How To Know If Solo Travel Is Right For You

I’m not gonna lie to you, as much as I, personally, love solo travel, it’s not for everyone. No matter how much you wanna do it, or how much you wanna go to that one place, some people just aren’t built for it. And that’s okay. Unfortunately for you though, you won’t know until you try it out for yourself.

Luckily, I’m here to save you some time and money, before you go and book your first ever solo trip, to help you figure out if solo travel life would be for you. Don’t worry, I’m not doing it for you. I mean I am, but it’s more so you don’t come back here and cuss me out because I told you to book the trip in the first place and you ended up absolutely hating it.

Is Solo Travel A Bit Of Me?

Obviously, as we’ve established, if you haven’t been on a solo trip before, there’s literally no way for you to know whether you’d enjoy it or not. At the same time… don’t nobody wanna go and spend hundreds to thousands of pounds (yes, I’m British, let’s move on) to find out. Unless you’ve got money to spare, and in that case… run me a tenner, pretty please?

So, before you even think about planning your first solo trip, here are a few things to consider to know whether or not solo travel is for you, from the comfort of your own bed… or wherever you’re reading this from, because you could be hanging upside down from a tree for all I know. 

I like to call these: The 4 -bilities? I don’t know. I’m still working on the name.

Solobility: Are You Comfortable Being Alone?

We kick off our list with probably the most important one. Solobility is what we (I) like to refer to as your ability to be alone. We spoke about this and how to actually do it in the last one (cheeky self plug), but it basically boils down to a simple question: have you ever even done anything by yourself?

Now, I don’t mean that one time you waited for your friend at that restaurant for 15 minutes because they were running late. I mean, have you actually intentionally gone out somewhere with the purpose of doing something entirely by yourself? If the answer’s no, maybe solo travel isn’t the place to start. Especially when there are so many other cost effective ways to test out the hypothesis. Like sitting in a park for a few hours. That’s 100% free and does the exact same job.

If the answer was yes, now we move onto the next round of interviews: how did it make you feel? I hear some of you saying “oh my God, I HATED it”. Yeahhhh, you can sit this one out, respectfully, because solo travel isn’t gonna be any better, I fear. If you’re not even able to spend a couple hours outside of the house alone and enjoy it, how did you think you were gonna be able to travel to a whole different country alone?

But just because you didn’t like it that one time doesn’t mean you can’t learn to like it. Not everything’s gonna be fun the first time you do it. Sometimes it just takes a bit of getting used to. So, that’s what you’re gonna have to do, innit – if you’re really dead set on solo travel. You just gotta keep doing things alone until you’re actually comfortable doing them. And when you finally get to the point that you are, that’s when you’ll actually start to feel like you’re ready to travel by yourself. Until then, save yourself the p’s and get to practicing. If you’re already at that point, well done. You’re ready for the next stage.

Planability: Can You Plan A Trip Solo?

This is the part of solo travel that no one really talks about; The amount of things you have to be in charge of planning all by yourself. And while it seems obvious because, duh, who else is gonna plan it? Until you have to do it, you don’t really think about how much there is to do.

Let’s use an example. Meet Jaq and Jill. Very original, I know. Anyway, Jaq and Jill are going on holiday. Jaq plans everything. Jill just sends the money and shows up. Who do you think is gonna find it easier to plan a trip alone? If your answer was Jaq, well done, you’ve won! I don’t know what, but we can figure that out another time. If you’re currently a Jill, that person who relies on everyone else to do all the planning and then just shows up, I hate to say, but you might be in for a shock on your first solo trip. There’s so much more to it than just picking a place and going.

Let’s start with the basics: finding a country. Sure, you can just pick somewhere and figure it out when you get there, but if you’re like me, you might want to know what there is to actually do there, especially if you’re gonna be there alone for an extended period of time. This is where you, by yourself, have to do some research. We’re talking figuring out what to do? What to avoid? Is it safe? Where to eat? Things to know? Cultural differences? The list goes on.

Now, we move onto more technical things, because sure, you don’t actually have to do any research if you don’t want to, but what happens when you show up to the airport and scan your boarding pass, just to realise you’ve booked your flights for next week instead of today? Or, you’ve tried to go through border control, only to find out, then and there, that you were meant to have applied for a specific VISA? When you solo travel, you’re the only person in charge of making sure you’ve done your homework and you have everything in its correct place. Every box has been ticked, and checked again to make sure it’s ticked properly, because the worst thing would be to get to the airport and your holiday is ruined before it’s even started.

So, I guess this bit really comes down to organisation and how much you trust yourself to be in charge of literally everything. If you know you’re a person who will do everything last minute, and find out 2 minutes before you need to leave that your passport isn’t where you thought it was, solo travel might be a bit more of a challenge for you. Not saying it can’t be done, but be prepared to be stressed.

Responsibility: How Well Do You Handle Pressure Alone?

Following on very nicely, you’ve gotta have some level of responsibility. And that’s not just like, oh you need to be able to plan things. No, you need to be able to handle things when they go wrong. Because they will go wrong… sometimes. Especially when you least expect it. 

