Author: Sara Bowman

Have you ever wanted to travel but felt like something was holding you back? Maybe you want to go with friends or significant other, but there is always an excuse. Do you want to prove that you can be independent? Or maybe you want to take a break from people and the drama. Well, how about I share what I have learned from my time abroad? Within the last seven years, I have completed twelve countries alone. I will share the pros and cons, smart and dumb choices and decisions that I have made, and finally, some tips and tricks. Traveling by yourself is not easy and can be very stressful, but it can be very rewarding and exciting. But this is why you have me, and in this article, I’m going to share the nitty and grittiness of solo adventures. Now, let’s see if you got what it takes to be a solo traveler! 

Let’s start with the pros and cons of solo traveling: 

For the pros, individuals can go at their own pace. Maybe you want to do something relaxing and lounge at the beach, or you might want to go sightseeing and see as much as possible while being fast and efficient. This can help you realize what is important to you personally and do what you want. Continuing to gain more insight about yourself, if you do your research and figure out the logistics, you can get more of a feel of what it can be like to be a local. 

Now, to move on to the stressors of traveling, AKA the cons:

I want to point out or remind you that things do not always go to plan, so be prepared to have a backup plan or two! An example might be how you thought about the logistics of how to get from one place to another. What if you missed that train, or what if your phone is not working because your phone is not covered in that location? The moral of the point is that things can be very stressful, so be open-minded and try to think ahead! This is something that I have learned the hard way. Another lesson I learned is that not every situation is black and white. If you only focus on the negative outcomes, you’ll miss out on many things. Maybe you might get distracted and get lost, or maybe you might miss an opportunity to do something unique. 

To help you change your mind frame, think about the moral of the story. Try to see if there is a lesson that can be learned, that way you can prevent it from happening again. I know this is easier said than done, but it is possible, you just need to be patient with yourself. Try to think that something can always be learned from any stressful situation. I now tend to think about what opportunity this frustrating event created in a positive manner. 

Here, let me give you an example!

I went to Europe for the first time by myself. The first place I went to in Europe was Paris, France. Things went smoothly until there was an issue with the plane, and the flight landed at Heathrow Airport in London, England. I had no idea what to do or where to go. I had to figure out how to get from Heathrow Airport to London St Pancras International Station to take a high-speed train to Paris Gare du Nord station within four hours! 

I dealt with two additional issues I did not expect. First, my phone was not working, so I considered it a “paperweight” because it did nothing. I knew my cellphone provider worked there, but I had no idea what was wrong with it. But I made due by asking employees how to get to the next place. My second issue was that I had to make the last train from London to Paris, or I would have to wait until morning to get the next train. To make things even more stressful, the only tickets left were for business class seats and I had to run to make that train. Along the way, my backpack somehow got unzipped while running to make the train, so I lost half of my things on the train track. Luckily, an employee saw this and delayed the train since objects were on the track. I ended up getting all of my things back and making the train.   

Although this was very stressful, and to be honest, I cried a lot once I got to my seat and sipped on my complimentary business class champagne… But this is where I realized I needed to find the positive out of the negative moments. Without this event, I would never have gone through the English Chunnel. Yes, “Chunnel,” not “channel.” This is because the channel is the water above, and the “chunnel” is the tunnel under the channel. Here’s a diagram of the tunnel!

Now, going back to other cons, I learned how traveling alone can be lonely. I knew this going in, but I knew I needed it. This might sound odd, but I needed to learn how to not depend on others, and I also needed to have some self-discovery. If solitude is not something that might not phase you, you need to remember that being alone can make you a target. What I mean by being a target is not just about taking the risk of being kidnapped, but even things such as scams. So don’t wear your earbuds when you’re bored, you will seem distracted and honestly will be with the loud music. Knowing this, you must always be careful and “stay on your toes” even if you are bored. 

It is easy to make a bad choice when making decisions abroad. So, let me tell you what I learned about decision-making. To start, here are some smart choices to make and why. 

It should be safe to say that not every place will be the same. So, it’s good to do your research to determine the local scams and crimes. Let’s use Europe again as an example. It is well-known that in Europe, there is a lot of pickpocketing and people stealing purses. Some not so well known scams are when locals try to give you, whether that be a bracelet or flowers, trick you into thinking that is a kind gift they are giving you, but once you take the object, they demand that you give them money for it or they will get the police.

