The Solo travel thread

Valmont

Next to the "where should I go on my j1" topic, that of solo travel is often brought up in this forum. I think it would be a good idea to have a thread specifically for presenting why we enjoy travelling by ourselves. I think this is a good idea because very often there are some great posts about solo travel but they become lost when the thread dies. Hopefully here we can keep the discussion going and new posters considering a solo trip can dive in and benefit from many different posters' experiences. I find that I want to tell people all about how great it is to travel by oneself but I'm tired of putting effort into a post only for it to disappear and then for a similar question to be asked again!

So why do you travel by yourself? What is your motivation? What fantastic adventures have you been on that wouldn't have been possible with a large group of friends?

I think this quote from Sean Penn is rather appropriate here:

"Interviewer: What would you say to young people thinking of going off backpacking for a year?"

Sean Penn wrote:

There are no more inherent rites of passage. You either go out there and get outside your comfort zone or you become one more drone in a society which hasn't done itself very much good. If something is going to change, it's because people are going to change themselves. The only way to change themselves is to know themselves. The only way to know themselves is to break free of all the things someone else has taught them and find out for themselves...

ps. I hope the mods are ok with this?

Valmont

During the my first year of college I had great hopes for travelling around Europe with my friends. Unfortunately the summer came and went and all we did was go to Belgium for a music festival and despite having a great time, I really wanted to do more, to see more and to travel further. That November, I had saved some money up from my part-time job and during a sleepless night I booked a flight to Berlin on the 27th of December and and a flight from Rome to Dublin on January 31st (I think). I completely regretted this the next day thinking that I should have thought about it more and maybe tried to organise it with some friends.

When I found myself on the aeroplane I was quite nervous, I had no idea what I was going to do once I got to Berlin and my parents thought I was nuts as I didn't really give them much notice that I would be off for a month. It was below freezing when I arrived in Berlin and after checking in at the hostel, I spent the rest of the day literally walking all over Berlin, I went up the Fernsehntorm, and the Viktoria column.

That night some boisterous yankees checked into my dorm and as usually regarded me as some sort of a cultural curiosity "Oh dude, that guy is actually from Ireland". Along with these guys and some Australian ladies, we all stayed in the dorm for 4 days and had some great cross-cultural banter.

I knew that heading off own my own was one of the best decisions I had ever made on New year's eve 2006 outside of the Bundestag with my single serving acquaintances, drinking champagne and lighting fireworks that some locals had kindly given us. I thought "I could have been in Dublin guzzling some guiness and doing the usual" if hadn't taken the risk and came here.

Berlin was just the beginning of a whirlwind trip that saw me sleeping rough in Venice (despite what it sounds like, it was a good experience), traipsing virtually alone through Dachau concentration camp while it was snowing, hiking up a mountain outside of Innsbruck, going to a jazz club in an unused u-bahn tunnel in Munich and many more things. I met some incredibly interesting people from all over the world whom I still think of today.

Hopefully these pictures will give you an idea while maintaining my anonymity:

dory

I love travelling alone. I think it's much more adventurous. Although there are certain trips like long train rides for which I like to have a buddy.

My first solo trip was a 15 month RTW trip. First stop was Sao Paulo Brazil and I was absolutely terrified leaving the airport but I did a lot of settling down, working, volunteering and got to know a lot of people. Turned into a bloody awesom trip!
I'm too lazy to post photos but the blog is here: http://blogs.bootsnall.com/cybersusst

Gaz

My first solo trip was London to Iran by train ... although the train rides where long and boring, it constantly felt like an adventure, something different , something cool to rememeber.

I got to stop off in most of the major cities enroute, then when I finally crossed the Iranian border there was a real sense of achievment. And even though i was knackered at this point, my adventure had only really started.
The next 3 weeks where seeing Iran, it is a truly wonderful country with some of the most generous people you could imagine.

Oh and its DIRT cheap ... think I spent around €250 in 3 weeks, for everything !

Valmont

Gaz wrote: »

My first solo trip was London to Iran by train ... although the train rides where long and boring, it constantly felt like an adventure, something different , something cool to rememeber.

I got to stop off in most of the major cities enroute, then when I finally crossed the Iranian border there was a real sense of achievment. And even though i was knackered at this point, my adventure had only really started.
The next 3 weeks where seeing Iran, it is a truly wonderful country with some of the most generous people you could imagine.

Oh and its DIRT cheap ... think I spent around €250 in 3 weeks, for everything !

Gaz that sounds like a fantastic trip, how much was the train ticket? It wasn't the orient express to Turkey was it?; I have always wanted to see Iran.

Gaz

I got all my train tickets for about €400 ( i think)

That was London to Paris on the Eurostar
Paris to Vienna on the Orient express (the real one, not the posh tourist one)
Vienna to Budapest
Budapest to Bucharest
Then Bucharest all the way to Istanbul. Was able to buy all them online.

Then from Istanbul to Tabriz in North western Iran on the Trans-Asia express, the guy in Iran actually sent me the ticket and waited for payment !

I fully recommend this trip.

Valmont

That one is definitely on my list. I love riding on trains too. Were the trains compartmentalised like the ones you would encounter while inter-railing?

Gaz

Yeah, all trains where sleeper class .... you should look into it, I did it all in a little over 3 weeks. Oh and for some reason its very easy to get an Iranian visa as an Irish person, I got mine in 24hrs.

minimaire

Hi Guys,

I was just reading through your posts and it has re-assured me that I am doing the right thing by heading off on my own for a 6 month RTW trip.

Just last night I started nearly regretting my decision because I got so nervous thinking about my impending trip (going in 6 weeks) that I felt sick to my stomach! I have never done anything like this before, it really is a big challenge for me.

Valmont I loved your qoute from Sean Penn, think I'll write it down and bring it away with me to re-assure me that I am doing the right thing.

Thanks a million
Mary

Valmont

minimaire wrote: »

Valmont I loved your qoute from Sean Penn, think I'll write it down and bring it away with me to re-assure me that I am doing the right thing.

Thanks a million
Mary

As long as my thread reached even one person I'm happy! Good luck on your trip!

floyd333

minimaire wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I was just reading through your posts and it has re-assured me that I am doing the right thing by heading off on my own for a 6 month RTW trip.

I’m going in 6 weeks too. Totally bricking it but this has been a life long ambition, it'sthe right thing to do. I don’t want to have any regrets when I’m old and hey it’s good time to get out of Ireland…