I’ve written countless articles and blog posts, promoting solo travel. I encourage others to step outside of their comfort zone and try a solo adventure at least once in their lives. I highlight all of the benefits of self-discovery, skills acquired, and adventures had from solo travel. But I don’t want to sugarcoat it: sometimes solo travel is difficult.
Traveling itself poses all sorts of difficult situations, most of which can be exasperated by going at it alone.
Language barriers.
Money issues.
Health scares.
Logistics.
And the list can go on and on.
Now, I’m not writing this to scare you away from solo travel, or for you to think that I’m paranoid or anything.
But before you embark on a solo adventure, you should have all of the facts.
Solo travel is difficult at times.
However, thankfully, the difficult times are dwarfed by the amazing, thrilling, crazy-awesome, whatever-superlative-you-want-to-use times.
After traveling solo for the better part of the last decade, I’ve had countless positive experiences that have solidified my drive to continue along.
But I’ve also had my fair share of difficult moments.
And I want to make sure that I’m not painting an idyllic scenario with solo travel. Let’s keep it real and I’ll tell you why solo travel is difficult at times.
YOU have to make all the decisions.
Even when you don’t want to, YOU have to make all of the decisions when you travel solo.
Believe me, this was one of the things that I was looking forward to when I first started traveling solo. Being able to choose where I get to go, which restaurants I get to eat at, and what activities to participate in was a major draw for me.
The hard part comes when you’re lying in bed, sunburnt, hungry, and have to figure out your dinner situation.
It comes when you’re driving around in the middle of nowhere, your cell phone isn’t getting reception, which causes your GPS to become unreliable, and you have to figure out which direction to turn.
Or when you arrive in a destination after midnight, having traveled for 14+ hours, and there was a mixup with your accommodation and you now have to figure out where to sleep.
You HAVE to be self-reliant.
There are no two ways about it. Solo travel is difficult because you have to be self-reliant, and even more so if you’re in a remote location.
When you’re driving around the desert and you get a flat tire, forget calling AAA or a tow truck. It’s up to you to change that tire, and hope that the rental has a spare.
Nobody else is going to pack a lunch for you on that loooong beach day.
Run out of cash on that remote island and the banks had your accounts frozen? Better find a phone to start calling around.
Booking activities is tricky.
If there’s one good thing that came from 2020 regarding the travel-sphere is the mainstream push to be more sustainable.
Local business, businesses owned by women and POC, and environmentally-friendly businesses are finally getting more attention, and the desire to support them is increasing.
But something I’ve noticed during my last 3 solo trips is this: most tours that support these models require a 2 person minimum, or solo travelers are required to pay double.
I get it. It costs money to keep businesses and tour companies afloat, and the ROI on having a solo traveler as the whole tour party isn’t ideal.
It’s not impossible, but frustrating and increasingly difficult for solo travelers to find sustainable, locally-run tours by women and POC. Hopefully that’s changing soon.
People don’t always understand you.
Without trying to sound like a whiny teenager, sometimes solo travel is difficult because others don’t always understand you.
When you start to tell people in your immediate acquaintance that you’re heading somewhere on a solo adventure, or try to tell them about the super-awesome solo trip you just got back from, they never really know how to talk to you.
RELATED: QUESTIONS TO ASK A TRAVELER
Even your closest circle of people won’t understand WHY you want to go somewhere by yourself. They’ll pepper you with questions:
Won’t you get lonely?
Aren’t you afraid?
Why don’t you want to go with a group?
Is it safe to go alone?
Could none of your friends go with you?
How about waiting until someone can go with you?
“Concerned people”
While the sentiments are usually based from a place of caring, they’re also coming from people who have never traveled alone, and might not have traveled at all. Because they don’t understand your desire to travel solo, they won’t know what to say, ask, or talk to you about.
You might get some funny looks. People might not ask you to participate in group activities, thinking that you prefer to do everything alone. It can be difficult, but not enough to deter me (and hopefully YOU) from solo travel.
You can’t avoid the selfies forever.
If you want to start getting good pictures of yourself and of your location, you’ll have to master the selfie. There are only so many times you can hand your camera or phone to someone and hope they get a good picture of you.
There have been SO. MANY. TIMES. the I’ve given my camera to someone, framed up the shot for them, and then was disappointed with the outcome.
RELATED: WHY I TAKE TRAVEL SELFIES
The selfie has evolved from the duck-faced stereotypical shots that spread like wildfires when the camera phones became popular with the birth of social media. You can get creative with your pictures, but it can take some time and have a learning curve.
Have you ever traveled solo before? Do you find that solo travel is difficult at times?
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