"How do you travel alone?" "Aren't you scared when you're solo!?" "HAVEN"T YOU SEEN THE MOVIE HOSTEL?" How do I feel comfortable on my own?
When you're traveling alone you are almost certainly not alone for long. As long as you follow your gut, make the same safe choices you make at home, and keep an open mind its hard to not make friends!
When friends from home can't make the trip I don't let that stop me, you shouldn't either! The world is a large place, you want to see a lot of it, and if you wait for someone to come along for the ride, you might miss out. Now, I don't mind wandering museums and historical sites on my own but of course it's nice to have a friend there too. If you are a girl, or anyone out there thinking about doing a solo trip but are nervous about taking the leap here are a few tips that will hopefully put your mind at ease.
Picking Your Hostel
I have found a lot of the success of a trip, often comes down to the hostel choice. I stay in hostels for a few reasons, they are cheap, comfortable, and the easiest way to meet other travelers. I use the app HostelWorld which is one of the most popular apps amongst backpackers when booking hostels. I love this app because it has 10 point ratings for Location, Cleanliness, Staff, Facilities, Atmosphere, Security, and Value for Money. If there is one area you feel more strongly about then the others, it's great to find exactly your ideal place. For example, when I am booking, my main concern is atmosphere, I will take a dip in location or facilities if it has a great atmosphere rating.
Another great thing about Hostel World is almost all hostels come with a plethora of reviews. These reviews come with a description of the reviewer, age, gender, nationality, and lets you know if the reviewer was solo, in a couple, or in a group and what that group's gender was (all female, all male, or mix). When reading these reviews I have found that you should look for positive reviews from women. Once I booked a TERRIBLE hostel where I felt incredibly uncomfortable from the guests and staff, who were mostly men, and was confused because the reviews were so good. After looking back I realized all those good reviews were from men and all the not-so-good reviews were from women. I switched hostels immediately. After that experience I would check to make sure hostels had many positive reviews from women and I haven't been surprised by a hostel since. Also make sure to look for reviews that say Good for Solo Travelers! Hostels with reviews boasting Good for Solo Travelers have been some of my favorites!
Also when booking your hostel, know yourself. There are chill hostels and crazy party hostels with everything in between. Party hostels are a good time but they can be a lot to deal with, a lot of alcohol, a lot of people, a lot of noise, and often a younger crowd 18 - 20 year olds. I'm 24 I just finished my last trip to South East Asia at a party hostel, the only one I went to, and it was a blast! I had the greatest time with some of the wildest people I have ever met! Could I do that all over South East Asia? Hell no! Don't feel pressure to jump from party hostel to party hostel because it looks like you'll meet a lot of people, you will, but depending on your personality it's just as easy to meet people in laid back hostels. More relaxed hostels are where I have met my closest long lasting friends. But if party hostels are your thing MORE POWER TO YOU! You won't sleep but they are an amazing time!
List of my favorite Hostels:
Post Hostel Prague -- Prague, Czech Republic
Wiki Hostel & Green Village -- Rome, Italy
Hostel Brikette -- Positano, Italy
PLUS Florence -- Florence, Italy
Ta Van Hostel -- Sapa, Vietnam
Old Quarter View Hanoi Hostel -- Hanoi, Vietnam
Tribee Bana Hostel -- Hoi An, Vietnam (30 Phan Boi Chau St) ***they have three location in Hoi An
Europe Town -- Da Lat, Vietnam
Onederz Hostel Siem Reap -- Siem Reap, Cambodia
Slumber Party Hostel -- Krabi, Thailand
Picking a room:
So on my first solo traveler experience I did so many things wrong. The day after I graduated college I did a four week trip around Europe all by my onesie and booked large 10 -15 person dorm rooms, often mixed gender. When you're booking Hostels they will often have the choice between smaller and larger rooms. I made the mistake of thinking larger dorm rooms, meant more people, more chances to meet friends! Right?!? Nope. Always book smaller dorm rooms for a few reasons.
First, it is much easier to strike up a conversation with one or two people alone then someone in a room of 15 people for fear of disturbing your neighbors. Second, theft is a problem in hostels, less people, less chance of your stuff getting nabbed. Third, staying in hostels no matter what the dorm size doesn't allow for a lot of privacy and it is nice to come back sometimes to an empty room and that's more likely if you have fewer roommates. And lastly, smaller dorm rooms tend to be less messy! Less people less stuff!
Do the activities:
Hostels will often throw events, game nights, bar crawls, schedule tours. DO THEM! GO TO THEM! These events aren't cheesy ice breakers, the hostel workers want you to have a good time! Hostels are filled with other people just like you trying to make friends and have the best time they can.
There have been times while traveling where I got homesick, I was down, missing friends I made, didn't feel like putting myself out there again, but I pushed myself to go to a sunrise tour, or to the hostel bar, or just doodled in a notebook in the common area vs my room. It makes a world of difference. You won't cure homesickness staying in your dorm alone.
Striking up a conversation with strangers might be the easiest in a hostel. Even if you meet someone and don't vibe, you can get through at least an hour with the usual questions. Where you from? Where you going? Where have you been? Did you love it? What do I have to do there if I ever go there? And the best is meeting people you will end up wanting to continue some of your travels with or meet up again somewhere else in the world!
Keep Your Schedule Open
The biggest mistake I made with my most recent trip to South East Asia was planning a lot of my trip in advance. I ended up canceling everything and wasting a good deal of money. But it was worth it BECAUSE I met some of the greatest people I have ever known. While in Sapa Vietnam I met a couple Annie and Riley from Canada, and Liam from the UK. We ended up getting along so well we traveled down Vietnam together for nearly three weeks collecting a band of other travelers, two Australians, two Dutch, two more English, one Polish girl, and another American. Shout out to my loves Patch, Aiden, Rose, Stijn, Rob, Ula, and Michelle!
Originally I was supposed to be out of Vietnam two weeks earlier then I was, and I pushed it all off to stay with this eclectic group of travelers! When making long trip plans I suggest having markers every couple weeks of your must-sees, but other then that don't look farther then three or four days in advance, especially in South East Asia.
When traveling alone, research your hostels, hang out in the common areas, and keep your schedule open! Hostels are safe, convenient, and as long as you allow yourself to be open, you will not be solo for long I promise. The only thing holding you back is yourself! The important thing is to just keep curious!
And by the way, no I have never, and will never, watch the movie Hostel, not because I'm scared, but because it's a terrible movie.
Safe travels!
-Ms. Uncharted
