How to Travel Alone For The First Time in 7 Easy Steps

Are you thinking of travelling alone for the first time but are not sure where to start? Then you’ve come to the right place.

I feel your pain because I was once in the same position as you. But I have now been a solo traveller for more than three decades, and I have travelled alone to many of the 70+ countries I have visited.

I have made some fantastic new friends, one of whom was from that first trip in 1989. By stepping outside of my comfort zone, I have felt empowered to do things that I never would have contemplated.

Ultimately, these solo trips have created very special memories and have transformed my life.

Over the years I have developed actionable steps to plan my solo vacations. These help me to get the very best experience from that destination, whilst mitigating any personal risk.

By following my step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to travel alone for the first time and will be heading off on your solo trip sooner than you could have dreamt.

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Why You Should Travel Alone

Perhaps you have niggling doubts about whether solo travel is worth it? I understand why you would ask that question, so let me make the case for solo travel.

Firstly, you will meet great new people, even if you are an introvert. I’m not exactly a screaming extrovert and if I can do it, so can you. Some of my most enduring, close relationships have been formed with those I have met whilst travelling alone.

Secondly, you can be selfish. Hang about, you say, isn’t that a bad thing? In many parts of life, yes. But when it comes to travel, you can go where and when you want and change your plans at the drop of a hat. You have nobody to please but yourself.

However, the greatest benefit of solo travel is the empowerment and self-determination it brings.

Stepping outside of your comfort zone and navigating unfamiliar cultures in unfamiliar territories is an instant self-esteem booster. Moreover, this benefit of travelling alone endures long after you have returned home.

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Why You Should Not Travel Alone

I’m not saying that travelling alone is always a breeze. Far from it.

Solo travel loneliness can suck, as can eating out alone.

Because you are faced with paying a single supplement when staying in a hotel and cannot share the cost of a taxi, it can work out to be more expensive, particularly if you are a flashpacking like me. However, it is possible to find luxury travel for less, even as a solo traveller.

Let’s also consider the safety of solo travel. Whilst travelling alone is not inherently unsafe, there is no one to watch your back.

But, for me, the biggest drawback to solo travel is not having someone with whom to share that spectacular sunset or perfect panorama.

However, you can overcome the disadvantages of travelling alone. Following these seven easy steps to solo travel will help you do just that.

7 Steps to First-Time Solo Travel

1. RESEARCH AND CHOOSE YOUR SOLO TRAVEL DESTINATION

This first step in learning how to travel alone for the first time is the most important and most time-consuming one: creating a shortlist of preferred solo travel destinations.

I’ll start by saying that there is no such thing as a perfect travel destination, no magic formula. For me, making this essential decision is a case of weighing up the following considerations:

• Amount of time
• Affordability
• Convenience
• Safety
• Preferred activities
• Preferred climate

I think that Europe is a great solo travel destination. Running a close second is solo travel in Asia, which is often an excellent destination for luxury travel on a budget.

As with many other life decisions, it boils down to balancing competing priorities.

Although perhaps not for first-timers, don’t rule out travelling alone in Africa

Finally, if you live in the North American sub-continent, there are some terrific solo travel destinations in the US.

2. DECIDE IF YOU WANT TO TRAVEL ALONE INDEPENDENTLY OR WITH A SMALL GROUP TOUR

You’ve chosen your destination for your first solo trip. Now, as a solo traveller, you have two choices: travel independently or on an organised tour.

In recent years, I have opted to visit a country on an organised tour on more than a dozen occasions.

In 2004, I went on my first substantial group tour, which was with the now-defunct Bales Worldwide to India. It was an upmarket trip with a luxury air-conditioned coach to whisk us from one 5-star hotel to the next.

Subsequent group tours have been more modest, largely travelling with Explore Worldwide and Exodus Travels. For the most part, these have been rich and enjoyable experiences.

There are a plethora of group travel companies out there. Therefore, do your homework to choose the best small group tour operator before clicking on the ‘Book Now’ button.

For example, it’s unlikely that you would want to share a tour bus with a bunch of partying Generation Z’ers if you are a midlife solo traveller.

There are pros and cons of taking a group tour, so when should you consider one?

For me, it’s all about convenience and logistics.

A group tour takes a lot of pain out of the organisation as someone else makes most of the arrangements for you. And as the itinerary has been put together by someone in the know, you can be reasonably assured that you will be hitting the highlights of that destination.

If you are a working person, the time efficiency of a group tour is a huge bonus. As your transport and transfers are taken care of, you hit the ground running and can cover larger distances and see more things in a shorter space of time.

For some countries, because of visa requirements, an escorted tour is the only viable option. For this reason, I visited both Iran and Libya on group tours.

