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Monday, January 11, 2016

A Single Girl's Guide To Solo Travel


Hello Readers from near and far, 
    I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this little piece of my world, here on the big old internet, I always appreciate comments and questions.

As you ,may have guessed, I love to travel.  There are times when there is no one to travel with or I want to go somewhere that others are not interested in.  At 35 years old, I have started to travel solo more and more.

I know that many people are apprehensive about travelling alone, especially as a female.  I think that it is something that everyone must do at least once in their lives.  You learn so much about yourself, when you are in a foreign place and you have to rely on no one but yourself. Plus, if you want to take a nap in the middle of the day you can and not feel guilty. :)

If you are going to venture off and travel alone here are a few suggestions:


  • Start small, if you are a little unsure try to go away for a weekend alone at first, then you can build up to a longer vacation.
  • For flights I use Skyscanner, Kayak and Expedia usually to book my flights.  When I can I try and book the flight directly with the airline or with a well known site, just in case anything happens and I have to cancel.
  • Pack as little as possible, you should be able to carry your own suitcase around.  You have no one to impress, your on your own!  You can also wash things in the sink if you must (or shop!).  If my trip is to a warm destination and five days of less, I try to only back a carry on.
  • If you land at night, arrange for the hotel to pick you up, it may cost you a little more but it can be better than having to look for a taxi at a late hour.
  • If the time you arrive is not too late, ask the info desk (or check google maps) the fastest/cheapest way to get to your hotel/hostile.
  • Don't be afraid of hostiles, you can meet cool people and many of them are just as nice as hotels.  Since I am not 20 anymore, I sometimes book a private room in a hostile.
  • Do whatever interests YOU!  If you like cooking take a cooking class.  There are also many free walking tours of most European cities (just google FREE WALKING TOUR).  While I was in Europe at Christmas (more about that in a few posts).  I took free walking tours of Prague, Milan and Amsterdam, they were fantastic.  All I had to do was tip the guide (5-10$ usually).  These tours were super informative and a nice way to met a few people.
  • TripAdvisor will be your best friend.  When looking into hotels, I find it best to stay near the city center, then you can walk around easily, or near public transit such as a metro or a tram. Use TripAdvisor to look at reviews of the hotels that you are interested in. Booking.com is also great for booking hotels and hostileworld.com for hostiles.
  • Depending where you go it is OK to tell a little white lie.  I have been to Bali, Jordan and Sri Lanka alone and a few more.  I often tell men that I am married, if they ask and that I am waiting for my husband to come.  Some countries frown upon a single woman over the age of 25, why aren't you married, why don't you have kids are you crazy? (Yes these are things that I have heard in my life)
  • Ask questions, if you are heading out ask the hotel their advice on where to go, if you are lost don't be afraid to ask for direction.
  • If you want someone to take a picture of you, I tend to ask an Asian tourist (I know this sounds bad, but maybe it is because I lived in Japan and they are the nicest people under the sun), but I feel like they are least likely to still my phone.  You can also invest in a selfie stick.  I know that they look a little ridiculous but they come in so handy when you are travelling, especially alone.
  • Use Google maps, especially the walking feature or the public transit feature.  You can download the maps ahead of time to your city so that you can use them even if you don't have wifi.
  • Invest in a sim card, usually they have them at the airport and you can get them with some data for 10$.  I have an old iphone and i just place the SIM card to the country I am travelling in in there and I use it as a hotspot for my current phone.  This way I have some wifi at all times if I need it for any reason.
  • Post on Facebook, now some may see this as showing off, but i see it as a way for others to know where you are.  If anything were to happen at least people know where you are or have an idea.
  • Send someone you trust all your travel info;flight, passport copy, hotel info. Once again, if anything were to happen someone knows where you are and can contact you.
  • If you get sick or are in trouble, go to a 5 star hotel, they usually have access to a doctor.
Hope that helps!  Feel free to ask me any questions!

Happy travels!

7 comments:

  1. Awesome as always! I hope to one day get over my fear of traveling alone. I've missed out on so much already, all because I didn't have anyone to travel with.

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  3. I'm glad that you wrote about this because I often wonder about traveling alone. I'm a scary cat lol when it comes to things like that, but reading your blog has helped ease my fears.

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  4. Question... Are you able to work a part time job a while teaching full time in the UAE??

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    1. I'm sure you could,but honestly you make good money and no part time job will pay you as well (unless you dj and work every weekend).

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