People often think I am crazy when I tell them I am going travelling around the world for six months by myself. Travelling solo, however, is completely different from travelling alone. You are never alone: with 7 billion people on the planet you are bound to bump into a few of them on your journey!
When I visited Thailand last year and left all my home friends at home, the freedom and feeling of adventure was purely exhilarating. I had a free reign over what I did and when and how: travelling with friends often involves compromise and you may not see or do everything that you want to see and do.
More often than not, backpackers will make friends with other backpackers and do some of their travelling together. In Thailand I made great friends with a girl from my organised group and after the group trip was over we both carried on by ourselves for a few extra weeks, travelling together from Koh Phangnan to Bangkok and stopping off at some pretty interesting places on the way!
The only concern for the solo traveller, especially if female, is maintaining your safety. This takes common sense, research and organisation. My general route so far is as follows:
London - Brussels - Cologne - [Hamburg] - Copenhagen - ferry to Iceland - NYC - road trip to LA via the North coast - Beijing - Shanghai - Hong Kong - Vietnam - Singapore - Bali – Aus - London.
I will be with an organised group for the NYC to LA road trip and I am considering joining a group to explore Vietnam, but for the rest of it I will be solo!
The best way to keep safe is to avoid bad situations in the first place. For example, I will be getting an overnight train from Cologne to Copenhagen so, as a solo female traveller, I will either stay in my own cabin or share a female-only cabin. I will stick to well-known tourist areas, big cities and do the vast majority of my activities in day-light (safety when alone is significantly compromised at night). I do not plan to stay for a long time in any of the places up until Iceland so I do not expect many opportunities to meet fellow backpackers will arise at this stage, but I am happy just ‘tottling’ along :D
Knowing local emergency numbers, a few useful phrases in the relevant language and making sure friends and family are constantly updated on where you are is paramount.
I am spending three days on a ferry to Iceland and sharing a female-only cabin: a great opportunity to make some friends! I am less worried about Iceland because statistically it is one of the safest and crime-free countries. I also have the impression that people from Iceland are very friendly and welcoming so I think there will be more potential to meet people: I may even join some of my fellow ferry-goers on their journey for a bit! In any event I am excited purely about seeing volcanoes, glaciers, hot springs and other unique landscapes that the country offers: solo or not. Being friendly is also really important as a solo traveller: you need to be able to make friends and be open and sociable, otherwise you will find it very difficult.
New York to LA is with an organised trip: these are perfect for making friends along the way. One of the greatest things about travelling is meeting people from all walks of life with interesting stories to tell and things to say. Safety is also a lot less of a burden with an organised group because they look after you.
Probably the scariest time will be in Beijing: I have no plans as of yet to join a group there. I think, however, that by sticking to the large cities, I will be able to find some English! I will also be staying in travellers hostels (nice ones: common amongst western travellers) so again these are good chances to meet people. Keeping safe, learning a bit of Mandarin for essentials and reading up on the areas I am visiting with respect to safety and local tips etc is definitely on my 'to-do' list.
Vietnam is a little too alien in my view therefore I am currently researching a group to join for this journey. Bali and Singapore will be fine though: lots of people travel alone to these areas.
Finally, Australia! I am going to plan it so that I am there for New Years Eve (a perfect party to end my journey!) Australia is ‘backpacking country’ so I am not worried about visiting there at all: plus the fact that everyone speaks English will help!
Re organisation: make sure you know how to spot dodgy taxis/scams and the like, and make sure you have enough money in each currency and that it is accessible. I will have a back-up bank card in a separate place to my usual card for emergency back-up. Finally, make sure you take out travel insurance for the worst-case scenarios: this gives you a way-out if you find yourself in an emergency.
