Solo travel can be daunting, if you’ve never done it before. You’ve probably heard of the common reasons why people don’t travel solo, such as it’s too scary, you’ll be lonely, and organizing all the details will be overwhelming without a travel partner.
Those fears are too easy to listen to, and they can convince you to stay home and ignore your desire to travel.
I used to have these same fears.
I didn’t think I was strong enough to travel alone, but I still wanted to see the world, but my friends and family didn’t have the same desire – so what am I to do? Stay at home, dream, and have regrets on my death bed? Not a chance.
It took awhile, but eventually, in the battle between my fears and my wanderlust, travel won.
Here are some of the most common reasons people don’t travel alone, and how to overcome those fears.
Reasons People Don’t Travel Alone
1. No one to go with
For as long as I can remember, travel has been a big passion of mine. I took several organized trips to Europe when I was a teenager through school, which sparked my travel addiction.
From then on, I was always dreaming of more places I wanted to visit.
When I was 18 and realized I didn’t need to go on an organized tour, and I dragged my best friend to Italy for a week.
Two summers later, I studied abroad in Spain, and even though several people from the group traveled on their own after the program was over, it never occurred to me that I could do that too.
For many years, I didn’t have friends to travel with me.
So what did I do to overcome this? I traveled in my own backyard first. I spent that time traveling within the US, happily using my vacation time to visit friends and family in other states. This gave me the confidence to travel at my own pace and to get used to being away from home alone.
You can also join organized trips with companies such as G Adventures or Intrepid, where you can go on more adventurous vacations with a group of likeminded people. Who knows, you may meet some other likeminded travel companions in the group and decide to travel together later.
Read more: solo travel vs group travel
2. Lacking the confidence to travel alone
I saw one of my closest friends travel alone all the time, but I never considered myself the type of person who could travel solo.
After college, when I knew of people setting off to backpack through Europe for three months, I just thought “I can’t do that,” but never asked myself, “why not?”
The question that got me thinking differently was; what was I waiting for?
I think I was waiting for a friend to volunteer to go with me, or for a boyfriend to appear who wanted to travel.
It just didn’t occur to me to plan a trip and go on my own.
When I finally realized that I hadn’t been out of the country in almost eight years, and no one wanted to come with me, I was determined to make a change.
There was no reason to postpone my dreams simply because I didn’t have a travel partner. My desire to travel overrode my fear of going alone.
3. Planning is too overwhelming
I started by planning a 10 day trip to Greece, and it soon became overwhelming planning accommodation, booking tours, figuring out how to get around, and how to access the internet etc.
The solution? I used a travel agent to help me sort out the details. Yes, travel agents still exist, and they are great for mapping out itineraries and helping you organize essentials like flights, currency, and accommodation.
I figured it was a good way to test out solo travel without having to worry about getting overwhelmed with all the planning.
It was my safety net in a way.
Letting someone else do the planning meant the only hard part left was for me to just go.
When I finally got to Greece, the feeling of satisfaction was more than I ever expected. I wondered again what I had been waiting for.
4. It might be lonely
Solo travel was never as lonely as I thought.
I always met other travelers along the way, either at a hostel or on a day trip, or even while trying to figure out public transportation.
I realized solo travelers are actually much more approachable than people traveling in pairs or a group.
I learned that it was perfectly fine to eat dinner at a restaurant by myself.
I figured out how to navigate different transportation systems without knowing the language.
Little things that seemed scary became huge triumphs when I found I really was capable of traveling on my own.
5. It’s not safe
When I first told my friends and family that I was going to travel alone, the first thing they said to me was “are you sure it’s safe?”
Of course, being a woman, there is always a warning bell that goes off in the back of our mind whenever we need to do anything alone, but I quickly realized – you can be unsafe anywhere in the world, even at home.
Safety is always an issue no matter where you are. You can be robbed 5 minutes from your home, you can get food poisoning from your favorite restaurant, you can get hit by a bus on the way to work – there is no point in living life in fear.
The best way to overcome the fear of safety when it comes to solo travel is to do extensive research on safe places to visit.
Places like Thailand is Southeast Asia, or New Zealand, Australia, Iceland and The Netherlands, have high reputations for being safe to visit.
If it’s your first solo trip, then it would be wise to get used to solo travel somewhere where you feel comfortable.
