Top 10 Solo Travel Tips
For Those Choosing Travelling Alone

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These top ten solo travel tips are for those considering travelling alone. You will though not be alone, as travelling solo is becoming increasingly popular way of travelling. According to US Travel Association 11% of all US adult leisure travelers travel alone.

1. Travelling Alone Is A Choice... Not A Chore

Many people prefer to travel alone, either all the time or occasionally. Others travel solo because they do not have a suitable travel companion, either for a specific trip or in general.

In both cases it is a choice to travel solo, because you prefer it or because you choose not to let lack of travel companion stop you from travelling.

Solo travel tips see no reason why travelling solo cannot be as rewarding and fun as travelling with others.

Travelling solo can even have some additional benefits, as solo travelers tend to meet more new people than those travelling with others do.

Remembering that travelling alone is a choice, not a chore, will help you to enjoy your solo travelling even more.

2. Try It Out - Before Heading Off On Your Own

Travelling alone is great choice for many but it is not for everyone. It is therefore a good idea to try short solo trips to find out if travelling solo is for you or not.

Solo travel tips recommends starting with day trips on your own, then try weekend away. You will soon find out if you hate it or love it... it is usually nothing in between.

3. How To Avoid The Single Supplement

Those travelling alone are very familiar with the dreaded single supplement. It is usually not easy to avoid it but our article Avoid Single Supplement offers some practical advice in this respect. Like share a room with someone or look for accommodation that charges per bed instead of per room.

Solo travel tips consider your best bet though to be flexible and willing to negotiate. Don't be shy asking your travel supplier to waive the single supplement fee, or at least discount it. As they say, if you do not ask, you do not get! The worst possible response is only a no.

4. Take Safety Seriously

Solo travel tips recommends always to take safety seriously when travelling, whatever you are travelling alone or not. Maybe the biggest downside of travelling alone is that you are on your own if you encounter any problems, e.g. if you get sick or your belongings get lost or are stolen.

This means you should take some extra safety precautions, though without becoming overly cautious.

You should still enjoy going places and meeting new people, just stay alert and keep a good eye on your belongings while doing so.

Tips For Solo Travel offers some practical travel safety tips for solo travelers. Both sexes travelling alone must take extra precautions but women travelling solo can face some extra challenges, as some cultures are not custom to women travelling alone. This can result in some unwanted attention.

We at Top Travel Tips have put together an article called Women Travel Safety Tips which offers practical travel safety tips for solo women travelers.

5. Try To Blend In

This can be easier said than done. Tourists tend to stand out from the crowd, even if they don't think so.

Certain types of thieves and scammers tend to target tourist so try to avoid drawing attention to you being one. Solo travel tips recommend to dress in line with local customs, don't wear expensive gear in public and avoid advertising that you are travelling alone.

Trying to blend in is though not only about safety, it is also part of the travelling experience. You are more likely to talk to the locals if you try to blend in and you will get better insight into the culture of the country you are visiting.

6. How To Meet People When Travelling On Your Own

Even if you are content on your own, there is likely to come the time when you want some company. Luckily, there are many ways to meet people when travelling on your own.

It is of course easier for outgoing people to get to know new people than it is for introvert person. However, both outgoing and shy people will meet the same amount of people, the shy one is just less likely to get to know them.

Our article Meeting People When Travelling Solo offers practical tips on how to meet new people when travelling on your own. Like how best to start a conversation with strangers, where to stay and eat, why you might want to consider organized tours in between, etc.

7. But What If You Are Hoping To Meet Someone Special

Are the some ways to increase your chances of meeting someone special while travelling solo? This is a tricky one. For some strange reason it seems like most people meet someone special when they are not trying to meet him or her.

Your best bet might be following thoroughly the tips for meeting new people when travelling and try to meet as many new people as you can while travelling. And hopefully someone will turn out to be that someone special.

Another option might be to “travel solo with others travelling solo”, i.e. go on an organized travel for like-minded singletons.

This is not strictly travelling solo but might be an excellent choice if you want to increase your chances of meeting someone special.

8. How To Use The Modern Technology
To Deal With The Blues

It has never been easier, nor cheaper, to stay in touch with your family and friends back home. So if you feel loneliness coming over you, you can head out to the nearest internet cafè and hook up with family and friends back home.

Solo travel tips recommend signing up for services like Skype (if you have not already done so) but it is free to call another computer or a mobile phone with Skype installed on it. In addition to that you can buy call credits to make calls to landlines cheaply. Just bear in mind that this can either ease your loneliness... or really make you home sick!

9. Don't Forget Your Travel Insurance

No one should ever travel without adequate travel insurance... and especially not those that have to count on themselves throughout their journey.

What kind of travel insurance to go for is of course based on your personal circumstances and travel needs.

You might want travel insurance that covers the loss of prepaid trip cost if you have to cancel your trip before travelling. You definitely want the insurance policy to cover any medical expenses and emergencies while travelling, as well as any loss of property.

In our article Best Travel Insurance, you will find what your insurance policy should include.

10. Last But Not Least... Smile

Smiling is an international signal that can get you out of most awkward situations... and even some potentially dangerous as well.

It is a fact that smiling person meets more new people than person that does not smile.

There is a saying “smile and the world will smile back at you”... give it a try and you are likely to be positively surprised how effective this small advice is.

We hope these top 10 solo travel tips are useful and wish you a safe and happy journey. Why not hare your favorite solo travel tips (and photos) with us and other visitors of our site. Just fill in form below and submit it to us.