From the beginning of next year I will be traveling full time as a solo female traveler around the world. I totally love traveling and I think you know that by now. But how do I dare to travel solo? I will in this post share my best tips for you who are thinking of traveling solo but don´t really dare to do it because of different reasons.

How You Dare to Travel Solo – My Step by Step Guide

In my post “Why you should travel solo” which you can read more about, I write my best tips on why you should travel solo. I share what I learnt during all my travels as solo traveler and what to expect if you are traveling alone, whether you are a man or a woman.

How dare you travel alone?

I often get the question “How dare you travel alone” and that’s a question I can talk about forever. However, I will share my absolute most important advice and tips for you who also thinking about traveling solo but doesn´t really dare to take that step to travel solo.

How do you do to dare traveling solo?

So how do you do to take that step to dare traveling solo? What should you think about, isn´t scary and doesn’t it feel l.o.n.e.l.y? I will now explain how I look at traveling solo and how you will also dare take the step to travel solo, because that’s the best I’ve done and still do! 🙂

Follow these steps and YOU will dare to travel solo:

1. Start by thinking if you want to go to a big city or a calm destination for sun and relaxation. What kind of person are you?

2. Then plan when you want to go and how long you want to be away. Look in your calendar and deposition few days for your trip. I would recommend starting with a weekend trip to anyone who never been traveling solo before. Take off Friday or why not both Thursday and Friday! 🙂 It will be easier to really get away if you have set the days for your trip and have your vacation granted by your employer.  In this post I describe how I plan my travels step by step.

3. Do some research for the city you chose to travel to. You will feel much calmer if you have done some research before you arrive. Use Google when you do your research on what there is to see and do in that city!

4. As you do your research, write down the things you want to see and do. Write either on a piece of paper or on your computer so you’ll get it in your hand when you arrive. This makes the trip more “real” before you even book the trip. I always write down on a word document on my computer and print before I leave. Sometimes images say more than text and it may be good to show to someone when you ask for the way of your purpose.

5. Now it’s time to book your flight. You can read more about my best tips how to find the most affordable tickets and other tips and tricks in this post.

6. Once you have booked your flight or while looking at airline tickets, you should also book somewhere to stay during your trip. I am not a hostel person, I prefer staying at a hotel. Are you traveling for the first time solo, I really recommend booking a decent hotel. It will make your first solo trip to feel easier to go through. Treat yourself staying in a decent hotel! After traveling solo few times and you get used to it, you can experiment with choosing hostels, etc, but don´t start with that whatever you do!

7. Pack you stuff in time so you don´t feel stressed about that. Think about what you are using daily and pack clothes for everyday, especially if you haven´t been traveling solo before. Just pack your most necessary things – try to travel “easily”. If you can travel with only a hand luggage that is even better!

8. If you are unsure what to pack, write down on a piece of paper as you pack each item. Then you know what you missed from the list or you can do the opposite and write down what you want to bring with you and thick off the things on the list as you pack your stuff. I usually mentally thinking that I start from down to up, and that is from my feet up to my head. For example socks, shoes, pants, skirt, dress, underwear, linen, shirt, sweater, bikini, scarf, makeup, toothbrush, toothpaste, hat, hairbrush, etc 🙂

9. Imagine that this is a journey beyond the usual where YOU dare to challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone. You will have something amazing to tell everyone when you coming home and you might even inspire others to dare to do the same thing! 🙂

10. Think positive thoughts! This will be fun, you don´t know what’s going to happen but you’ve got your flight and accommodation booked, a list of things to see and do so now it´s time for you to grow up! If you haven´t tried to traveling solo you don´t know if that’s your thing or not. Traveling solo doesn´t fit everyone but you don´t know if that suits you until you have tried it yourself.

Where do you recommend to travel as a solo traveler for the first time?

– Personally I recommend going to a destination that is not too far away from your home. For example, I live in Stockholm, then Copenhagen or Oslo is a good city to travel to for the first time as a solo traveler. It allows you to dare to test how it is to be solo while at the same time being “near” your home destination. It’s about security mixed with excitement. You want but don´t dare properly and therefore it is optimal to travel to a city that is not too far away. Do you want sun, bath and relaxation – choose a destination that’s closest to you even if it means few more hours of flying. I would strongly advise not to go to Asia and backpack the first thing you do if you never been traveling solo before.

Hope my guide has helped you to dare traveling solo now! 🙂

Happy Travels!
//Charlotte