So, You Think You’re Ready For Solo Travel

Solo travel is not for the faint of heart. I, the backpacker type, have seen this for myself. To go solo successfully, you must have prerequisite skills in resilience, initiative, self-trust, and problem-solving. As well as, having a healthy relationship with the unknown. The unknown battles with our human psyche daily, extending out its hand to us each chance it gets; from choosing to try a new dish, meet new people, or take up a group class. If you tend to curl up into a ball at the site of it, it controls you. If you tend to take an analytical approach, you reason with it. But in a nomadic lifestyle, you must be

willing to live within it. To be fully encapsulated, without fear, in the blissful embrace of its dark abyss. Therefore, it’s essential to have a solid foundation in these skills to have a successful trip. The reason this lifestyle isn’t for everyone banks on it. To those who’ve come across this page, the initiative you’ve taken to find out these answers for yourself is a giant foot in the right direction. You’re one step closer to the freedom you crave. But, I must warn you. Once you get settled in solo travel, you might find traveling with others to be a pain. Not to fear, if you can backpack all on your lonesome, exploring the world in your style and pace, and dare to stare fearlessly into the face of the unknown, you’ll quickly realize that you can do anything.

So, you think you’re ready for solo travel? Let’s put your skills to the test. Below there’s three scenarios that I’ve personally experienced during my solo travels and potential ones you could experience too. I encourage you to read through them and answer honestly to how you would react to each. The goal is to give yourself an opportunity for some objective introspection and gauge how well you‘re prepared to

tackle the highs and lows of solo travel.

Scenario One:

Your flight leaves in 8 hours and you’re busy packing your things into your backpack. The time has come for your final answers to the question of what to bring, and what not to bring. You had all your belongings set out beforehand ready to be packed away, but you realize how quickly your backpack fills up. You thought you understood minimalism, but you did not. It’s getting late and you start to feel overwhelmed. There are more things to pack, less space to put them, and no time to waste. You’re down to 6 hours until lift-off and 3 hours from leaving the house. You need to get some amount of sleep before your flight. What do you do?

Scenario Two:

You’re exhausted after a full day of sightseeing. You’re ready to get back to your stay to sleep it off. You hop on the bus and plop down to the nearest seat. You ride for 20 minutes before you think to check your Google Maps for your on-foot directions towards your stay. Then, you realize that not only are you going in the opposite direction and have been for 20 minutes, but now you’re much further away from where you started turning a 20-minute bus ride into 45 minutes. What do you do?

Scenario Three:

You’re a budget traveller so you have to be more frugal with your spending. You’ve been doing good so far so you decide to treat yourself. You splurge just a little and book an exciting boat excursion for later tonight. You makeshift an outfit out of your limited supply and craft one that makes you feel confident. The online booking suggested arriving 15 minutes before the start time. You calculate your travel time and find it will take 30 minutes, 15 on bus and 15 on foot. You have 45 mins before start time left, so you decide to head out. You follow your Google Maps to, on, and off the bus and begin your 15-minute walk towards the pier. You arrive at your destination and don’t see the boat. There are 15 minutes left before the start time. You refresh Google Maps, re-enter the address, and see it’s 15 minutes back in the direction you came. You arrive 3 minutes late just in time to watch the boat leave you behind. What do you do?

The lifestyle of the nomad is less about what you do and more about how you react to it. So whether you decide to leave things behind, take an L or two, or sulk in emotion, it’ll be your call to answer. Trust yourself in the things you know and face the unknown head-on. You’ll have no idea how it ends until you answer.

-K