Solo travel is still met with surprise here, and people ask you “why on your own?”. Yet this format is the fastest-growing kind of travel in the world, and the reason is simple: you do not have to agree the route with anyone. Staying three hours in one museum, or changing the plan on the spot, is your decision alone. Below I have written about safety, the budget and the loneliness question.
Choosing a first destination for solo travel
If you are going on your own for the first time, start with a familiar and comfortable country. Georgia, Turkey and the cities of Central Europe are suitable for this, because the transport is simple, the language problem is small and the tourist infrastructure is strong.
Compact cities are better for walking alone. In places like Prague, Tallinn and Ljubljana everything is within walking distance and going back to the hotel in the evening is not frightening. Keep the enormous cities for a second or third trip.
Safety in solo travel
Send your route to the people at home and write a short message every evening; this is a simple but working rule. Keep the name and address of the hotel on your phone screen, so you are not searching for it when you need to show a taxi driver.
Do not walk at night in districts you do not know; use a taxi app. When choosing a hotel, look at the district and whether the entrance is lit rather than at the price. Moving away immediately from a place where you feel uneasy is the right reaction; there is no need to be polite.
The budget for solo travel
When you travel alone the biggest problem is the hotel price, because a double room costs one person the same as two. There are several ways of closing that gap. Single rooms in hostels are often cheaper than a hotel and at the same time you meet people.
When looking at hostel options with single rooms, check the rating and the location. On the food side, one person gains more from street food and the market than from a buffet, because the portions are small and the choice is wide.
Read more: A Georgia travel guide: Tbilisi, Batumi, Kakheti, Kazbegi, Borjomi and going by train
The loneliness question
The third day is usually the hardest, because there is nobody to share the impression with. The simplest answer to that is choosing group activities. A walking tour, a cooking class or a day trip both enriches the route and creates conversation.
Sitting alone in a restaurant is also a matter of habit; take a book or a notebook, and after the first time it gets easier. Many people say it is precisely after a solo trip that they learned things about themselves they would never have learned in a group. Country-by-country safety advice is on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs site.
A short conclusion
Solo travel gives you freedom and in exchange demands planning and attention. Start with a compact city, send your route to the people at home, and balance the loneliness with group activities. To prepare the route and the visa documents together, fill in the application form.
Note: safety conditions vary by country and district, so read the official advice before travelling.
