Have you travelled solo?

I don't understand why people see travelling solo as such a big deal. It's just a matter of going to the place without other people.

I travel most places solo, it can be a bit of a pain travelling with other people because you have to find something everybody wants to do, spend an hour waiting around for everybody to get ready, the list of reasons not to travel with other people is long.

If you're young just book into hostels, use a site like hostelworld and you won't be alone for long. Everybody loves having Irish around, you won't have any problems.

You don't even need to put all that much effort into booking things these days and if you go somewhere and don't like it just get on a train and go somewhere else.

I went away solo for the first time last year and I LOVED it!
I went to Rome for a week. It's the most incredible place I've ever been.

My advice would be to stay in a hostel; I think I would have felt a bit lonely had I stayed in a hotel.

Choose your destination carefully though.
I went away again this year alone - to Belgium, as it sounded cool.
I hated it and felt extremely lonely and miserable.

Depending on your budget, you could also look at going as part of a group?

G Adventures and Intrepid Travel do great trips.
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/ie/about/solo-travel

Solomon Pleasant wrote: »

Is it more advisable to book hostels days/weeks in advance or just kind of on the day or turn up?

Thanks for the insight

Depends on the time of season. If it's peak and it's a popular destination, they will fill up fast and you'll wind up paying over the odds for a dorm bed.

Some of them are released on quota and if hostelworld tell you the a place is fully booked, it just means their quota is fully booked - try other websites like booking.com (they do hostels as well) and the hostel website.

In general? If you're comfortbale starting conversatrions with random backpacers and locals and reasonably streetwise, then yeah - go for it.

Ive done it, and its the best experience you will ever have. Ive done a lot of it now at this stage - i actually find it hard to go away with friends now, its just different, its hard to explain. I suppose it depends where you are going as well, for your first time. Ive been some places and its not as easy as other places to meet people if that makes sense.
Dont book in advance, dont be tied to time. Do what you want, when you want.

Solomon Pleasant wrote: »

Is it more advisable to book hostels days/weeks in advance or just kind of on the day or turn up?

Thanks for the insight

Prudence would say book in advance, and you should book in advance for your first night at least. It can also depend on the time of year and popularity of the hostel but I travelled across Europe 10 years ago or so and would just decide to leave a city one day, go online, find numbers for a few hostels in the next city and ring them on the train. I was only caught short once in all my years of travelling like this, I got to Amsterdam and there was a few conventions on and everything in the city was gone, but I found a campsite. Being Amsterdam I could get the tram to the campsite and it cost a fiver (I had a tent with me but you can rent them at most campsites) The next day I was in the flying pig. Camp sites in in mainland Europe are generally pretty good, don't overlook them.

Even now I travel like that, I drove to southern Spain last year and would just look up hotels on the way and got great deals using booking.com, stayed in places I didn't even know existed, it was just at the end of the Spanish holiday season so everything was empty on the way back.

A European travelling in Europe doesn't need to worry about anything, there are more than enough hotels and hostels to stay in. The crappy ones are almost better, you'll remember those ones more so than the good ones and they tend to attract cooler people.

I went to Asia with Contiki last year and it was possibly the best experience of my life. I only went solo because me and my ex had always planned to go there together, and after we broke up I said "F*ck it, I'll go anyway", and was delighted I did. Met some great Irish people on the tour I've stayed friends with, and a lot of great Aussies, Brits and Yanks who I still keep in contact with too, and most importantly, had an absolute blast completely out of my comfort zone that's reshaped my whole perception on "doing things solo".

So basically, go for it!

I do it all the time, thanks to work and a particular leisure interest. It has its benefits and its disadvantages. The main benefit is being able to change your plans at very short notice, and contrary to what's been said above, I've found the most amazing places are rarely in big towns or cities. I came across one in the East of France a few months ago, as a result of taking a wrong turn - a geological bowl at the end of a valley with four great waterfalls pouring into it, and a rickety staircase that led up to a huge cave at the head of the biggest cascade. I go solo to events around the country in the expectation that I'll meet interesting people when I get there, and I do, and when things work out well, I meet them again in another place at another time.

The disadvantage of doing everything on your own, though, is never getting to see places through the eyes of someone else. After so many years of traipsing around urban and rural landscapes unaccompanied, I'm starting to miss the annoyance of a companion saying "ah come on, let's try this place, it might be fun"

Yes plenty of times. Across Europe and the US. My husbands job is quite inflexible regarding time off so when I can I go off for a weekend or 4/5 days in Europe. Before we met though I would go further afield and for longer.

dizzyn wrote: »

I am beyond interested in travelling solo... but I'm a 19 year old girl. If any women have traveled solo could you please share some tips? I seriously want to do it!!!

Interailling around Europe is a great way to start solo travels as you will meet loads of other people doing the same thing and share experiences. I love travelling solo as you actually meet more people, people who travel in groups tend to stick together.

My tips would be
Book the first nights accomodation in advance every time you move so your not stressed trying to find a bed for the night. If you don't like the hostel too much you can move to another the next day.
Read the reviews on hostelworld to get an idea of the security in the hostel, some places may provide lockers in the dorm room. Others may not have any restrictions on who can enter the dorm room while you are out all day.
Always try and arrive at a new destination during daylight hours. I've gotten a lot of catcalls arriving in train stations late at night and wandering around streets trying to find my hostel.
Don't bring a massive bag, you will only fill it up and won't use half the stuff you bring. I spent a year travelling solo in NZ and Oz with a 60l bag and honestly there were a number of things I could have easily left behind.
Always make sure you have your phone fully charged and keep a separate stash of cash/ credit card in case you get separated from your bag.
Don't plan ahead too far, I loved Berlin when I got there but had prebooked a train to Prague for 3 days later. I would have loved to spend longer in the city.
Things will happen, you will miss a bus, you will overstay because you can't face getting on a train with a hangover, it's all part of the fun