Ahhhhh the single, solo, un, table for one trip. To be honest, this is really my least favorite way to travel but I’d rather travel alone than not at all so sometimes you are your best and only travel companion. Be prepared to get annoyed, have a crying fit or two, feel awkward, look awkward and just well, be a person traveling alone.
Roadtrips around the States, train tripping around Europe, jet hopping to Spain or Hokkaido, ferrying, biking, hiking, skiing and all manner of transport to a number of places, I’ve done it.
All can be done alone - with a few things kept in mind.
ATTENTION WOMEN: YOU ARE A TARGET
(because the overwhelming large percentage of humans assaulted and kidnapped are women)
When you are a woman traveling alone you will be looked at as a target by some people. THIS IS NOT OVERACTIONG. THIS IS A FACT. FOR FUCK’S SAKE, get yourself a shank, knife, some mace. BE ON ALERT FOR SKETCHY BEHAVIOR.
HOSTELS are just that hostel. Ladies, now this is no joke and these stories are 100% true so please, please for the love of all things sacred, pay attention.
Hostels can be awesome when traveling in a group, however on your own I would highly discourage for the following reasons.
After my wedding, four of us went up to Edinburgh for a weekend trip. We stayed in my first hostel which was non eventful, nondescript and fine. What did come out of that stay was a story and scary af information that made me extremely leary of most hostels.
My newly beloved was English and had done the whole lad’s holiday around Europe thing before we had married, so he was a well traveled bloke who had slept on train platforms and such with his four other mates. Mates, lads, blokes. That’s the point - five guys. Five English lads around Europe. Not many people are going to really mess with them because they will fuck a dude up that messes with them. A single woman? Ha. You are not taken seriously. You will be taken sexually, especially if you are young or look young, but this goes for allllllll women. Most countries don’t take young women seriously as you’ll soon be reading.
He began on a story about a hostel is some European country where there were two Spanish girls who had been watched while they slept by the hostel front desk guy. Like he came in when they were sleeping and watched them. Um, what and what the fuck. Seriously dude. Not ok and fucking creepy as fuck! Another friend in Korea was staying the night in a Korean bath house, which is totally legit and a great night, but for her, she woke up with a guy sucking on her toe… Yes. A middle aged Korean man sucking on her toe whilst she slept and he played with his tiny dick. Again. Dudes. This is not ok behavior. Seriously. Not ok.
When I lived in Japan and Korea, as a young white woman, I was eye fucked, rubbed on, masterbated on, stared at, licked at, yelled at, you name it - it happened on the subway every week without fail. So just know that happens a lot too around the world. BE AWARE. Men will follow you. I’ve had men follow me. Take photos of me on buses sneakily. And these just aren’t old dudes they’re young dudes too. Some seriously not ok fucked up shit. Like butt touching in Spain by the waiter on the beach. Yeah. Gross and disgusting and not ok Spanish man.
I always stay in an AirBnB that I’ve given the address to someone at home incase I’m murdered or something horrible happens. I think ahead. At least someone at home will know where to start looking for the body right? Another friend told me of her Japanese woes when a Korean who was terrified of ‘fan death’ kept her from sleeping all night. (Yes, it’s a real thing. Some Koreans believe that you will die if the fan is kept on at night including the AC.) So she and the Korean girl had an all out on/off again war over the AC on a sweltering hot humid Tokyo summer’s night in a hostel.
Traveling anywhere in the world by yourself needs extra safety precautions especially as a woman. In certain areas you literally cannot travel alone unless you want to end up kidnapped by the mafia or drug cartel and ransomed off. So I tend to stick to areas with lots of people, hopefully some of them I know, in AirBnBs, at beaches, cafes, galleries and cities. You know, where there are more witnesses.
I travelled to Miami and Philadelphia by myself and I was absolutely fine. An adorable camper with other AirBnB guests on site I hung out with, a Lyft to the beach or cafe where I would walk and beach everyday, walks to my local deli for the most amazing chocolate cake and ciggies. I kept in areas that I knew were safe and walked in areas I knew were safe with lots of people. I take Lyfts or Ubers because they are legit and trackable.
Don’t pack a lot of stuff. You want to be streamlined so you’re not faffing about with your luggage and get taken unaware. A backpack, carryon and purse should really be it. Your stuff has a higher, much higher, chance of being stolen if you’re bumbling about. Traveling alone, you have to be organized or shit gets frustrating and annoying fast. Know where your important things like cash, phone, cards, passport, water are at all times. Train yourself to put important items back in the same spot. Every. Single. Time. That way if it’s not there, you can look through your stuff, look through it again and know yes, in fact, that thing is gone.
Traveling alone is not my favorite because I am a social eater. I love to eat with other people. It’s my thing. My jam. I hate sitting in restaurants alone. But fuck it I do it. In Frankfurt I had one last night on a business trip by myself so I went to the sushi restaurant and sat at the bar in front of the chef. I was uncomfortable af but I had amazing sushi from a really kind chef. Room service is also my friend on trips alone. I like room service and convenience store runs. As is street food. Acceptable social eating alone situation.
Museums, cafes, theater shows, movies, shopping, archive seeing, etc are all great by yourself activities which I’ve done all over the world safely. I am a INTJ through and through so I need a lot of alone time which traveling by myself allows me. I’m like an anthropological flailing flamingo who loves the beach.
I love travelling...