Travelling alone - anxious, scared even.

... and do things you can never ever imagine doing at home. I for one had a motorcycle ride in the mountains, clinged behind a Suzuki Pickup and paragliding. Although not a big deal for most of you, but for me it was trip of a life time. You can go anywhere you like and not have to worry about what others are planning and you do not have to tag along them. You are a free spirit and you can do whatever you like.

All you need is a smile on your face and you can get past many barriers in life.

Regards,

DJ

Edited by: djdesi

52 simpatico answers so far. You beginning to get the drift?

They are only borders, not the edge of the world.

Prefer working in your chosen field? Or only do what your school major was in?
GET A GRIP!

Everything else to do for a living is not the outsiders. err sompm...
)8o)

How do you know its better than something you haven't tried?
You're supposed to be adventuring, right? Live a liitle!

Get out there. Of course you don't know anybody in ...country.
Yet.

Just have the courtesy and cajónes, to stumble in their language first. They're just shy about their lack of English skills. And don't want to offend.

I often take off on my travels solo but rarely am I actually ever alone once I start travelling. You always meet someone heading in the same direction, they might not be ideal but I find I can get along with most people and can cope with sharing a bus journey and a few days in the same place as them at least. If it's not working out we go our seperate ways.

I've spent a lot of time travelling in recent years. It's been a mix of travelling with friends, family, solo and people I've met on the road and I definitely prefer having company. Someone to share those long journeys with, to laugh with when something goes wrong, to talk about what we did or plan to do, to share some food and a beer (or 10) with. Funny stories tend to only be funny if the person you're talking to is involved in it / witnessed it. Plus if you feel like escaping for the a day or two you can and just meet up later, you have no ties to this person.

Travelling with a friend from home can either be the best thing ever or a nightmare. Me and a mate lasted a whole 4 days in Australia before having to go our seperate ways whilst me another mate have travelled for months on end in Europe and SE Asia without ever getting upset or annoyed at each other.

I always thought with a good friend might be the best way to travel but my recent South America trip there were no friends or family from home and it was probably my best travels to date. When I don't know anyone I don't set any limits on myself and there's no one around to have any preconceived notions or ideas about me. I'm free to be whoever I want to be, something which I don't experience at home.

I was really lucky on this last trip to meet so many locals and travellers I connected with, some people will be friends for life I'm sure of that. There were 3 other travellers who made up my main travelling companions at various points of this trip and it would have been a very different experience had it not been for them. There were certain locals I met who I will never ever forget, that have made certain destinations so special that I will have to go back and visit them at some point. I don't at any point remember feeling lost or lonely or longing for home, something which I have experienced in the past on previous travels.

Go solo, you won't actually be alone for most of it, and you will not regret it.

Hi everyone,

Just been surfing the net for some advice from anyone really. I'm looking to travel to Thailand in November but i'm scared of gong on my own. i've always waited to do it and im bursting to do it, its just getting the guts to do it alone. i was wanting to go with a tour company (STA Travel) as this will be my first time travelling away from my family and friends (big aww) and im soo nervous! its the travelling to the destination im most scared of because i know im bound to meet loads of people! its waiting for the plane and getting there on my own! so sad i know but i just need some advice...

Thanks

Don't go with STA or any other tour group. They are all expensive, rigid, over structured and you're told where to go, when to and how long you can stay there for. This is NOT travelling it's being shunted around from place to place, taking some quick photos and then put back on a bus again.

Just book the flight now and that way you're commited to doing it, you'll realise once you start doing it that it's not at all scary. Getting on a plane is easy especially if you've done it before and are familiar with the routine. You can arrange for your hostel to pick you up on arrival most likely and then you're all sorted!

www.kayak.com can help you handicap flying prices.

Self propel. Its growth you're after.

In all honesty with you - whether you do a tour or not, you will always have to travel on the plane alone and get to your first hostel/hotel on your own. You do not all leave together and meet at the airport and travel together from your home country. You will have to make your own way usually to your first accommodation and only from there do you travel as a group.

I do understand your nervousnass as I was the same when I first started travelling and I still think that doing a tour is not a terribly bad way to start it off if you have never been away on your own before.

However, saying all that Thailand is definately one place where you do not need to do a tour as everything is so easy and very set up for travellers.

Yes it will be very daunting at first but you will soon get into it.

Tour companies are very expensive ways of seeing a country but I do think they serve a purpose especially if you are very short on time - they organise everything and get you from A to B in a convenient way although it can very much be - get off bus, take photo, get back on bus. You will still get to see the country but its very very different to travelling on your own independantly.

The best example I can give you is my tour I did in India - the first place I visited on my travels where it was just one temple after another temple after another temple. Had I done my travels independantly I would have done it very differently however I didn't have the nerve to tackle that country on my own.

As you've said, you've been surfing the net looking for advice and you will see from what other people have posted about being nervous going away on their own and all the replies they get back about it being the best thing that they have ever done.

If you do go on a tour, i'm sure you will enjoy it, but i'm even more sure that if you go it alone you will enjoy it even more. On a tour you are stuck with the same group of people for 2 or 3 weeks - that can be a very long time if you don't get on. Of course, you may find a great group of people that you really hit it off with.

Read more posts on Thorn Tree about other peoples experiences and get yourself a guide book and read it thoroughly - it will give you a great idea about how to get around Thailand and how easy it really is even on your own.

and I still think that doing a tour is not a terribly bad way to start it off if you have never been away on your own before

It's a bad idea because then you'll not experience what it's like to travel solo and when you get in the mood to travel again the future you're back at square one, nervous, don't know what to expect, scared etc. You have to just do it! And as you said tour or no tour the airport and getting to your first destination / hotel is all up to you anyway so if you can get the hardest bit out thew way solo the rest will be a breeze.

Travelling Thailand couldn't be simipler, you don't even need to leave your accomodation to organise your travel to the next place you want to go.

Tour not, my son.

Have the nads to go solo.
Lots of women of all ages do it.

try two hostels, before deciding whether that's for you. They're all different with different crowds. They try to match you up, with travelers your own age, in dorms. But no need for dorms.

photos rates maps to etc. look a while.

Fear not, the unknown. Mama ain't there always.
WE TRAVEL TO LEARN
AND PARTIALLY MORE ABOUT OURSELVES.

sic 'em!

They try to match you up, with travelers your own age, in dorms.

No they don't. If you book or ask for the 8 person door you get put in there regardless of the age of the other travellers.