How I Built my Confidence to Travel Solo
I first started travelling as a child on family holidays and loved the experience of getting exposure to new cultures. Although I had been travelling since I was little, my first solo trip was a huge step for me. I had to build up my travel confidence in order to feel comfortable embarking on solo adventures. Five years in, I’ve travelled far and wide on my own and even prefer it (in some situations). It’s given me the liberty to go where I want and when I want. This wasn’t something that I jumped into overnight, and actually was quite a gradual process when I look back at it.
I was lucky enough to travel with my family starting when I was 4 years old. My first-ever flight was to London (where I now live!). Thanks to my parents, I got to see much of the Western Europe, Mexico, and the USA. These experiences influenced me to appreciate different cultures and languages, and I ultimately studied French, Spanish, and Portuguese throughout high school and university. Through my Spanish studies, I was provided the opportunity to do a trip abroad to Ecuador. This was my very first experience travelling abroad without the comfort of my family nearby. This wasn’t as scary as travelling solo, as I still was in the company of many of my friends and teachers. This was a different type of travel experience for me, as we spent most of our time in rural areas of the countryside up in the Andes. The accommodation was quite basic, and the focus was really on connecting with local people.
Drawing on this experience, I started taking trips abroad with friends in my late teens/early 20s. My first trip was to Cuba with a friend on Spring Break. At 19, it felt exhilarating to travel out of the country with no adult supervision. Although looking back, some questionable decisions were made.
The next step for me was travelling to visit friends who had moved abroad. I was confident to go through the flying process alone, but knew that I had a friend on the other side to meet me. I visited one of my close friends in New York City multiple times and even spent some time wandering NYC solo while my friend was finishing up her work day.
Finally, the time came when I needed to travel by myself. I was between jobs and wanted to spend some time working on one of my big goals – improving my fluency in French. It would be tricky to find a friend who was willing to drop their life back home for a few months to come to Europe with me. I started planning the trip, and got buy-in from a friend who was looking to spend a week of vacation in Europe. This was a great way to start my trip and ease into the travel experience. We spent a week travelling throughout Austria and Slovenia. I got some nerves before I said goodbye to my friend and embarked on a solo part of my trip in Germany and the Czech Republic.
Although up until this point it was a slow and steady journey, I decided to take it up to full speed from here. Attending Oktoberfest in Munich was something that had been on my bucket list from the very beginning, and I couldn’t waste the opportunity of being only a few hours away during the festival. I took the train from Salzburg to Munich to attend one of the world’s biggest parties solo. I would’ve spent more time in Germany if it wasn’t for the exhorbitant hotel pricing for a last-minute trip to Oktoberfest. I was also completing another thing off of my bucket list by eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner in different countries. I had breakfast in Salzburg, Austria, lunch and a beer at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, and dinner in Prague, Czech Republic where I was going to spend a few days.
I was a ball of nerves pulling up on the train to Munich. I had to quickly find a locker to store my belongings and realized the lockers only took change and I was slightly short. A nice woman nearby took notice of my situation and gladly offered some of her spare change. If I was going to do Oktoberfest, I was going to do it right. I heard a hot tip while staying in a hostel in Salzburg that the H&M in Munich sold reasonably-priced dirndls (the traditional Bavarian dress). I was able to make my way to the closest H&M and find a lovely blue dirndl for under 50 euros.
When I arrived at Oktoberfest, the lovely hostesses found me a spot at a table with some other English speakers. Even though I was the only person there alone, everyone at my table was very kind and inclusive. I only had time for a quick beer and pretzel before I had to make my way back to the train station. You can read more about my experience at Oktoberfest here.
This train ride was probably when I was most tested as a solo traveller. A man sat next to me on the train and was insistent on maintaining a conversation. Luckily, he was just going as far as the suburbs of Munich. At one point, he was trying to get me to ditch my plans for Prague and instead spend the weekend with him in the German suburbs. He also considered partaking in a spontaneous weekend trip to Prague. Partway into the journey, the train stopped and an announcement was made in both German and Czech. Neither of which I spoke. Someone eventually translated for me, and it turned out that there were repairs taking place on the track. We would have to get off the train and get on a shuttle bus until we could reunite with another train to take us into Prague. I was nervous about getting stranded in the Czech countryside, but we did make it into Prague eventually.
After spending some time in Prague, I travelled to Paris to begin my 2-month stint studying French. It was a life-changing experience for me. I lived with a French family and was able to build friendships with people from all over the world.
It’s safe to say that all of these experiences were what led me to move abroad more permanently. I am now based out of London and travel across Europe regularly. I’ve also just recently completed a solo trip to Bali, which was much more luxurious than any of my previous solo travels.
Before my trip to Bali, I made sure that I had some great travel medical insurance to keep me covered and give me some peace of mind. For the past few years, I’ve been using SafetyWing. I’ve luckily never needed to file a claim, but they can get you covered for some of the unfortunate things that might happen on a trip. Their Nomad Insurance is super intuitive to use and offers very transparent pricing. In my experience, it’s typically cheaper than alternative insurance, especially if you’re travelling for long periods of time.
In the next few months, I plan to travel to Ireland and Hungary solo. Let me know if you have any tips for these destinations.
