By Katie Allie
These are my stories from the road and hard-won guidance from a thoughtful traveler. If I’m making you curious about getting lost and finding the good stuff in this great big world we all share, then I’m doing something right.
Imagine it is the night before you’re setting off on a trip, and you’re a jittery bag of nerves. Did you forget anything? Should you be doing this? Did you pack enough soap? It’s your first solo trip, and you feel nervous about what is to come. Why exactly did you think this was such a good idea again? Believe it or not, there are plenty of others who have been in your shoes.
Take this opportunity to “chat” with two experienced travelers, each with valuable insight to impart from their time abroad. Allow me to introduce you to Liz Moore, a 31-year-old West Virginia native and attorney, and Michael Konen, a 32-year-old management consultant. Both have extensive independent travel experience, including solo trips. Liz has traveled to the Pacific Northwest and Nicaragua alone and recently returned from a three-month solo journey through Europe. Michael has racked up miles and solo hours traveling through Asia. Their words are packed full of helpful advice, especially if you’re considering your first solo trip or even just your first trip booked independently without a tour guide to navigate for you.
It makes me smile a bit that asking fellow travelers about their favorite topic elicits lengthy responses. Travel has been life changing for me personally, and hearing others echo the same sentiments is equally affirmative. I could comment at length on any one of the questions posed below, but I will add only this: if I have any advice to give, it would be to just go. The hardest part is making the decision to do it. The rest is just details. The world is not nearly as big or scary as it’s made out to be. Be good ambassadors for our country. Go.
Why do you travel?
Liz Moore
Liz: I travel because it’s the best educator I’ve found. I absolutely love walking off a plane or stepping out of the car in a new place. Maybe it’s a foreign land where I don’t speak the language or maybe it is three towns over, but no matter what, I love exploring and seeing what’s different. It is fun seeing how customs are different, how food preferences change and why people do things the way they do. Sure, you can read about them if you want, but nothing compares to seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing and doing it yourself. I’ve learned to be open-minded in everything in life, trust my instincts, try new things, believe that most people in the world are good and that it’s much more fun to just be happy and go with it.
Michael: I love traveling because it provides an opportunity for exploration of one’s self and the world in which we live. Traveling, especially to international destinations, allows you to push yourself past your daily routines to see what lies outside your comfort zone. As you gently push and extend your personal limits to build confidence, you’re quickly provided with examples of the kindness, humility and hospitality of total strangers. Traveling provides you with a glimpse into other cultures and ways of life so you can learn how to appreciate different opinions, viewpoints and perspectives more easily. You’re given the chance to lay your eyes on breathtaking scenery and taste bold new flavors. I can’t think of a better avenue to learn so many different things all at once.
What prompted you to travel solo for the first time?
Michael Konen
Liz: Well, it was mostly out of necessity. I’ve been in love with traveling since my study abroad in college. For a long time, I would wait around and beg people to go on trips with me, offer to plan everything and then get disappointed when plans fell through for one reason or another. Finally, I’d had enough. I decided it was silly for me to not see and do what I wanted to do simply because I didn’t have someone to do those things with me. So, I booked my first solo trip to Oregon, and I haven’t looked back since.
Michael: My first opportunity to travel solo happened as a result of a career change. In the past, I would travel internationally with friends; however, I knew none of my friends would be able to take off a few weeks from work. As I was changing jobs, I realized I may never have this significant amount of time off again, so I couldn’t squander the opportunity just because I didn’t have a travel companion. I ended up traveling over 25,000 miles in a three-week period to five countries in Asia.
What has been the best part of traveling solo?
Liz: Honestly, I think the main benefit of traveling solo is getting to do exactly what I want to do whenever I want to do it. Maybe that sounds a little selfish, but I think it’s a good thing to know what makes you happy and make the effort to do it. Plus, it’s extremely helpful to be solo when you want to take the perfect picture and that happens to take about 234 tries. There’s no one there to be mad at you for taking forever!
Michael: The thing I like most about traveling alone is that you get to do exactly what you want. You set the pace, route and topics for your journey. Although I enjoyed traveling solo across Asia, my favorite experience about this particular trip was learning first-hand about how small the world really is. After landing in Japan, I took to Facebook to thank my friends for allowing me to stay with them in Shanghai, China. I forgot to disable Facebook’s automatic location tagging, and when I posted the thank you note, Facebook automatically checked me into Osaka, Japan. Unknowingly, I had a friend from high school I hadn’t seen in five years who saw my post. He sent me a message on Facebook, and a few days later we connected in Tokyo. It’s quite a baffling experience to think that a thank you note posted on Facebook led to randomly being reunited with a friend I grew up with on the other side of the world.
