Solo travel myths and misconceptions
Hi, my name is Bob Bales and this is the Traveling Fool podcast where we talk about travel destinations, little known places people just don’t know about, the history, culture, and people of those places, along with everything travel related, including the latest news and travel trends, travel tips, and other info to help make your travels more memorable.
Hi, and welcome back to the Traveling Fool Podcast. Today, we’re going to talk about solo travel, some of the myths, misconceptions, and fears people have around traveling by themselves. Over the years, I’ve had people tell me, Hey, you know, I’d love to go to some of the places you’ve been to, but it’s just me.
And I’m really not feeling comfortable about traveling by myself. And there’s a lot of different reasons that they have. So we’re going to hit on them such as solo travel is dangerous. It’s lonely. It’s expensive. It’s only for young people. I’m not young enough to be traveling around the world by myself, and it’s boring.
I mean, who wants to go somewhere just by themselves? So we’re going to hit all five of those today, and we’re going to tell you why you can alleviate some of those problems, or how you can alleviate them. First, solo travel is dangerous. That’s the first misconception a lot of people have. In reality, Solo travel can be just as safe as traveling with others.
It is important to be aware of your surroundings. I mean, you’re relying on yourself, you’re not relying on anybody else. So you have to take a few precautions to stay safe, but there’s no reason to be afraid of traveling by yourself. Do a little research before you go. Check out the places you’re going to.
One of the great things you can do is go to state. gov. They list every country in the world and any kind of hazards that are going on, any kind of, uh. Problems that the country is having, what the current security situation is, so you can get a good handle right there. Also, do a little research. Google is your friend in this case.
Google it up, find out about the place you’re traveling to, the city you’re traveling to, the area you plan on staying at in that city. I’ll give you an example. I went to Prague one time by myself. Well, originally I went, my wife flew over from the States and met me in Prague. Spent about a week there, and then she flew home, and I spent the next three and a half weeks by myself in Prague.
So we stayed at a really nice hotel, right off the main tourist square. Convenient for everything, in a good location, while she was there. And then when she left, I went and found a cheap place that I could stay in, because I don’t stay in rooms very much. I use them to sleep. I get up in the morning, and I leave, and I come back at night and go to bed.
But I found a place that was next to the subway, like a block away, or the train that took me downtown to the middle of town. It was in a safe location. It was clean, it was comfortable, and it was all I needed. But I had done a little research and found out the neighborhood’s good. There’s nothing wrong with it.
Well lit at night. So I felt comfortable staying there by myself. Going out 9, 10, 11, 12 o’clock at night if I needed to. So do a little research and find out about the place you’re staying at, the hotel you’re staying at, the neighborhood, things like that. And when you’re out there by yourself, you have to be a little bit more aware, because you are by yourself.
So, pay a little bit more attention. Use some common sense. Don’t get drunk and walk down a dark alley at 2 o’clock in the morning. That’s just common sense. If you go to a street, and you’re walking around the town, and the street looks kind of dimly lit, maybe not too, uh, brightly lit, and there’s, looks a little sketchy, well then don’t go down that street.
Go a couple of streets over where it’s more well lit and there’s people everywhere. So that’s the first thing. It doesn’t have to be dangerous. Number two, solo travel is lonely. Well, you might have a few lonely moments. But it’s also a great opportunity to meet new people and make friends from all over the world.
And I’ve had a great time meeting and talking to people. All walks of life. Everywhere in the world. So it doesn’t have to be lonely. I mean, there’s all kinds of things you can do. And if you’re a little worried about being somewhere by yourself, there’s ways that you can travel alone and still be with people.
Take a cruise. Go on a group tour. Go somewhere and do a walking tour of the town with a whole group of people. Take one of these haunted tours at night that walks you around town. Take a guided tour in the city you’re at. So you’ll be with people. You don’t have to be alone. Even though you are traveling alone.
