Travelling alone - anxious, scared even.

Avoid strange little guys who call you, "my friend" too much.

Don't let anybody INSIST on helping you with your stuff. His henchman is on your blind side. In Europe, the bad guys rarely get violent. They're more skilled and quick.

What keeps me moving forward in strange places...is knowing that going back is not a realistic option...

You just solve the problems as they come up... "Loneliness" is not even considered...I'm totally concentrated on getting from point A to point B...Totally "in the moment"... For me travel is a very Zen experience...the only time I'm really in the moment...and not thinking about the future "theoretically"...

Things have a way of working out... Even if you do end up at the train station at 3am...with a pocket full of the "wrong money"....and everything is closed anyway....

The world is not really a hostile a place...especially if you are hanging out in touristic places... If you get off the beaten track...hand sign language works amazingly well...and English is almost a universal language now... And yes...avoid "too helpful" people...at train stations especially...although I have had some good tips from "touts"...just use good judgment when dealing with these "locals"... if something doesn't seem right cut it off immediately...

The best cure for trip anxiety is arriving at the airport...! Just do it...

Postscript:

And remember its those bad experiences and near disasters and strandings that you'll be talking about most when you get back home...! The too well planned trip can be a bit too boring...and that is the paradox of it.

Damn well said, 22!

In Rick Steves' "Europe Through the Back Door", he says (paraphrase-- read it many years ago) "On every trip, something will happen that you think will ruin it all. `But while you're straightening it all out, You'll have experiences and gain knowledge, that you did.t have before."

Its what takes the newby out of us. Planning too tight and pre-booking from home, keeps us from learning anything.

Fear of the unknown sucks.
Have a great learning trip!

Locals speak more English if you have the courtesy to try thiers first.
-edited by Old Man Resiprocity

I've lived in Spain, long enough to where they tell me what they really think of us Americans. "Americans. Nice people and all, but whew! They're afraid of everything. But won't listen to the explanation."

I was a bit nervous at first when I decided to travel alone. I started off small, driving about 800 miles to see some relatives (I live in the US) when I was just out of high school. My first "big" trip after I graduated college and had a job was a road trip through eastern Canada. Got used to travel planning "on the run" this way (making reservations etc while on the road rather than having everything planned out before I left).

My first overseas trip was to the UK. While I had a friend who was working there, I was on my own during the day and on overnight trips to other parts of the country. I enjoyed the mix of having someone with me part of the time and being able to go off and do my own thing at other times.

I went to Turkey my myself and was a bit worried about actually being able to feed myself as this was the first time I had gone to a country where english wasn't the first language. However, this trip actually made me comfortable traveling alone as using the phrase book, picking up bits and pieces of the language, and as a last resort looking around for a younger person to translate (most schools are teaching english now so the younger people tend to speak it) was fun and a good way to meet people. This mindset helped me a great deal when I went to India and had to deal with 6 or 7 languages!

I do like traveling with people, don't get me wrong but I've found if you have to wait for schedules to co-ordinate etc etc you'll never get to go where you want to go. Take a deep breath and go for it. Even the times where things don't go quite as you have planned add to the adventure.

Hey Tails,

I was there once too!! I flew into Costa Rica alone when I was 18. When I arrived in San Jose I found this girl about the same age as me just absolutley hysterical and overwhelmed. She said she could find her host family and had no idea what she was doing there. And thank goodness for her! If I didnt have to hold it together for her, and to help her, I probably would have walked right back into the airport and took the first flight home. I was pretty terrified arriving at almost midnight, and the next morning setting out to the nicoya peninsula by myself, the man running the hostel gave me a bracelet with a number on it incase I was harrassed by taxi drivers.
From tsunami warnings to flooded roads, my surf camp had moved and just not sent me the updated address. 5 days in a hurricane came through and took the rof off the treehouse of the camp. They refunded my money but I had 3 weeks to kill in a country I had done zero research on except getting from point A to B. Lucky for me, the universe had a better plan and I ended up meeting a swiss girl and travelling the whole country and even extending the trip a bit. Could have never anticipated the things I would learn and the travel bug I would catch. Sometimes you have to jump in whole heartedly and not look back, just expect things to work out the way they are meant to, the universe will look out for the rest.