What is the downside of traveling solo?
Liz: There are two big downsides to solo travel in my opinion: not being in your photos as much and not having someone to watch your stuff for you. To try and be in more of my travel pictures, I make more of an effort to take selfies in cool locations or find a way to prop up my camera and set a timer. I’m not usually a selfie fan, but if it’s take a selfie or don’t be in the picture, I’m going to take the selfie. A simple tripod and remote shutter for digital cameras can fix that issue, though. As for the luggage, that issue is a bit trickier to resolve. I think you eventually just get better at knowing how to wrangle your things and take advantage of every opportunity to do those little tasks like buy water, go to the bathroom or stretch your legs when you know your things are secure.
Michael: For me, the largest drawback of traveling solo is not being able to share the creation of those spectacular memories with anyone else. Years from now, I won’t have a close friend to turn to and reminisce on a memorable moment. I was lucky this solo traveling experience had a mixture of traveling completely by myself and other times when I could build memories with old or new friends along the journey.
What is your favorite solo travel memory?
Liz: I was driving around Wales, and I found this adorable little B&B just outside a fishing village I wanted to visit. I had an itinerary in mind of what I wanted to do for the next day, but I always ask the locals what they think I should do. By the end of the evening, both my hosts and everyone at the restaurant I ate at told me to go to this one lake that led to a beach. It wasn’t on my list, but I figured if half a dozen people thought it was worth visiting, I should go. Now, this was a long day of sightseeing, and I had seen some amazing sights already, so the bar was set pretty high. I pulled into the parking lot, checked out the map and headed out. The lake itself was just a few yards down the path. I get there and am not impressed. The lake got prettier the closer I got to the beach, but the beach—oh my, the beach. I got there just as the sun was starting to set, so the sand was glowing gold and orange. I watched the sky change from a beautiful bubble gum pink, to gold, and finally this unbelievable sorbet color. I honestly didn’t think a beach could be that beautiful. The beach is called Broad Haven, and you get to it from Bosherston on the Pembrokeshire coast. I later found out that Barafundle Beach, a beach literally next door, had been named one of the world’s 25 most beautiful beaches. I had been to Barafundle earlier in the day, and while Barafundle is gorgeous, I think they missed out on this spectacular gem, although it does make the list of Wales’ most beautiful beaches.
Michael: I would love to give a special shout-out to my friends, Rachel and Julian, who provided me with amazing hospitality during my trip to Asia. I had just started becoming friends with this awesome couple when they relocated to Shanghai, China, and in the months that followed, I joked that I would visit them one day. With my looming career change taking shape, a visit was becoming more of a reality. During my stay in Shanghai, Mother Nature tried to dampen our weekend plans as a large typhoon rolled in over the East China Sea. Despite the soggy conditions, Rachel and Julian were adamant about showing me the sites of Shanghai. With rain jackets zipped up, we toured the city as if the conditions were an everyday occurrence. As I reflect back on this experience, I’m curious if some of my best friends would have reacted the same way. It would have been much easier to stay inside given the terrible weather, but these two showed amazing hospitality during my visit, which I am still very appreciative about to this day.
Do you have a solo travel horror story?
Liz: I had developed bronchitis while traveling in Europe and was miserably sick. All I wanted to do was sleep and drink tea. Unfortunately, I kept finding these bug bites all over me and was starting to freak out, thinking I had picked up bed bugs somewhere, even though I checked every room religiously before unpacking. So I started looking up bed bug bites, how to know if they’re in your stuff and what to do to get rid of them. In the midst of checking my books for bugs, I knocked over my cup of tea and watched the tidal wave of freshly brewed tea wash over my keyboard and the screen go black. I was beside myself. Here I am alone, sick, itching like crazy, not sure if I have bed bugs, and now I just killed my computer in a foreign country. I was ready to just crawl in a hole and wait for the trip to be over. Luckily, I was able to call my sister to talk me off the ledge, schedule an appointment with a computer repair place a few days later and do a quick meditation to bring everything back into perspective. It also helped that they weren’t bed bug bites after all. It all worked out so much better than I could have planned, and I’m grateful for that.