Read more: Best places to travel alone to as a solo woman
6. Don’t want to appear uncool
There is this annoying stigma around being on your own that you are lonely. Just because you’re alone, doesn’t mean you’re lonely.
It should be more widely accepted to be alone and to enjoy your own company.
The best way to get over this is to just get over it. Forget what other people think, forget their prejudices, and just do what you want to do.
If anyone says you’re uncool for traveling alone, well that sounds like a “them problem” than a “you problem.” You get to travel to these exotic places and create new friends and have wonderful experiences – what’s uncool about that?
7. Traveling is too expensive
There is another stigma that travel is only for the rich. This isn’t the case, there are so many places you can travel to on a shoe-string budget, even in today’s climate.
Besides, travel doesn’t necessarily mean leaving your own country. You can take short trips in your own country and still live inexpensively on your vacation.
If you’re worried about money, you can get around this by staying in hostels, which tends to be the cheapest form of accommodation. You tend to stay in a bed in a dorm room, sharing with others, but if you do your research you can find one’s that are quiet, comfortable, and some even have private rooms.
You can also cook your own meals, you can share cab rides with new travel friends, you can get budget tips from locals, and you can look for free things to do in each destination. There are so many ways to save money on travel, you wouldn’t believe it!
8. Language barriers
Contrary to what you might believe, not everyone in the world speaks English. Language barriers are a huge problem when you travel and it’s a big reason why people don’t do it.
We’re not all confident in our ability to learn a language, and we all know how embarrassing it is to get your pronunciation wrong!
The way to avoid this is to use the Google Translate app and to use this to communicate. I’ve had several long conversations with people by just going back and forth on Google Translate, it’s a brilliant way to communicate with others when you don’t know the language.
Read more: best tips for effective communication
9. Obligations
You might have obligations at home, such as kids, work commitments, family commitments etc. Whatever those commitments are, ask yourself if they are worth sacrificing your dream of travel over?
Of course, if you have kids, I would never suggest leaving them at home so you can travel alone for long!
But why not ask a parent or sibling to look after them for say, a few days to a week, and you can enjoy a vacation alone? Perhaps having a week staying with Grandma and Grandad would be a great vacation for the kids, too!
Work commitments I feel like can always be negotiated. What kind of job doesn’t allow you vacation time?
Obligations are the biggest thing holding people back from traveling alone, but can be easy to overcome if you really want to.
10. Fear of flying
Having a phobia of flying is a real deal. It can be seriously anxiety inducing for some people.
The best way to get over this is to plan road trips from home instead, or at the very least, take a short 1-2 hour flight to get used to flying first.
You may also be able to enjoy cruise travel or boat trips. You don’t have to fly on a plane to go on vacation.
Read more: things I do to help overcome my fear of flying
Reasons to Love Solo Travel
Knowing I was fully capable of traveling on my own, I began taking more solo trips. I was no longe holding myself back from traveling.
If I wanted to go somewhere, I just saved my money, planned the trip, and off I went.
Places like Croatia, Hong Kong, Australia, and Cambodia were no longer out of reach.
Nothing beats the confidence boost that comes with traveling alone. Without someone else around to share the burden of decision making, I had to rely on myself more than ever before.
While sometimes that meant a little extra pressure, it also meant I didn’t have to compromise. I had the flexibility to do what I wanted, when I wanted. And that was empowering.
Traveling by myself made me realize I’m stronger than I thought I was.
Final Thoughts
Traveling alone is within your reach.
If you’ve been thinking of going somewhere, there’s no reason you have to wait for a travel partner. Do some research so you know more about the place you’re going to and make plans for at least your first few days to make yourself feel more comfortable.
I had fears when I took my first solo trip, and sometimes I still do, but I pushed past those fears and went anyway. I have never once regretted traveling alone.
If anything, each solo trip encouraged me to take the next one. Don’t let your fears hold you back. Take that leap and give solo travel a try.
Bio: Ali Garland encourages people to travel, shows them how to plan trips, and helps them overcome their travel-related fears on her site Travel Made Simple. She has been traveling for almost 20 years and made it to all 7 continents before her 30th birthday. She and her husband are expats in Germany. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Ali writes about her personal travels at Ali’s Adventures.
Have you done solo travel? How did you overcome your fears? Let us know in the comments.
