The first time I travelled alone, I sat in the departure gate feeling a unique mixture of excitement and very specific terror. Not fear of the destination — I’d researched it thoroughly. The fear was more personal than that. What if I got lonely? What if something went wrong? What if I didn’t have anyone to laugh with when something ridiculous happened?
What actually happened: I met people I still talk to years later. I made decisions I’d never have made in a group. I figured things out by myself that gave me a particular kind of confidence I hadn’t expected. And I came home with the distinct feeling that I’d been on the trip that the rest of my life had been slightly waiting for.
These are the things I know now that I didn’t know then.
Before You Go: The Mental Part Nobody Talks About
Being nervous is completely normal. Almost every solo traveller reports nervousness before their first trip, including people who later become prolific solo travellers. The nervousness is about the unknown. It dissolves within about 48 hours of arrival — usually earlier.
You don’t have to tell everyone you’re travelling alone. People — especially family members who haven’t travelled solo — will project their fears onto you. Take their concerns seriously enough to plan sensibly, then set the rest aside. Their anxieties are not evidence of actual danger; they’re evidence of limited solo travel experience.
Lower your expectations for the first 24 hours. Arriving alone in an unfamiliar city can feel disorienting. You might feel flat for the first evening. This is normal. Don’t judge the whole trip by the first night. Give it 48 hours before you decide how you feel about anything.
Safety: The Real Advice (Not the Generic Stuff)
Safety on solo travel is genuinely important, but most of the advice out there is either uselessly vague (“be aware of your surroundings”) or so fear-oriented that it would stop you going anywhere.
Here is the practical version:
Research destination-specific risks, not generalised ones. “Is Mexico safe?” is a useless question. “Is Puerto Vallarta safe for solo travellers staying in the tourist area?” is a useful one. Specific risks vary enormously within countries, within cities, within neighbourhoods. Do targeted research using current travel forums and recent blog posts from solo travellers who’ve been there in the last 6 months.
Know where you’re going on your first night before you arrive. Have your accommodation address, the name of the nearest metro station, and a downloaded offline map before you leave the airport. The first 30 minutes in a new city are the most disorienting — removing navigational uncertainty from that window makes an enormous difference.
Keep your digital copies safe. Email yourself a scanned copy of your passport, travel insurance, and key bookings. Store your accommodation address and emergency numbers in a note in your phone that doesn’t require internet access.
Trust the instinct that something feels wrong. Experienced solo travellers consistently describe “the feeling” — a particular unease that something isn’t right. It’s almost never explicitly identifiable, but it’s worth acting on. Walk away from the situation. Change your plans. There’s no social obligation that outweighs your own sense of safety.
For women travelling solo specifically: The solo female travel community is enormous and extraordinarily well-resourced. Sites like Adventurous Kate, Solo Traveler, and the r/solotravel Reddit community offer destination-specific safety advice from women who’ve actually been there recently. Use these resources — they’re more accurate than any generic advice.
The Loneliness Question
Let’s address this honestly: yes, there are lonely moments in solo travel. Usually in the evenings, often at restaurants. And they’re perfectly manageable.
Hostels are the obvious cure. Even if you’re not a budget traveller, staying in a hostel for even one or two nights of a trip injects social connection in a way that nothing else quite matches. Common rooms, organised social events, walking tours — the infrastructure for meeting people is built in. Many modern hostels have private rooms, meaning you get the social life without sacrificing sleep quality.
Shared experiences beat lone activities for social connection. Cooking classes, day tours, group hikes, pub crawls, surf lessons — any organised activity puts you alongside other people in a naturally social context. These are the best places to meet other travellers.
Eat at the bar counter. Restaurant dining alone is much more comfortable at a counter seat than at a table for two with an empty seat across from you. Counter seating also puts you in natural proximity to staff and other solo diners — conversation happens more easily.
Allow yourself to also enjoy solitude. Part of what solo travel teaches you is the difference between loneliness and aloneness. One is painful; the other is genuinely peaceful and in many ways a gift. Many solo travellers find that they actively look forward to the stretches of comfortable solitude that group travel never offers.
The Best Destinations for First-Time Solo Travellers in 2026
Lisbon, Portugal Consistently near the top of solo travel rankings for good reason. Small, walkable, English very widely spoken, extraordinarily safe, inexpensive by Western European standards, and with one of the best hostel and social travel scenes in Europe. The city’s geography — viewpoints, neighbourhood trams, riverside bars, live music in tiny venues — lends itself to solo exploration beautifully.
Thailand (Bangkok and the North) Thailand has been a rite of passage for solo travellers for decades, and with good reason. The backpacker infrastructure is extraordinary — everywhere you turn there are other solo travellers, social hostels, organised group tours, and activities designed for single travellers. Bangkok’s Khao San Road area is genuinely excellent for meeting people. Chiang Mai is calmer, culturally richer, and beloved by solo travellers who want more than a party scene.
Japan Japan is consistently ranked among the safest destinations in the world for solo travel, and the solo-friendly culture here is remarkable. Solo dining is completely normalised — most restaurants have counter seating specifically designed for one. Public transport is so good that navigation is almost never a problem. And the cultural richness of the country — temple visiting, food exploration, city wandering — is ideally suited to the pace of solo travel.
Colombia (Medellín and Cartagena) The transformation of Colombia’s safety and tourism infrastructure over the last decade has been remarkable. Medellín in particular has become a major solo travel hub, with a vibrant café culture, excellent hostels, organised social events, and one of the most affordable costs of living of any city in the world at a comparable quality level. The free walking tours are genuinely excellent introductions to the city.
New Zealand For first-time solo travellers who want outdoor adventure without language barriers or navigation challenges, New Zealand is close to ideal. English-speaking, extraordinarily safe, with a strong backpacker culture (the hop-on hop-off Intercity bus network is specifically designed for this), and landscape that makes solo hiking, bungee jumping, and road tripping feel immediately achievable.
The Practical Logistics of Travelling Alone
Budget slightly more than you would as part of a group. Solo travellers pay single occupancy rates for rooms that cost the same as a double. Taxis and Ubers for solo passengers are the same price as they’d be for two. This “solo premium” is real — budget for it.
Tell someone your rough itinerary. A trusted friend or family member should know where you’re going and have a copy of your key booking details. This isn’t about safety paranoia — it’s just sensible, and it takes about two minutes to do.
Get travel insurance that covers your activities. Non-negotiable. If you’re doing any adventure activities (and you should be), upgrade to an adventure sports policy.
What Solo Travel Actually Gives You
Beyond the logistics and the destinations, the thing that keeps people coming back to solo travel is harder to articulate but utterly consistent in what travellers describe.
When you navigate something unfamiliar entirely on your own terms — when you make a decision, try something, adapt to what happens, and find out you handled it — you come home knowing something about yourself that you didn’t know before.
That’s what the first solo trip gives you. And it’s worth every bit of the nervousness in the departure gate.