Michael: I was flying from Atlanta, GA, to Beijing, China, so I had been traveling for 24 hours. I landed at the Beijing airport and pulled up Google Maps on my phone to enter my hotel’s address. With my path displayed on the screen, I was confident I could navigate the subway system by myself, although the only Chinese phrase I could mutter was xièxiè, which means thank you. Once I got to my subway stop, I popped above ground and started walking in the direction of the hotel marker on the map. For some reason the directions had me moving away from the busy streets of the city and instead heading into a very low-lit residential neighborhood. I could not have looked more like a tourist, as I had three different colored bright bags. I was never in any kind of danger, but my senses were definitely heightened as I wandered through the dark streets battling my jet lag. After walking around the neighborhood for a while with no luck, I navigated my way back to the busy street, pulled up Uber and requested a ride to my hotel. A few minutes later, a car showed up to bring me to my hotel, but I couldn’t provide the driver with the correct address. On top of that, my driver didn’t speak any English, and I sure wasn’t helping the situation with my non-existent knowledge of the native tongue. Luckily, my Uber driver used some quick thinking and drove me to a nearby hotel where he knew he could find a receptionist to translate for us. After a short conversation with our unintended translator, I was on my way to my hotel, which surprisingly was less than a mile away. This small setback pushed me to think through alternative options, gave me confidence that I could manage on my own and reassured me that there are awesome people throughout this world. While my mapping applications failed me, Uber and humanity came to the rescue.
What general advice do you have for solo travelers?
Liz: I think the biggest issue people have with traveling solo is the fear of eating alone. The best tip I have for getting over this fear is to eat at the bar. Typically, other singles will also be sitting there and want to talk, or there’s always the bartender if you’re there at a slow part of the day. My advice when you have to sit at a table is if you’re allowed to pick your seat, pick one with a great view, whether it be scenery or people watching. Sure, people may see you, but they’re not going to wonder why you’re alone. In my experience, eating alone is a normal thing pretty much everywhere except for the U.S.
Another bit of advice is to be aware of your surroundings. Technology has made life so easy for the traveler, but it has also made it so easy for us to forget that we are in a strange world. While I honestly believe most people in the world are good, I have run into my fair share of people who I know were not looking out for my best interests, and it’s only because my nose wasn’t buried in my phone that I avoided them. Be aware of who is around you, where your belongings are, how easily they can be accessed and where you’re going. Use Kitestring. It’s a great app for anyone in a not-so-great area or who is uncomfortable for any reason. Basically, it will call or text a friend if you don’t respond after the alarm you set goes off. They donate a portion of their profits to help combat street harassment.
Pack light. Make sure you can carry everything on your own without hating your life. Remember that elevators are not so common in the rest of the world. Make sure you can actually carry your luggage upstairs.
Assume you’ll come back. Don’t try to kill yourself seeing everything in one trip. You can’t, and you won’t enjoy it if you try. Embrace the fact that you’re a tourist, and really throw yourself into it. I don’t mean that you should do things just because tourists do them, but if it’s something you want to do, do it—even if you look like a tourist. Go ahead and have the trip you want.
Michael: My advice to any solo traveler is to stay true to yourself and push aside your thoughts on how others may perceive you. Unfortunately, many of us continue to worry about what others may think, which deprives us of doing the things we really want to do. Don’t be afraid of potentially embarrassing yourself by trying new experiences or eating by yourself. The reality is that almost everyone you come into contact with on your trip you’ll never see again. Don’t hesitate to do exactly what you want to do. Sometimes you need to get out of your own way.
For those thinking about traveling solo abroad, make sure you download your favorite VOIP (voice over internet protocol) applications like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber and/or Skype. These awesome applications will allow you to easily talk with friends and family back home. They also give you the ability to freely call 1-800 numbers should you need to reach your airline or hotel.
Another must is to download the offline maps of your destination available through Google Maps. This will help you to navigate the city should you not have easy access to the internet while you’re on the move.
Lastly, use your own social networks to help curate your travel plans. You’ll be quite surprised by the number of connections you have who have already been to that location or have good contacts in your destination. The world is shockingly smaller than you’d think, and the willingness for travelers to help others with the itch is unparalleled.
About the Author
Katie Allie is a West Virginia native who holds degrees in English and elementary education. A teacher by trade, she spent years in a classroom before branching out as a travel consultant and writer. With five continents under her belt and an affinity for noodle soup, it should come as no surprise that she loves to write about food and talk adventure. She may be reached at hello@acrossthelinetravel.com, and you can read more about her adventures at www.wvexecutive.com/category/executive-exclusives.
