Do you ever solo travel? 2 weeks away and starting to have second thoughts about it

Travelled solo for 2 years straight back in mid 2000s. Started in México and next flight was over a year later from Buenos Aires. Then onto Oz/NZ and Asia.

I had that "what the ****" am i doing and maybe i should go home feeling lots of times. Strangely not in the beginning as I was moving around with different people I met in hostels. I mostly got the feeling when I'd spent a few days by myself and was in more quiet towns.

I mostly stayed in social type hostels. You'll know the ones from reviews. I used to go down to common area in evening time and grab a beer. Always met someone or a group of people doing something.

To me, solo travelling doesn't mean by yourself all the time. It's the freedom to be by yourself when you want and do what you want without considering anyone else. But out of the 700 odd days I was away. I'd say only about 40 of them were truly by myself. I was like a hermit crab bouncing from different people. So try meet some people and then feel the need to move on from them. Then you'll really see that you are cool with travelling by yourself. So just push on for now. But if it doesn't subside. Don't continue to waste money on something you may not be enjoying. At least you went and tried it.

QuickEmail wrote: »

• Nerves
• Second thoughts
• No huge enthusiasm for the trip anymore (or much less for it)
• Seems more like a "oh do I have to?" rather than a "I cant wait to!" it was upto recently

How do I push past this? Have many of you gone through this?

Do you solo travel much?

A voice saying "what the fúck are you doing?" is appearing in my head a couple of times a day now that the first month (of 3-6 months) is booked and the first flight is getting closer

Nothing to be nervous about. Some of my best times were had while solo travelling, hanging out with other solo travellers in hostels, going to clubs, and seeing lots of cool stuff.

Planning on going somewhere again next summer by myself, just for a couple of weeks while on a break from work.

I've done lots of solo travelling; if I waited for my friends to go on holiday I'd never leave the country.

I often joined a group tour like they offer on Gecko Adventures. They tend to offer a balance of group activities and time for you to do your own thing. In Vietnam for example, I found we got a lot more done having a private bus for our group, instead of wasting time trying to arrange transport on my own. We even had time in the evening to explore a bit on our own, where the group all went different ways.

If I'm not on a group tour, I tend to spend more time alone. Sometimes I'll do a day-tour and meet some nice people on that. Other than that I tend to hang around a bar and wait for someone to talk to me...

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

Work, save, go.


All in, including flights, you could easily do 3 months in South East Asia for €2000

It can be quite cheap but people should beware of not budgeting enough. In northern Thailand a German guy asked me how much the water was at a market stall, so I told him it worked out at around €0.75 for the two litre bottle. He responded : "Okay, we'll have to bargain them down." I don't know if he was genuinely that poor or just so used to bargaining for everything, but the guy looked worn out. Not having budgeted enough can be very stressful, and you don't want to spend your holiday missing out on things or worrying that something's too expensive.

Frequently the most expensive item by far for my trips are the flights. Book very, very early, or at a time like now when oil prices are low and get them cheap.

Solo holidays are great. Affordable as you're just paying for yourself and the best part is you can do what YOU want to do. No rubbish of trying to please everyone or not doing something because others won't like it.

One more thing. You'll meet people and hang out and have a great time. Other nights you'll be by yourself. Bring a few books or a kindle and take that time to recharge and relax.

El Horseboxo wrote: »

Travelled solo for 2 years straight back in mid 2000s. Started in Mco and next flight was over a year later from Buenos Aires.

I'd say your septum took a hammering

Andrew00 wrote: »

Where do people get the money from to go travelling around the world like this ffs????

I buried both my parents within a year of each other.Not that its any of your business.

go away and do it !

haven't done much (couple of ski holidays) it was grand. you really don't have to do anything unless you want to bring books or a kindle and some games on your phone or laptop if you do get bored. having nothing to do in a new place is great you just wander around and look at all the different stuff. go and get a coffee. go for a nap! Naps are brilliant!

It is good to find.

Being a solo traveller you will find people will talk to you more. If you are in a group or 2 or 3 I always found people were less likely to come over as they think they might be interrupting.
I travelled a bit on my own with the motorbike, nothing mad but just travelling a few days at a time, choosing a vague route and making it up as I went. The freedom was/is great.
Only downside is that sometimes it would have been nice to talk over something that had happened during the day, discussing shared experiences but on the flip side meeting people along the way is a great way to find out other places to visit.

Ate you ever going to tell us where you're off to OP or are you MI6?

Do it. Travel is great for broadening the mind and the irish accent is very useful to have abroad

Most importantly

Have fun

18 countries this year so far , Just go .. if you want company look up Travello app there are loads more .. stay in good hostels better for meeting people .. Rome 2 rio another good app.

QuickEmail wrote: »

You solo traveled for 10 years non stop?

Best school of life skills ever,Thailand 4years,then cambodia,laos,burma.then moved to nicaragua 2 years and costa rica 2 years. then on to inda and nepal. I believe travel is a great educator and made me aware of respect of different way's,this (i think) has made me a better people person .

I almost always travel solo and end up enjoying it more than when I go with friends. The friends I have travelled with (still close friends) have totally different body clocks!
Nothing worse than waking up early and knowing you've 4 or 5 hours of twiddling your thumbs until the others get up...you can go away and visit a museum or church on your own but what if the others want to visit it too....
I stay in hostels (I go for a private room but I like to socialise in the communal areas). I mainly visit European cities for short breaks and always get to see and do everything I want.

+1 on the Kindle, I bring mine everywhere, you're never alone with a good book, but I'll put it away and talk to people if I want, it's good to have the choice. I love finding small bars with interesting beer on tap, those are usually friendly places to get talking to people over a beer tasting.