Solo Travel

Has anyone traveled alone? What trip(s) did you take, how long was it, and how was your experience? I am specifically interested in experiences where you booked a flight (or drove), traveled alone to a different destination where you knew no one.

While I have spent days alone many times in different places, I actually have not booked a flight to a different place, planned a trip, and spent the entire time there alone. For example, I have never planned a 10 day/two week vacation on my own in a different place. When I was in college and studied abroad, I did take take a few long weekend trips on my own. Another time, I visited a friend in the UK and spent a week alone at the end (in Liverpool and Edinburg) because she cancelled plans last minute (due to PhD deadlines). Nowadays, when I take business trips, I take a few extra days at the end to sightsee (usually alone, sometimes with coworkers). In fact, I never go on a work trip without taking a few days extra (it works out well because I sightsee during the day and work a bit during the evenings). However, I do not really consider these experiences as solo travel in the real sense, kind of quasi solo travel.

Even when one travels alone, God is there. I find myself leaning closer to God even over seemingly small things like following directions correctly.

Recently I have been thinking of, and encouraged by my parents, on going to a different place (to a "safe" city) on my own to spend my vacation days. Typically I spend vacation days visiting my parents, but now as I live with them I need to find a way to use my leave. I don't have anyone to travel with as my friends are married or busy. I do prefer to travel with someone, but as that is not an option, I am fine with going somewhere on my own. I think EVERYONE will feel lonely at times with solo travel (not just people having loneliness issues), but if I have a good itinerary and my days planned out it is still worth doing.

Once I drove West in my state of Louisiana got on I49, (Interstate) drove up to Shreveport in the Northern part of my state. Turned due East to Vicksburg Mississippi where there is a Civil War battleground, I got a hotel room for the night and toured the battleground the next day.

It was a good feeling that no one in the Word knew exactly where I was.

Vicksburg wasn’t the only place I slept, I spent the night in Minden Louisiana at a semi-friend’s house who used to be on staff at my church. After leaving Vicksburg, I drove down to Brookhaven Mississippi and thee saw a friend of mine. From thee got on I55 and when to Hammond Louisiana. Accessed I10 to my city.

It was a truly wonderful trip.

Hello @MsMediator, I've done a number of solo trips, mostly centered around photography and/or backpacking.

It started with backpacking. The reason that I went alone was because of my job. I worked on Fridays and Saturdays, but I would often have Sunday through Wednesday free. I chose to go alone when I realized that if I didn't (go alone, that is) I would probably never get to go backpacking again.

I went to a number of locations in different States, but the Smoky Mountains National Park ended up being my favorite. Oddly, I ran into far more single women who were backpacking there alone than men, and they were doing so for the same reason that I was (they were tired of waiting to find someone to go with).

I asked several of them over the years why they felt safe going into the backcountry alone. All of them basically said the same thing, that the Smoky Mountains (unlike the Rocky Mountains) have a number of backcountry trails that are the next best thing to just climbing right up the side of a mountain at times (I believe that the trails in the Rockies use switchbacks that keep the incline of the trails to 7 degrees or less). This, they said, is why they felt safe, because they didn't have to worry about running into the kind of people who might be problematic for them (because people like that don't want to climb up those steep trails, and they certainly don't want to haul a giant cooler filled with beer/ice up there either, which for them is apparently a necessity ).

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy
p.s. - if you're not into backpacking, the towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (and the surround) are GREAT places to visit any day of the year (and you can still do day hikes in the National Park if you want to, and take a ranger-guided tour or two, too ). There are SO many different things to do there, and there are always a ton of friendly people to visit with, so you will never feel alone (of course, I say this as an extravert who has never met a stranger, just FYI .. though I have come to realize that some people do feel lonely, even with a lot of people around them).

As far as churches go, well, this is Tennessee and North Carolina. IOW, they're everywhere If you end up wanting to go and you want some advice about what to see/where to go/where to stay, etc., whether in town or in the National Park, don't hesitate to ask me.
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yes, i traveled alone. it was a dream i wanted to fulfill to go some place for 2 weeks by myself. at the time i was taking care of my grandma in a nursing home & God gave me the okay to go. my g.f. took over for me while i was away. & for all the girls reading this, no, she didn't like me going at all! i vacationed in St. Thomas for 2 weeks. it was a blast. a perfect vacation! in fact, my travel agent, a friend of mine, gave me an extra day! i went on many tours, participated in many events, just super busy in a fun way. on the 1st day a girl helped me with directions for something. so i wanted to return a favor. so we had lunch together never minding at all, a dating interest. later on she gave me the hint & i said a have a g.f. back home. after that, for the whole duration, we just gave each other a casual "hi". never cheated on my g.f. i would suggest for you to go on vacation by yourself. it's such a behooving relaxing highly memorable joyous memory. i was a born again Christian then & my angels were guarding, protecting me & securing me the whole vacation. & by course, Jesus vacationed with me!!!!!

yes Ive done a few trips alone. Although I dont know if Ive done it where I knew no one as at least had a contact at my destination or met up with a group/family at some point

Though my experience is that at youth hostels everyone is passing through anyway so you just go with fellow independent travellers and talk to them as they are backpacking like you. I think its something many do when they are young or in their 20s almost as a rite of passage because you are an adult and responsible for yourself. To prove that you CAN look after yourself without a chaperone.

