How To Plan Your First Solo Trip

If there is one thing you have to add to your bucket list, and accomplish at least once in your life, is going on a solo trip.

The first time I went on a solo trip, was on my trip to New York. 

Honestly, it was different from what I was used to. Before that trip I was used to travel with my family, my boyfriend and friends, and this trip was the first time I was totally on my own, by myself.

What I must say, is that it didn’t feel to different to me cultural wise, because I am an american and I was born and lived in the States, so I didn’t feel to shocked traveling there alone. And also, I lived in philadelphia, my whole childhood I spent visiting New York City multiple times, so coming back there on a trip, alone, was actually pretty nice.

So, ready or not, here is the full guide on planning your first (second/any trip on your own) solo trip!

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Choosing Your Destination

Choosing where you want to go is the most important decision when planning any kind of trip.

Ask yourself three questions when choosing your destination:

1. How do I imagine my trip ? Is it a relaxing, beach and nature vacation, is it a cultural trip, or maybe a city exploring trip, where you spend the whole day, from early in the morning to late at night, walking around and exploring ! 

2. What’s my budget ? if you don’t want to spend too much money on your trip, maybe look for a cheaper destination ?

3. How long do I want to my trip to be ? If you want a week long trip, than you should search for countries that are pretty closer to yours, that a week long trip will be enough. If you want a longer trip, or don’t have a time limit at all, go ahead and choose anything you want.

Book Your Flight !

Now the exciting part, booking the flight !

I said it a few times in my blog, the more flexible you are to travel, the more cheap flights and deals you could find. 

I have a full guide on how to book cheap flights on Skyscanner, which is my favorite flight booking site that I use 99% of the time, as well as my new and free email course, that teaches you all of the important basics on how to plan your trip and travel for cheap ! make sure to check it out !

If you don’t have a time limit to your trip, and would like to travel for a few months, you could even buy a one way ticket, and go on a spontaneous solo trip !

Booking A Hotel/Apartment/Hostel

Another basic but important subject we must cover. 

Choose where would you like to stay – a hostel ? which is the cheapest option, or book a nice and cheap hotel / apartment, or even share an apartment in an Air bnb apartment , or rent the whole Air bnb apartment for yourself !

Like I said in the last section, I have a full email course guide on how to travel for cheap, it also contains important tips, and where to find good deals on hotels/apartments. And just a reminder, this email course is completely FREE !

Here are my favorite hotel booking sites I use all the time:

1. Agoda.com 

2. Hotelscombined.com  

3. Airbnb.com 

4. Booking.com  

Tip: Try finding an hotel/hostel/apartments that is located in the heart, or near the heart of the city. The closer you are to everything, the better. It is a huge money saver (incase you are staying in a city destination), because you won’t need to waste money on public trasnportation, or even on an Uber or a taxi, and just walk around (which is also my favorite way to explore a city).

Plan Your Trip !

Even if you don’t want to be on a schedule, and just want to have a free, spontaneous, clear minded trip, planning a little bit is still very important. You should have a general idea of what you are going to do, what does this destination has to offer, and some basic information. It isn’t the best idea arriving somewhere with no plans at all. 

What I like to do, if i’m on my own, and even if i’m not, is to plan full day trips, and then when I start my trip, I decide the night before which day plan I want to do the next day.

This way you also have a trip plan, and also have a little bit of freedom, and sticking directly to a plan. 

If you are not into planning your own trip, you don’t have the time and the confident to build a full trip, and you just don’t want the hedache of planning a full trip, you can always hire a travel planner that will do all of the work for you !

After hiring a travel planner, all you need to do is just relax, pack your suitcase and not missing your flight ! How nice and relaxing isn’t it ?

For more information, you are more than welcomed to check out my travel planning service.

Go On An Organized Trip !

An organzied tour is great for those who don’t have the time or the interest in planning every small detail of the trip. They only want to travel, but without the hedache of researching everything, spending so much time online and really planning a full trip. 

