’m dutch).

Some considerations: While travelling you have noone to watch your bags, so make sure your luggage fits with you in a toilet stall and that you can store your bags somewhere the moment you get someplace. Travelling as light as possible improves the whole experience. There will be a lot of lonely time especially while travelling between places/hostels, so bring a good book or podcast, but also be prepared to enter into random conversations with strangers. With stuff like train delays that are only announced in the native language, it’s good if you have the confidence to ask around for help.

I mean, if it’s a vacation, it’s fun. you just have to be ready to make all the decisions and if it’s your first time going on a vacation as an adult, being the one in charge, that can be a lot to process. honestly it’s kind of a rite of passage. my first solo trip was at… 16 i think? go for it.

For the first time I recommend going for 5-7 days. You need to learn how to function alone without stressing too much because you’ll be home soon anyway.

Hostels are an excellent idea. Usually people who congregate there are quite social and willing to interact with strangers. Ot at least that’s how it used to be before Covid. I’m old.

Be ready to do things on your own without friends or without even strangers you met on the trip.

A healthy level of suspicion is needed to avoid scams. If someone wants your money, regardless of the excuse, leave immediately.

It’s absolutely safe in Europe and Asia. Definitely something I recommend everyone does at some point, preferably earlier on in life. It taught me a lot about being independent and about myself, how I enjoy being alone etc.

Eating in restaurants alone can be a bit awkward to start with but you get over it.

Spent 3 months in New Zealand on my own at 18. Had an absolutely fantastic time. Also came back home much more adult than when I left.

I have! One of the nice things is that you can do whatever you want without having to round people up or get a consensus on everything, IE: you can just go out and wander about, and if you see a weird restaurant you’re curious about you can just go right in and check it out. In a group it’s always like: that place looks interesting but A isn’t hungry and B is allergic to peanuts and what is there’s no vegan option for C, maybe a couple of us can go tomorrow and have a look and then you never do. The downside is you don’t get to reminisce about it with your friends later on, and any stories that happen don’t really mean anything to anyone else you tell them to.

I traveled alone by train for the first time when I was about 10 years old, though not abroad.

There are Europe-wide train tickets you can buy, I’d recommend this if you’re curious. Plenty to see.

Some comments mention safety, probably Americans who don’t realize how safe Europe is. Though of course something bad can always happen.

Paging @[email protected], maybe this is something in your area of expertise? Or maybe a future topic for [email protected]?

It depends on your mindset. It could be an extended vacation. It could be poorly planned and a good learning experience. People recommend it a lot because you kinda figure things out as you go. Be aware of your role as a solo foreigner and your race plus language barrier determines your experience with locals.

Experience was I was winging my trip and got burnt out trying to plan destinations last minute. Cost me more money then I’d like and way more stress. It amplified all my procrastinating behaviors but overseas in Europe.

… I almost never travel not solo, so apologies if I don’t know what the other side of the coin is like

I think the biggest advantage is the absolutely ridiculous amount of freedom, because you can cater to 100% of your own needs, and your own needs alone. Want trip to be cheap? Youth hostels and 10-hour Flix/Blablacar buses exist. Want to do nerdy things only you are interested in? No need to care for travel companions for “wasting” 10-hours in a modern arts museum or anything like that

I did hear that some people find traveling alone a bit lonely though… so maybe it is not for everyone. Oh and maybe booking restaurants can get a tad awkward depending on the place I travel to

Yeah I’ve done it a few times mostly just doing rail travel across Europe and it’s an absolute joy.

It gives you the opportunity to have a pretty much perfect itinerary for yourseof getting to see exactly what you want where you want.

I’ve often found it can get a little lonely feeling in longer journeys so I’ve often made plans to left up with friends who are on holiday too or live near where I’m going and that’s always nice.