I think the good thing about travelling solo is you get to do what you like to do and not on someone elses timetable. Booking a flight is actually easy if you do it enough you dont really need to go theough a travel agent and driving shouldnt be a problem solo and now theres google maps you can be a bit more assured when driving by yourself to somewhere unknown. But when travelling solo it pays to keep your wits about you and be safe and use your commonsense.

If God is in it and you ask him for travelling mercies, especially if He has a reason for you to go off into the wilderness than go for it. You may be tested but you will learn a lot about His grace and yourself what you are capable of

The longest trip I did solo was a 14 day cruise, I wasnt driving or booking a flight though. I think it was good for me at the time and what I really needed, I didnt really have to worry about anyone or anything. i just talked to fellow travellers and had a dinner table with others though they arrange all social events for you on those things.

When I did wwoofing I would contact hosts beforehand and arrange to stay with them though that involved some driving to places unknown. I did that for a few weeks at a time.

if doing backpacking there are backpacking tours you can hop on and hop off with. I think as you get older you can afford more 'luxury' accomodations though without carrying everything on your back so you might not want to do that. some backpackers accomdations while cheap and cheerful can also be cheap and nasty lol though nowadays people like to book air bnbs. I think if you want to stay anywhere for a length of time you may get a cheaper rate especially for during the week as opposed to weekends. And if you go in the shoulder seasons.

anyway this thread has me thinking of new adventures because I do have (school) holidays coming up and havent been out and about for a while though I would actually use a lot of the holidays to stay home and chill out. Singles generally when travelling would go hitch a ride or by bike not necesssrily in a car alone cos with a car you might as well take people with you! i mean most cars have extra seats in them .. unless you delivering some cargo or you just take a van and sleep in your van

I occasionally met people from tours and/or hostels. It sometimes starts with asking someone else to take photos for you and you take turns.
The only time I feel like a loser is when someone/a couple is staring at me while I eat alone.

good point about eating alone. i was on a vacation, when single, & i was the only 1 eating at my assigned table on the cruise ship. so after the 3rd day, the people next to me felt sorry for me & asked me sit with them. twas' a great time with them.

This is a great topic, Ms. Mediator!

I know one of the most devastating thoughts I had when my husband divorced me was, "I'm going to spend the rest of my life sitting at home alone," because I couldn't picture traveling by myself.

But God opened doors. I flew by myself to France to visit a relative who was studying there, and even though it was only for 2 weeks, I felt like I learned a lot. My family member is all about budget travel, whereas I'm willing to pay more for certain things. We stayed for a night at a youth hostel... And one of the guys there stole my relative's credit card and racked up some very large art purchases.

Fortunately, we caught on and called before my family member was held liable for everything, but after that, we stayed in hotels, even though it cost more. This taught me that safety is always my top priority, even though it will be more expensive.

I've gone on several day trips by myself and one overnight, but these days, I really only travel alone to get to my destination, and from there, I'm with other people.

I do think that solo travel has different risks if you are a woman, especially if anyone realizes that you are traveling alone. Sure, it can be just as dangerous for men, but I've read so many true crime cases in which the perpetrator wasn't even thinking about committing a crime, but they saw an opportunity, such as a woman by herself. I don't want to ever be seen as someone's opportunity if I can help it.

One of the greatest blessings I've found the past few years are other singles who also like to travel, so hopefully we will be able to plan some adventures together, while still accommodating individual tastes/needs.

And if the day comes when I find the interest/could save up enough, there are (or were... I'm not sure if they survived the pandemic) a few travel businesses that specialized in women's travel groups for longer trips all over the world.

I had looked into some single travel tours, but it often cost almost double to have a room all to yourself. I'm leery about having a roommate assigned because I'd be afraid of being paired with someone who like to party and wanted to bring guys back to our room, etc.

I'm just a lil' old-fashioned girl looking for some adventure.

Thanks for this great discussion!

eating alone I never found a problem having a picnic on my own or a booth at a resturarant sometimes Id have a weekend to myself where I just go off and do my own thing but God being with me I feel like hes always there watching over me. I tend to enjoy the meal more when I dont have to accomodate someone elses preferences, allergies, stealing food of my plate, or giving me their portions they dont want and telling me to finish their leftovers and waiting for them to start etc lol and feel like complimenting the the chef or cook personally preparing it JUST for me.

also, king size beds are quite a luxury to have all to yourself!! I would just find it a treat being off on my own really coming from a large family where people always seem to fight over every little thing and never having any personal space or being in schools where up to thirty children are crammed into a classroom.