So there’s a lot of ways that you can travel alone. Still meet with people, still meet with people and have a great time. Solo travel is expensive. Now that one is a little tricky because it can be. A lot of these resorts tack on the single tax, but it doesn’t have to be. There’s ways to save money when you travel solo such as staying in hostels which I don’t do.
I like to have my own room, everything there. But I did stay one time in Macedonia, which I think is called North Macedonia now. Went to a little town called Lake Orid and stayed in a pension house. I had my own room. We had a communal bathroom that you, you know, you went in, you locked the door and you had it by yourself, but you shared it with everybody else in the place.
But it was a great place to stay. So that’s the only time I kind of semi hostel stayed somewhere. I have rented condos. When I stayed someplace for a long period of time, like a week or two, because it was cheaper than staying at a hotel. I had bigger room, I had a kitchen, I could cook for myself, I had more room, and it was a whole lot cheaper.
In one case, I stayed at a condo, or I rented a condo, which was in a hotel, and the price was cheaper than if I had rented the room in the hotel. So there’s a lot of ways you can save money when you’re traveling by yourself. You can cook your own meals. If you stayed a condo like I did, you can travel during off season.
You want to go to the Caribbean, don’t go during, uh, December and January and February. Instead, go in September and October when the prices are sometimes half the price. Solo travel is only for young people. Well, I’m a walking example of that’s not true because I’m not young anymore. Solo travel is for everyone.
In fact, the other day I pulled up… You know, Facebook pulls up these little timelines of five years ago, this was on your timeline. Well, something like five years ago or six years ago, something popped up where I had shared about a 97 year old woman who travels the world solo, meets people from all over the world and has a blast.
So travel is not just for young folks. Regardless, Of the age, there are people who travel solo in their 60s, 70s, you name it. You can have all kinds of fun, no matter what your age is. And it doesn’t have to be just for young people, so get that out of your head right away. And travel solo is boring. No, it’s not.
It’s anything but boring. I never have a boring time when I travel. And like I said, I don’t stay in the rooms or stay in a hotel. I get up in the morning, and I leave. I don’t even eat breakfast in the hotels. I grab something out on the streets. I’ll find a nice little cafe that I can sit at and have some coffee.
If I’m in Asia, I love the street food, so I eat street food in Asia and Europe all the time. I get out, I travel around, I walk the town a lot, so I get out immediately. I don’t hang around the hotels. It’s a great opportunity to explore some new places, try some new things, step out of your comfort zone, maybe a little bit.
And I find that I’m out of my comfort zone a lot when I travel, but I’m also a lot more extroverted when I travel than I am. in person. I have no problem talking to people when I travel. I talk to everybody from the security guards at the hotel, the maid at the hotel, the taxi drivers, the waitress staff.
I ask them all kinds of things such as where’s a good place to go around here. Where, if you were going to take somebody to eat lunch, where would you go? I don’t go to the tourist locations a lot. If it’s a big place like, well, let’s just say Prague. Yeah, you want to go downtown and see the astronomical clock, one of the oldest clocks in the world.
You want to go see the castle and you want to see Charles Bridge and all that stuff. But I also wander around and find things that most tourists just don’t know about because they don’t get out and explore the town a little bit. One way to do that is to talk to people when you’re out so it doesn’t have to be boring.
Those are some of the myths, some of the misconceptions, and some of the fears people have had about solo travel. And I’m here to tell you, you can get over them, you can travel by yourself, have a blast and enjoy yourself no matter where in the world you want to go. I told you when we started this it was going to be a nice short and sweet podcast and this is a nice short and sweet podcast.
Next time, we’re going to expand on this a little bit though, and I’m going to tell you things like what to pack, how to meet people when you’re traveling solo, maybe some good solo destinations, a few tips, and a little bit more about the travel safety that you need to look out for. So I’ll look for you on the next one.
Stay tuned, go ahead and download it, subscribe and we’ll see you next time.
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