Sense and Etiquette When Traveling Solo

I have written it before but it has be mentioned again (apparently). There are so many who ask me how I dare to travel solo and if I am not afraid to travel by myself and you are also many who ask me for tips on how to dare to travel solo, something that I have written a lot of in this blog post. 

As many of you know at this point, I travel by myself or solo as it is called on almost all my trips I do and this is something I have been doing for over 10 years now. Today it is becoming more and more common to do so, which I think is incredibly amazing and therefore I have previously written many tips for you who choose to travel solo, destinations to travel to solo and other good information for you who choose to travel solo, which you can read more about by clicking here. 

Sense and Etiquette

Sense and etiquette might be the wrong word to use but I didn’t found anything better than this and in one way it is things that are self-evident (for me but not for others) and therefore I want to share my tips on how to behave and adapt when traveling solo. It may be more appropriate to say basic conditions for traveling solo 🙂

These are my very best tips when traveling solo:

• Don’t wave with your money
• Distribute your money
• Don’t walk in dark alleys
• Be attentive
• Don’t leave your valuables visible, either on the beach or in the hotel room
• If it’s dark outside, take a taxi rather than walk
• Be humble
• Ask for help in a nice and kind way
• Be thankful if you get help, preferably with a smile

This may sound very obvious in many people’s ears, but it´s not for many others. Therefore, I want to emphasize that traveling solo requires more from you comparing to when you traveling with someone else.

Don’t wave with your money

It may be obvious but I recommend trying to hide your money as much as you can. Don’t stand on the street and wave openly with your money, it attracts people and then others see how much money you actually have. You never know who can rob you all of a sudden.

Distribute your money

One tip is to allocate or distribute your money you have in cash. Divide the money into 3-4 equal piles and hide / lay in different places. You can have one pile in your wallet, one pile in your passport, another one will you lock into the safety box in your hotel room and the last pile will you put in a pocket in your suitcase or in a pocket on a pair of pants at the bottom of your suitcase. Should you be robbed, you haven’t lost all your money at once. Do the same with your credit cards.

Don’t walk in dark alleys

It may be obvious, but is still worth mentioning, DO NOT go by yourself in a dark alley! NEVER! You don’t know who persecutes you, can jump on you, rob you or knock you down. Just don’t do it for your own safety! I would like to say that this is a basic rule of mind and sense.

Be attentive

Traveling solo means that you only have yourself to rely on and it takes more of you to travel solo. Therefore, pay special attention to your valuables and your surroundings, every day, all the time!

Don’t leave your valuables visible, either on the beach or in the hotel room

With that being said, you shouldn’t present your valuables openly and visibly to others. You never know how badly they have it at home and if there are a couple of iPhone headset visible or money visible it can be very  tempting to anyone. So, please, think again about how you leave your hotel room or what you leave on the beach when you go swimming.

If it’s dark outside, take a taxi rather than walk

For me, safety goes first when I travel solo. Therefore, I also want to emphasize for your own sake to take a taxi than to walk by your own in the dark, because you never know what can happen. If you can afford to go on a holiday, you can afford to take a taxi to where you are going, it is worth the money than to get rid of everything, get hit or robbed and you need to spend a lot of time blocking credit cards, etc.

Be Humble

When traveling solo you should be humble to everything and everyone, because you never know what you get back. It is exciting to travel solo and you will experience lots of adventures so be humble to yourself and everything around you. Just saying 🙂

Ask for help in a nice and kind way

A basic rule in general is to treat others as you want to be treated yourself, right? When I travel solo and need help with, for example, someone taking pictures of me, I ask for help in a nice way. I ask if they have time or if I disturb and I say thank you so much afterwards. Maybe you can help that person in return and take pictures of him / her?

Be thankful if you get help, preferably with a smile

Just as you should be humble towards others, you should also be thankful for the help with what you ask for, preferably with a smile! If you smile, the world will smile back against you! 🙂

As I said, these are some basic prerequisites to consider when traveling solo as I recommend from my own experience. I would almost say that this is basic rules to consider when traveling solo. If you think about these tips next time you travel solo, I can promise that your trip will be unforgettable and wonderful!

Happy Travel!
// Charlotte