Signing up for an organized tour is an excellent way to go on a full trip, getting to know every part of the destination you are visiting, hearing all of the information, stories and insider tips from your travel guide, and definitely the best way to meet and travel with people who have similar interests, which is a huge benefit for solo traveler’s.

I even have a favorite company I would like to recommened – Trova Trip.

Trova Trip is a curated group travel for young proffesionals. The company provides all of the planning, transportation, and they even hire an experienced local guide !

One of my favorite things about Trova Trip is that they offer customizable trips at very reasonable prices. You can choose a trip from a wide range of amazing, beautiful destinations around the world, and Trova Trip will provide an authentic, full 10-day experience for you !

And do you want to hear the better part ? Trova Trip wants to make your travel experience more personal, so they customize the trip according to your prefernces and pair you up with other travelers that has a similar mind set, and are interested in similar experiences as you !

Also, these groups are pretty small, between 8-20 people per group. Which is nice, because there isn’t too much going on, too many people to take care of, and you can really do make some friends for life in this trip. Because of the small group, you can really get to know and get to a personal level with every person in the group, and find yourself some besties around the world – perfect for solo travelers !

The next great thing I am going to tell you about Trova Trip, is the huge money saver it provides – you can spread your payment into 12 months, and pay only 99$ per month !

Second optionn – spreading your payment into 6 months, and paying 198$ per month. How cool is that?!

It really is a big money and time saver, especially when you can go on an amazing trip, and pay a little bit every month for a while, instead of wasting all of your money (or most of it) in one month.

For more information, you are free to check out Trova Trip and book your next adventure !

Pack Light

Packing light is very important. You need to pack only stuff that you really need. So if you are thinking about the black dress, if you really need it or not, just put it away. You won’t need it.

With that being said, it is good to pack practicle, and not packing too much. Taking a pair of jeans that fits three different tops is great ! filling small travel bottles with shampoo and soap – even better than taking the whole bottle.

Before The Trip, Make Copies Of All The Important Documents

Printing and scanning a copy of your passport, plane tickets, hotel/apartment booking summary is so important. I like to print them, and also scan them and email them to myself.

I don’t recommened walking around with your passport on you. It could mainly cause you trouble. So I like to copy my passport, or any other document I need, and print and mail them to myself so I don’t need to walk around with the original passport/documents and take a chance of loosing them.

Listen To Your Intuitions – SAFTY FIRST!

* Always listen to your intuitions

* Don’t trust anyone, no matter how nice they look.

* Don’t go anywhere far and alone with someone you’ve just met.

* Keep your belongings close to you. Travel around with a waist bag, and put in it your most important stuff-money, phone, documents, etc.

* Adjust your clothing to the place you are visiting – let’s say it like this – don’t go with crop tops and shorts in a muslim country. Or don’t go with a mini dress in the religous part of Jerusalem.

* Never say you are traveling alone, or that you are by yourself. Even if you are in a tourist attraction and someone asks you if you are alone, say you are waiting for your friend to come out of the restroom. Even though most people don’t have bad intentions, you still can’t trust anyone, and you need to keep yourself safe. 

Things To Know Before Going On A Solo Trip:

1. Traveling solo isn’t that scary as you think

2. Traveling alone = 100% freedom – You don’t have anyone to argue with, you just do what ever the hell you want !

3. Make sure someone in home has all of your information (phone number, where you are staying, what flights you are taking, and more).

4. There isn’t a “right” moment to go on a solo trip, you just need to dive in and do it !

5. There are more good people than bad. Don’t be affraid, not eveybody wants to hurt you. But, it is important to stay safe and not trusting everyone.

6. There will be some mistakes in your trip, some stuff that will go wrong. But, don’t panic, you will fix it and laugh about it in the future.

7. Don’t be shy, get to know people on your trip ! it is one of the must fun things to do while traveling solo.

Related content:

How to book cheap flights on Skyscanner

“Travel More, Pay Less” travel planning FREE EMAIL COURSE

How to save money while travelingHow to avoid/take care of a jet lag

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