There are also softer advantages to group travel such as ready-made travel companions, and safety in numbers.

Perhaps surprisingly, a small-group tour may save you money.

All of the budget to mid-range operators allow you to share a room with someone of the same gender, eliminating the dreaded single supplement. On the other end of the affordability scale, some of the high-end operators have wavered the single supplement.

Although the majority of small-group tour companies charge a single supplement for sole occupancy, in many cases this is modest.

For all of their potential advantages, there are some disadvantages to group tour travel.

Key amongst these is the loss of independence and opportunity for self-determination, which is one of the greatest things when you travel alone.

Also, you have no control over who your fellow travelling companions will be. As a friend who has been on many group tours remarked, “I dread getting the runt of the litter.” Just make sure that runt isn’t you!

But you may not need to take an either/or approach. Over the years a mix-and-match approach has worked extremely well for me. I book a group tour to anchor the trip and then travel independently on either side of this.

This is the best of both worlds.

3. BOOK YOUR TRANSPORT

Now you know where you are going and how you are going to travel, you need to make the arrangements to get there, be it by land or air. This is where it starts to get real and you start to get excited!

For many people, this will mean booking an international flight. If you are travelling solely on a flight-inclusive group tour, you can skip this step.

As most flights and rail tickets are non-refundable, or refundable for a hefty fee, you need to firm up your plans by this stage. Bagging a keenly-priced, convenient itinerary, can take a lot of head-scratching and time, especially if you are buying an airline business-class ticket. My advice is not to overthink it and just do it.

Having said that, make sure that you double-check the following before clicking on that ‘Buy Now’ button:

• Dates of travel
• Airport or railway station. Note that some cities have more than one, and one of these may be far more convenient than the other.
• For flights, does the price include hold baggage?
• For flights, what are the limits for carry-on baggage

Here are my go-to online resources for air and train travel.

Flying

• To explore flight routings, schedules and fares go to Google Flights. Or try ITA Matrix Flights, which is particularly useful for more complex routes.
• Want to know who offers the best premium economy product? Check out who won Skytrax’s Awards for Best Premium Economy Class.
• Want to select the best seat in your ticket category? Go to aeroLOPA.
• Want to know how safe your airline is? All you need to know is here

Rail travel

Travelling by train is a wonderful way of exploring our world. From using a JR Pass on your dream Japan itinerary to exploring hidden corners of Europe courtesy of a European rail pass, riding the rails can represent excellent value.

• The king of rail travel resources is The Man in Seat 61. Mark Smith’s excellent website is an incredibly comprehensive guide to global rail travel.
• For booking European rail tickets and passes go to Rail Europe. It also lets you plan routes and check timetables.

When making your travel arrangements try to arrive during the day.

I have made the mistake of arriving in a city under the cover of darkness and then trying to navigate my way to the hotel. This can feel at best intimidating and at worst threatening.

In the light of day, finding your way to a hotel is so much less daunting.

If you do need to arrive late at night, pre-arrange a taxi or transfer if possible. The peace of mind this brings is money well spent.

4. BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATION

Once you have made your travel arrangements for your chosen destination, it is time to think about your accommodation. If you have decided to solely take a group tour, you can skip this step also.

I do like a nice bed for the night. Although not a deal-breaker, really good or really bad accommodation can have an impact on your travel experience.

Where you stay will depend on your style of travel. The spectrum runs from hostels, in true backpacker style, through to high-end luxury hotels.

If you are anxious about not meeting anyone when you travel alone for the first time, consider sprinkling your booked accommodation with a few hostels. As many hostels offer private rooms, you won’t have to sleep in a communal dorm room and you will be more likely to hook up with other travellers.

Here are my favourite accommodation booking sites:

• Booking.com is a clear, easy-to-use booking platform. It offers a wide selection of hotels and apartments, often with refundable rates and special deals for returning customers.
• To rent a room, an apartment or a house or villa, go to Airbnb
• To view reviews of accommodation, amongst other things, go to Trip Advisor. If you plug in your destination and travel dates it will bring up a list of options, along with review ratings and prices sourced from booking engines and the hotel.

As I like to know where I am laying my head at night and want to make sure I bag a room in a great place, I usually book most, if not all, of my accommodation ahead of my arrival. Of course, the disadvantage of doing this is that what you gain in peace of mind you lose in flexibility.

But you can offset this disadvantage by choosing a booking option with no cancellation penalties.

Even if you feel that you can’t book all of your accommodation in advance, take a little time to check the availability for your anticipated travel dates. Not every place is blessed with a wealth of lodging options and for all you know, there might be an event in town that means that rooms are in short supply.

When choosing accommodation as a solo traveller, and especially a solo female traveller, you need to think about location. Your bed for the night needs to be in a good area of town and, where possible, close to transport and restaurants.