I did a lot of traveling alone these last 4 years or so. I was visiting areas of the country where I thought we might consider moving to. I'd spend about a week at a time in each location, usually in an AirBnb. Would spend my time getting the lay of the land. Each location would get two visits; one during the historically coldest week of the year and the other during the historically hottest week of the year. These were trips where I didn't know anyone in the communities. It's no big deal for me, I don't mind being alone.

Seems like there should be a service that allows the roommates to talk to each other months before the trip, to make sure incompatibilities like that don't happen.

I mean... If I was going to be assigned a room with another guy, I know I would certainly want that. I bet enough other people would want it that somewhere there is a travel agency that provides it.

I love sitting alone in a restaurant/tavern/honky-tonk/whatever just watching people eating/drinking or whatnot.

Traveling, now that’s another story…I’m not thrilled about flying and etc, so now that I’m alone I usually just venture well inside the city limits lol.

I think being near people and avoiding being alone in the dark solves a lot of problems. I also try to be vigilant and follow a few tips like not walking near parked vans, dressing modestly, no jewelry, for example. So far I have not had any issues with Uber or Lyft, and I have used them for years. Taking taxis abroad is more of a risk, especially places where the meter is not being used, but now more places have Uber or Grab. Sometimes I have found myself isolated all of a sudden, where there were people around and all of a sudden there was no one. In that case, I decide to walk back. It is also important to plan out the walk in advance if possible (I use Google Maps a lot to "walk" through the streets). I also try to be watchful on when/where I use my phone, as there is a lot of phone theft.

I also bring a door stopper; not sure how effective it is but it makes me feel more secure.

During the work day when I was working in a office, I frequently ate lunch by myself at a place such as a food court/sandwich shop a couple of times per week or so after rush hour and enjoyed it. It was also a time to destress. I didn't like to eat in the work cafeteria alone since I'll see others I know, and didn't want to be the only one there who ate alone (I'd rather eat at my desk in that case). I did eat in the cafeteria with coworkers at times.

Eating alone, particularly at dinner time, is probably my least favorite part about traveling. I don't feel this way at breakfast, perhaps I am excited about the day ahead. I don't feel this way about lunch either. For dinner, recently, I preferred to bring the food to my room.

room service!
or uber eats. For dinner.
If you go to a pub or community meal things generally you just sit with strangers. At a pub you can just order snack type meals or tapas and have it at a bar?
I think if you have a big enough lunch you dont need to eat as much for dinner. Travelling alone is when you go out to eat with your fellow travelers and meet up with them. You just say im hungry lets go to this place and then you just go. Its not like they can say nah Ive already got something prepared in the kitchen I took with me.

I prefer not solo.... At least one travel buddy ...I don't think I can enjoy travelling alone never done that...because I love to share good laughs,nice coffee talks, enjoy breakfast,lunch or dinner out with someone while travelling 😍...but I heard people travel solo...and they enjoy it so much...give it a try you might like it.


I'll be travelling soon....After some works done my bestfriend of 20 years and I will going to travel just around the country all paid by her....I have no work at the moment she knows that so she offered me to pay for us....no definite date yet because she is a busy person also and a grandma of 2 babies. She is just 5 years older than me but she looks young and she looks stronger than me. She loves to travel also but most of their travels with her husband were/are around Asia 🌏 We are so excited about it. My first travel with my bestfriend☺️

I love going to places but that's one thing I cant afford now. I have bills to think about and travelling is not on the list...just some good friends are just so kind to offer me to travel with them for free 🥹🙏🏻❤️

So try it @MsMediator you might love it and might go for more solo travels ☺️ after your first solo travel.

It's just me, myself and I
Solo ride until I die
Cause I've just got me for life
I don't need a hand to hold
Even when the night is cold
I got that fire in my soooouuuuul

I don't need anything
To get me through the night
Except the beat that 's in my heart
And it's keeping me alive

(Song the kids played at work, a lot.)

That's great you are traveling with your best friend. I have a couple of good friends I would like to travel with, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon as they are married and so will travel with their husbands. So far I have not had a situation where others paid for me, or I paid for them, for a trip. I have paid for flight tickets a few times in the past but they stayed at my place. Depending on where I might offer a flight and no contribution for shared hotel room, but I would be hesitant to offer other costs. Costs always add up during a trip (especially meals, transport, etc.) so I would be hesitant to offer up front but I would be more open to offering along the way. However, overall I would be hesitant to offer as I would not want to be perceived as "rich" when I am not.