Point is, dont let being alone hold you back. That is where you meet the kindred souls who are in the same place at the same time for a reason. Have fun and happy trails!

I was similar to you - bored with life, never going anywhere particularly fun or exotic as friends had different ideas of what a holiday was until I decided to take the plunge and go it alone. I started off with small holidays on my own just 2 different 1 week trips to Italy on "singles/independant tavel" tours. I highly recommend this if you are too nervous to go somewhere completely on your own first, Intrepid and Exodus are good ones to look at. It helps you get into the mindset of being on your own but having a group of strangers around you that you have to try and get to know.

When I decided to do a round the world trip I was very nervous - what if I hated it and couldn't cope? I came to the conclusion Well - I could always fly home - home wasn't going anywhere.

I took the plunge and wanted to go everywhere! In the end I started with 3 weeks in India on a Gap Adventures Tour which was a good choice. I got stuck in at the deep end with a massive culture shock but had the security of a tour guide, but still had to mix in with a bunch of strangers. I spent a week in Hong Kong on my own after that and then 3 weeks in China on another Gap Adventures Tour.

I made my way down to Thailand where the real independant travel began and yes, at times it was scary, lonely and all the rest, but most of the time it was great, exciting, inspiring and wonderful. You will be surprised just how many people you meet and how easy it is to start up conversations with strangers. Locals take an interest in you and other travellers are more than happy to have someone new to meet and chat to. I've had bad times of course, food poisoning on your own in Thailand isn't fun - but then the owners of the guesthouse really helped me and looked after me. Having my hotel room in Laos robbed whilst I was asleep also was not the best of experiences and completely freaked me out and made me want to go home. However, I didn't want to give up just because of these things - I've been away from home for 14.5 months now, and in all that time, i'd say that those are probably the only 2 bad experiences I have had. I must have had about 200 amazing ones....dawn at the Taj Mahal, climbing the Great Wall of China, staying in a my very own "The Beach" hut on a secret Island in Thailand, being invited to join a buddhist funeral in Laos, not to mention all the amazing things that I have seen and done in Austrlaia so far.........i'm quite happy with those odds. I'm going home for 6 weeks soon and then i'm off for another adventure in New Zealand. I'm already trying to work out where else I can live and work abroad for more adventures and fun!

I would just stress the social aspect of solo travel. Last summer I traveled on my own for 2 months in Eastern Europe and Russia right after graduating from college. Never have I been so sociable in my life. Being alone makes you more perceptive of places and people. If you meet locals, socializing will be easy because more often than not they will be curious as to why you are there (assuming you're not in a very touristy spot) and they might strike conversation first. If you meet fellow travelers, it will also be easy to socialize since you will have one thing in common -your decision to travel there. And anyway travel-loving people tend to be curious people, always willing to learn about others, so I'd say socializing at hostels and the like is easy.

However, my experience of traveling alone was undertaken mostly in not-so-touristy locations. Bulgaria, Romania, the former Yugoslav republics, the Baltic countries and Russia aren't yet teeming with tourists really. Locals are more curious of travelers in those countries partly because they are still odd.

Now that I'm back home I can see that it was much easier meeting people while on the road than here. I'm the same person but the environment is totally different. I don't have the urge to socialize as I did while traveling, and people here aren't curious of me nor think that living in the same town is enough of a coincidence in order to strike conversation.

Its true;
Locals are more willing to talk with us solos. They don't want to interrupt. Nice folks out there.

Travel groups tend to have most of their energy go toward the party. It doesn't seem to matter where they are.

I don't know that I agree that travel groups spend most of their energy on the the party necessarily, and especially not on the trips I have done.

My first trip to Italy I admit was a slightly more boozy affair however I was in the small portion of the group who went out for drinks, most people seemed to head to bed early.

My trips in India and China were both definately not party based, perhaps it had a lot to do with the countries we were in, but generally we were up very early and doing a lot in the day time so were pretty exhausted by the evening, perhaps have a beer or wine with dinner, occasionally a couple more but that was generally it.

I'm not saying that the trips weren't fun, but I wouldn't necessarily say that they were aimed towards a party atmosphere either. Maybe it depends which tour company you go with and what countries you visit.