Read travellers’ reviews on Booking.com and TripAdvisor. For the former, you can filter location reviews for solo travellers and there is a separate score for location. Be wary of too-good-to-be-true prices. I have found that if a hotel is cheap there is usually a very good reason for that.

I strongly suggest that regardless of how loosely planned the rest of your trip is, make sure you’ve booked your first night’s accommodation. Also, figure out how you will get there from the airport or train station.

5. CONSIDER PRE-BOOKING LAND-BASED ACTIVITIES

There are many different reasons for visiting a destination.

For example, you might hold a lifelong ambition to see La Primavera at Florence’s Uffizi Galleries, want to visit that blockbuster exhibition at Tate Modern or see La Traviata at Milan’s La Scala.

How disappointed would you then be if you reached your destination only to find that it is a case of returns only? The lesson is to book ahead.

Sadly, I don’t always follow my own advice.

I have been to Amsterdam a few times but I have never managed to visit Ann Frank’s House. When visiting Vienna at Christmas, I was gutted to discover that tickets for the opera were all sold out.

The same applies to restaurants.

Spend a few minutes doing an internet search for restaurants that will suit your style of travel. If there is somewhere that you would really like to try but gets booked up quickly, make a reservation for an evening when you anticipate being free. Even if your plans change and you have to subsequently cancel the booking, it costs you nothing except for a little bit of your time.

Also, think about any day tours you would like to do. These can often make travelling alone a little easier as all of the arrangements are taken care of, plus you benefit from the knowledge of a local guide. Excursions are also an excellent way of meeting fellow solo travellers.

My go-to platform is GetYourGuide which offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before your activity.

6. STAY SAFE

Safety should always be a priority for travellers, and never more so if you travel alone. Multiple solo travel studies suggest that the number one fear amongst solo female travellers is safety.

But whilst solo female travel requires extra vigilance, there are concrete steps you can take to keep yourself safe as a solo traveller.

There are a few things that you should do before leaving home. For example: share your itinerary with someone at home and photocopy or scan key documents.

When you are on the road, don’t turn yourself into an easy target. Keep your valuables safe, try to blend in and ooze confidence, even if you are quivering underneath.

7. HAVE THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE

Saving the best until last!

Solo travel has the power to transform your life so relish every last minute. In my experience, even bad experiences can be character-forming, and they also make great stories in the pub back home.

Touch base with yourself now and then. Most solo travellers experience loneliness on the road. Accept this as a possibility, have some tricks up your sleeve to deal with it and move on to have a great time.

If you are yearning for the company of other people, seek them out at bars, cafes, hotels or hostels. Or why not book a day tour when you will get the chance to meet other travellers?

Finally, try not to be a slave to ticking off the ‘must-see’ destinations. Although a list of these can provide a loose framework for your itinerary, don’t feel that you have to visit that museum or that church just because it’s included in the ‘top ten’ list in your guidebook.

One of the joys of travelling alone is having the freedom to direct your itinerary and to be spontaneous. And if you fancy chilling out by the hotel pool with a cold drink in hand that’s perfectly fine. You have no one to disappoint but yourself.

First-Time Solo Travel: Final Thoughts

Although solo travel can appear daunting, it is an opportunity to tailor a trip to your own travel style and wishes. You have total freedom to do what you want when you want to do it, and you will learn a lot about yourself in the process.

And don’t think that you will spend all of your time away without speaking to another soul. In all of my years of travelling alone, that has never happened to me and I am an introvert.

If you are nervous about travelling alone for the first time – and it can be daunting – a group tour or a cruise are both good first-time options.

I’ve taken a few cruises as a solo traveller, including a Western Caribbean cruise, sailing Norway’s fjords and a Baltic Sea cruise to St. Petersburg. Cruising as a solo traveller is a breeze; just make sure that you book your cruise cabin wisely (and don’t assume that single cruise cabins are the best deal).

Finally, those travelling alone are a diverse bunch in terms of age, from Generation Zers to solo travellers in their 40s and 50s through to retirees. Don’t let your age put you off.

I hope that these seven easy steps to travelling alone for the first time will help you to figure out how to travel alone for the first time. Just take it one step at a time and you will get there.

Sometimes our greatest enemy is self-doubt. So believe in yourself and, above all, have a blast!

Are you looking for inspiration to book your first solo trip? If so, check out these dreamy quotes about travelling alone or one of these awesome books about solo travel.

About Bridget

Bridget Coleman has been a passionate traveller for more than 30 years. She has visited 70+ countries, most as a solo traveller.

Articles on this site reflect her first-hand experiences.

To get in touch, email her at hello@theflashpacker.net or follow her on social media.

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