Another example is when you mind your own business walking in the city, and you have to be careful of where you walk, or you might step on someone’s artwork; this is another cause of scam because if you step on the artwork, you then have to pay for it.

Here’s one last example: have you ever heard of throwing the baby? This scam is a common scam among gypsies in Europe. What they will do is they will literally throw their child at you in hopes that your reaction is to catch the baby to prevent them from falling onto the floor. If you do have that reaction of grabbing the child, this is when another person will pickpocket you because you got distracted saving the baby. 

Moving onto dumb decisions, One of the dumbest things I did and immediately learned from was not looking at what was going on at the place I was planning to travel to. This can include different things such as holidays, religious events, sports, political conflicts, Etc. 

My example is when I was in  Brussels, Belgium, in 2022. I did not consider if any significant events were going on, such as when Belgium was against Morocco for the World Cup for football, AKA soccer. The day this tournament was held was my first day in the city. Morocco won the game, and anyone celebrating this victory got way out of hand. There were many riots and many different types of violent behavior. The city became very scary as people were driving on the sidewalks, throwing bottles, shooting fireworks, and many other behaviors that ended up resulting in a gas line blowing up. This crazy behavior obviously needed local law enforcement and their K9s to be deployed. It got to a point where the police ended up using teargas and water cannons to break up the violence. 

So please learn from this scary and dumb mistake and research what is going on before going.

Now moving on to some tips and tricks to make your adventures easier. Let’s start by having apps pre-downloaded and set up so you’re good to go. Some beneficial ones I constantly use are Google Maps, Google Translate, Currency Exchange, Uber, Expedia or Viator, the airlines I would be using, and Fountain Finder.

Here’s a fun tip for you to stay safe: lie. Yes, lie. Growing up, you get told that lying is bad, but not this time. For me being a young solo female traveler, people have asked me where my group is. Lying that you are meeting up with someone means you are to be expected soon, and if you don’t show up, people get involved. More than likely, these people don’t need to know your business. So, in this case, lying can keep you safe. So, the trick to making lying work is to have a loose story planned out in advance. I do not like to give out my first and last name when traveling, so I come up with a different last name and use my middle name as my first name. Then, to top it off, I changed how I talk by using an accent and changing my terminology and phrasing. You might wonder why I would do this and make things even more complicated versus just telling the straightforward truth because I do not want to sound American. I do not want to sound like a tourist and have others use stereotypes against me, like being naive and stupid, and so on. Not every culture likes Americans. I learned it is best not to act and look like an American. You can end up being perceived as naive or be targeted for a list of many reasons.  So this trick is not to look so American. So smile rarely, have a stern and confident demeanor, be careful of what you say and how you say it, respect customs, and finally, don’t wear your athletic wear and flip-flops everywhere.  

Now, let’s move to the fun stuff, shall we? Why is going traveling alone actually awesome!

Well,I love how I get to customize my adventures. I greatly enjoy history, nature, interacting with different customs, seeing museums with all the art, and trying different food. You can say that I like to do a lot of everything. I like to learn, which sometimes means I must get out of my comfort zone. The empowerment I have gained has helped me immensely because of the unforgettable memories and valuable life lessons I learned. One goal of mine is to improve myself constantly. I change myself for myself, not for others. I want to create my happiness and realize that solo traveling has helped me. When I am alone, I do not have to deal with the drama in my life, and I can gain peace. I love staying in a state of “aw” and “wow”!

For example, last September, I was in Europe. Who would have thought that I would be back in Europe? Isn’t this so shocking?! Moving on. So the plan I had made with friends ended up getting canceled when I was already there in Europe. Instead of being mad, I went into a rapid brainstorming session about what I could do. So I decided to do a “holiday within a holiday,” one might say. I learned in that research binge that the Aurora borealis season had just started, and I knew right away that I had to go to Norway to see them. So I did just that and saw them!

I felt like I was in heaven because this whole experience happened because of canceled plans. If it weren’t for the change of plans, I would never have gotten to check another thing off of my bucket list. I am so grateful for the cancellation because I would never have gotten this! Never did I think that I would get this beautiful opportunity. 

I can easily keep going and share more experiences with all of you, but I will save them for another time. I hope this was helpful and made you consider if this is something you want to explore! The world is exciting and oh-so beautiful because of all the many cultures and what makes them. So don’t let anything hold you back if it is something you really want, just remember to be smart and stay safe! 

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