Traveling Solo: Tips For The Solo Traveler

By Author: Ellie Schneider
Total Articles: 31
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Traveling alone does not have to be a lonely experience. It can be the most exciting travel experience of your life. Here you can find solo travel tips that will help you make the best out of your individual traveling experience.

Before You Travel
Planning a vacation where you will be traveling alone is not much different from planning a family vacation. It is even easier because only one persons preferences and interests have to be taken in consideration. However, here are a few do's and don'ts for traveling alone.

Do your homework so you will have at least the basic knowledge of the area you are traveling to. Read about your destination; learn about its culture and what the area offers to tourists.

Do include in your plan going to tourist centers where you can meet other individual travelers like yourself. Even if you are not looking for traveling partners, it is always nice to share your experience and learn from others experience, and at the very least it can offer some company for a short while.

Don't include places described in guidebooks as the ultimate honeymoon getaway or the ...
... best place to travel with young children. You are most likely to feel awkward surrounded with honeymooners and or families.

Make sure to carry a book and a notebook. A notebook will allow you to write down all the different things you see and experience during your vacation. You will appreciate their company in airports, train stations, restaurants, etc.

You may think it will be cool to not make any plans for where to stay and just "wing it", but it is highly recommended that at least for the first night you should have a reservation someplace for the night. Landing in a foreign country is strange enough without having to wander around with your bags in search for accommodation.

Do prepare a basic schedule for the first days. You can always stray from it, but it will provide you with some peace of mind knowing what the activities for the first day or so will be.

While You Travel
So, you woke up in your hotel room, had coffee in the coffee shop that was highly recommended by the Lonely Planet, got lost while looking for the museum and when finally found it you discovered it is closed on Wednesdays. What is next?
One step at a time: start by talking with the hotel staff. Ask them for recommendations and guidance. If you are very nice, they might even take you to cool local hangouts that you will not find in a travelers handbook, and in my experience usually lead to a better time.

Dormitories style housing, like hostels are better places to meet individual travelers than luxurious hotels. For example, tourist information centers, internet cafes, restaurants and bars will also provide you chances to meet other travelers.

Don't be antisocial talk to strangers. Try out this simple trick: when you are having your breakfast, approach the tourist next to you and ask him or her about their plans for today. In the worse case, you would be rejected, hopefully in a polite manner. In most cases, you would get an answer and maybe even find a traveling partner.

Go to local travel agencies; see if they offer day trips or special packages.

If you are embarrassed to dine out alone, get over it. Skip the candle light restaurants and go to travelers cafes where you will not be the only guest who sits by himself and there will sufficient light to read or write in your journal.

Do not be afraid to approach other solo travelers and ask them to join you at your table. Again, they might refuse and they might gladly agree. However, even if it turns out like a big mistake and you can find yourself spending an evening listening to the most boring travel adventures you have ever heard, chill, you will not hear them again.

Ellie Schneider spent 5 years working in a very large casino as a Blackjack dealer. She also works as a freelance writer for an Online Casino information web site.