Someone told me:
"You can never be alone while traveling" - Has been true so far. So dont worry and you will meet plenty of people who will be there with you for a few days and then you will meet more people who will be there with you for a while and then the cycle goes on and on.
Do everything according to your taste and pace and you will be fine.
Regards,
DJ
Hey. The tough part is; not bothering to ncollect a bail of email addresses.
And tougher yet; is remembering who they were.
We're only ships, that pass, in the night.
FORWARD!
gawkabout - too true. just 2 nights ago I was standing in the hostel kitchen when a woman said hey how you doing? I looked at her, knew I knew her but just couldn't place her and had to say sorry and ask her to remind me! Very rude but I have a terrible memory - i'd only had dinner with her and another lady in another town 2 nights before! I meet so many people in so many places its so hard to remember everyone........lifes not so bad if thats one of my only major problems :-)
The very worst problem of recognising someone on the road - once a bloke has had a shave after getting bored of the obligatory travel beard. How am I supposed to know that a respectable looking guy is in fact the trampish Aussie I'd met two months before???
I am guilty of this as well...
Five years ago when I was 21, I upped sticks and moved to Australia for a year. My best advice I can give you to do it is to just book it and worry about the practicalities the week beforehand! Don't overthink it, just go if you want to go.
If you can't find people at home who share your ambition or passion to see a bit more of the world, you can be guaranteed that once you're out on the road there'll be heaps of them to keep you company.
And if it's really, really awful: you can come home. Travelling is an experience, not a punishment!
Good luck... and stop worrying!
I got started because artist friends got tired of me wishing out loud.
They sent me to an artist friend in NYC.
Third week in the East village, I overheard a hippie say,"You can work one way on Swedish cargo ships"
I thought I did it for cheap transportation. Wrong. I shipped for a year in all. 4 ships. Then 2.4 years in Oz.
1963 start. 22 years old. Some if not best travel should be done alone.
There's a social strata of us from many flags.
Working overseas is a school for loving people. They are prob'ly from elsewhere too..
I'm gonna throw in my 2 cents too...
My first solo travel experience was on a one week all-inclusive trip (head down in shame) to Cuba.
I went because my friend canceled at the last minute and I now I believe that it was meant to be.
I met 3 other solos there and I loved the fact that we had no ties to one another, didn't owe anything to one another and came and went as we pleased. This was a real eye opening experience for me. Especially considering I was a 28yr old recently divorced woman at the time.
The day I got back from that trip I decided I must go somewhere alone for a longer stretch and eventually chose Australia for nearly 4 months. I, like most who decide to take the plunge on their own for the first time, was absolutely petrified. What if nobody wanted to talk to me? I was always quite socially awkward! Well, you learn very quickly that travellers are quite friendly and almost everyone is happy to talk to you and go out..whether it's for a few days or just a drink. That trip, beyond the wonderful places I saw and the people I met, gave me a confidence that I never had before....and also a somewhat problematic addiction to travel. I have since taken numerous trips all over the world on my own. Rarely do I take someone with me because I enjoy the freedom, I enjoy being forced out of my comfort zone and I enjoy not having to consider anyone else when making any kind of decision. Travelling with others certainly has its benefits but I just find that it's a completely different experience....plus most of my friends at home would only like to travel "someday".
I disagree that not everyone should travel alone. In fact I think it should be mandatory for everyone that can afford it because the lessons it gives you about yourself and the world is not something you could ever find in a textbook, from the media or any other "normal" life experience.
My old man said, the best way to make friends is simply, don't be the last to say Hi!
Don't befriend people your mom wouldn't like. The inner voice thing.
Not social status, just a feeling for a good person.,
Tough part for travel virgins, is not thinking you made a mistake by trying, the first time things go wrong. You'll only want to go home for a little while.
Find the joke in it.
You won't be a travel virgin then.
And you won't want to travel in groups any more. Watch how much they pay attention to where they are. The energy goes to the party.