Another example, but this time, I’m the example. Yay. So, picture this: you’re in Valencia. It’s the last day of your trip, and you’ve just walked an hour in the sun, carrying a heavy bag. All by choice, by the way. You actually did want to walk at first, but now you’re regretting that decision as your jacket clings to you, but you can’t take it off because you have no hands. Anyway. You finally reach a park and decide to sit on a bench. Peace at last. Wrong. All of a sudden, you get a text from British Airways. You don’t even read it properly, but you can very clearly see the words “FLIGHT CANCELLED.” You don’t have anywhere to go back to, because you checked out this morning. You don’t have your luggage, and the place you’ve left it at is closed for siesta and doesn’t open for another 2 hours. You haven’t even eaten, because that was later down the list. What do you do?

If you’re a person who would immediately panic in this situation, hi, hello, me too. But, since you’re alone, you’ve only got a panic window of about 5 minutes before you immediately need to snap into action and figure it the fuck out, because no one else is gonna do it for you. That’s the kind of responsibility I’m talking about. Being able to take action in high pressure situations. If you’re not comfortable with the idea of having to do that, solo travel might not be for you at this very moment.

Now, I’m not tryna scare you or say that things go wrong all the time, they don’t. Of all my solo trips, there’s only really been maybe two times, if that, where something like that has happened. But, two is more than zero. So, you need to be prepared for the possibility and know how to handle yourself.

Cravability: Are You Tired Of Waiting For Other People?

Last but not least, we hit our final section, which, for me, is probably the ultimate decider of the answer to the “is solo travel for me” question. Before your first solo trip, there are a few things that are guaranteed to happen. 1. You’re gonna have an itch to travel somewhere that isn’t gonna go away. 2. You’re gonna keep seeing that place you have in mind, almost like something’s telling you you need to go there. 3. You’re finally gonna realise that you’re tired of waiting for other people before you go and do things.

What we’re gonna be focusing on is that last point. If you’re considering solo travel, clearly there’s a reason for it. That reason most likely being either you have no one to go with, or, you don’t want to wait for/try to convince other people to come with you. When you reach that point, that’s when the idea of going on your first solo trip starts to become real. 

If you’re already at that point, that’s your sign that solo travel is most likely something you should be doing. Because, what’s the alternative? Sitting there for the next 5 years thinking about finally being able to go to Colombia, but holding back on it until someone else has the time/money to go with you? If you did that, you would literally never go because there will never be a right time. I say this because I can talk from this exact experience. My birthday trip to Puerto Rico was actually meant to be a joint trip, but when my friend dropped out last minute, I could’ve let that cancel the whole thing. But instead, I went alone. And it was literally THE best holiday I’ve been on in my entire life and I still think about it every single day (no joke, literally every day). So, what’s the message here? Don’t let waiting for other people hold you back from doing things you want to do.

Also, just because you’re going alone doesn’t mean you’ll be alone. Not that it happens every time, because I can very much confirm, there are some solo trips I’ve been on where I haven’t interacted with a single person outside waiters and bartenders. But, there’s very much a possibility for you to meet people along the way, depending on where you go and what you do. Let’s go back to Puerto Rico, for example. Of the 9-10 days I was there, excluding the days I landed and left, I was only alone for a total of one and a half days because I met so many people while I was there. It can be done.

Which brings us onto our next (and probably final) point. If you’re itching for something new, whether that’s new scenery, new experiences, or just being around new people, solo travel is definitely something to consider. Sometimes it’s just nice to have a switch up in your daily routine to remind you that not everything revolves around work, school, daily life, and responsibilities. Sometimes, you just need to be on a beach, in a foreign country, reading a book, while someone blasts music from a speaker. Or shaking some ass in a foreign club, whichever one works, we’re not picky over here.

FAQ: Should I Travel Solo?

Question 1: What If I Hate Doing Things Alone?

Maybe a solo trip isn’t for you. At least as a first step. Because you can always learn to like it, but I wouldn’t recommend tryna do that by going on a solo trip.

Question 2: Is It Hard To Plan A Solo Trip?

Yes and no. It all depends on the kind of person you are. One thing it is though, is a lot of hard work. But me, personally, I love planning them.

Question 3: How Should I Start If I’m Nervous?

Conveniently, we’ve already covered this.

Question 4: How To Know If I’m Actually Ready?

You won’t. No one is ever gonna be 100% ready for anything. It’s just one of those things you’re going to have to go into being 50% ready, 75% ready. 93.1% ready. As long as you’re thinking about it non-stop, you’re reading enough. 

Is Solo Travel Right For Me?

As much as I’ve been ranting and rambling about how much work goes into solo travel, it’s not something to be scared of. You just need to make sure it’s something you’re ready for. And even if you’re not, because who’s ever fully ready?, it just needs to be something you’re willing to take a risk on. Who’s to say you can’t even start small with a trip to another city that requires minimal planning and commitment. At least you can still say you did it, right?

So, what are you thinking? Is it finally time to lock in and book that solo trip? Or do you still need more time? Whichever way it goes, if solo travel is for you, you’ll know soon enough.

Byeee, bestie

Caira