Are you ready to jump into the exciting world of solo travel, but feeling a little overwhelmed by the number of things to consider?
Fear not – I have you covered! My tips for First–Timer solo travellers is here to make sure that you have everything you need for an unforgettable adventure.
So, what are you waiting for? Let‘s get started!
1. Research your destination:
From my many years of travel I always found it to be quite important to take the time to research some information about the place you are travelling to.
With just a bit of information you are able to have a plan of things to see, foods to eat and what local laws and traditions the country might have that you are not familiar with.
Figuring out the language of the country that you are travelling to can be very beneficial as you can learn very basic words such as please, thank you, can you help.
I have learned that just by learning the very basics many times the locals will appreciate it and be more open and more willing to help out.
A very beneficial thing to know also is the climate of the country that you are visiting as it will allow you to get the right clothing for travelling to the country.
Another important thing to keep in mind is the culture and laws of specific countries.
You might find that some countries have very different cultures and laws and by not following them whilst in the country might land you in a lot of trouble.
A country with different laws and culture, for example, is Qatar. In this country you are not allowed public displays of affection and is punishable by jail sentences or big fines.
Keep these things in mind while looking at things to do in certain countries, and it will save you a lot of time and hassle in the future.
2. Obtain a Visa:
This should be in researching the destination, but the reason why it isn’t, and it has a separate section is because it’s extremely important.
In the sense that you may have booked all your accommodation, you may have booked all your flights or transportation and then when it’s time to travel you are unable to do so because you do not have the requirements necessary to enter a country.
I had an instance where I was in Singapore and decided to hop over to Vietnam, so I purchased tickets.
When I purchased tickets I remembered that I needed to also look at Visas.
Unfortunately, I was in very much of a need to get a Visa and with less than 24 hours before my flight I had to spend more money on express visas which in turn cost more than the flight itself.
Plus on top of that there was no guarantee that I would receive the visas prior to the flight and with that I could have possibly jeopardized my flights no matter what.
In the end I was at the airport, probably with only 15 minutes to spare before the flight closed, and I was standing at the information desk begging for assistance from someone.
I got the email and was free to check in.
But what I learned at that time is that a little prior research could save tons of unnecessary stress.
The best way to check the visas is just basically type into Google what your nationality is and visa requirements for the country you are visiting.
You will end up with tons of websites that will inform you of the requirements that you may or may not have.
For additional clarity, make sure to check out government websites. You can easily recognise these by having .gov in their domain
3. Set a Budget:
It is very important to begin each journey with a budget in mind.
By doing this you are able to figure out how long you are going to be travelling for, budget for excursions or activities you may be interested in doing but more importantly figure out which holiday destination best suits you.
If you are looking at splurging out and have an unlimited budget you might consider going to countries in Europe such as Iceland but if you are looking at travelling affordably you may be looking at going to countries in Asia and South America.
One thing to consider is that there are many opportunities to travel extremely affordably and at the same time be able to enjoy many activities cheaply or even free that would usually cost a lot of money.
How to do this you may ask?
Quite simply, you can go on to websites such as workway.info, trusted house sitters, couch-surfing or many other job posting websites and simply apply.
If you don’t have a huge budget but want to travel for a long period of time and are unsure how you could afford it, you could consider working online and generating income that way.
A great job opportunity that you could do from anywhere in the world as long as you have a laptop and good Internet connection is to write quality content.
Another few could be social media marketing, video creation, graphic design or selling products online through affiliate programs or by creating your own products.
4. Book your transportation:
If you are beginning your journey of travelling for the first time, I think the most important thing is to make the journey the simplest possible, stress-free and planned well in advance.
The reason why i say this is that when you are on your own for the very first time you might get overwhelmed by all the experiences and in the end it could affect your decision-making.
So by booking your transportation in advance, you are able to have one less thing to think about while you are travelling the world.
Once you get used to travelling on your own, then you will understand it more and because of that be able to adjust your plans on the go but also be more confident in stressful situations.
And then it won’t really matter if you need to book transportation in advance or a day or two before.
There are both cons and pros to booking well in advance such as you are locked in on a specific holiday and specific dates which takes away from a lot of freedom on your solo trip.
On the other hand, by booking well in advance you might find yourself having plenty of cheaper options and once booked you will find that you are able to no longer think about the flights or transportation and focus on the better part of the travel which is the holiday destination that you will be in.
5. Book your accommodation:
The same goes for booking your accommodation as booking your flights.
If it is your first time travelling the world solo, having your accommodation taken care of prior to leaving the country will take a lot of stress off your shoulders.
You will be able to focus more on the things that you enjoy doing while at the same time you might find yourself bagging some incredible deals which could save you a lot of money.
Also, by booking your accommodation prior to leaving your country you might find more options such as on websites like workaway.info, Couchsurfing, house sitters and even through hostel websites.
By looking into these websites before you go you might find yourself plenty of meeting free accommodation in exchange for a little bit of assistance.
I have stayed in many couch-surfing places and have to say that it was always lovely to meet people as they were willing to show me around and also were just up for having a really nice conversations.
On the other hand I also have stayed in workaways and volunteered my time during which I would learn plenty of incredible skills in exchange for accommodation, food and sometimes even experiences that could only experience with local people.
Volunteer jobs that you may be interested in are
- Babysitting
- Renovating
- Helping around the house
- Hostel staff
- Gardening
If you are interested in having a place to yourself for a prolonged period of time, checkout a house sitting network where you may be able to find a house to look after and stay in for a week or even months at a time.
Imagine being able to travel from one house to another, experience the country that you were in as a local and not have to pay for accommodation.
And then imagine you also had a remote job. You could end up making more money while travelling and staying in incredible places than living back at home and doing the same job.
6. Create a packing list:
I am a minimalist when it comes to travel. I like to pack light and keep my backpack under 24 L in size.
By doing this I am able to save money on travel costs, it also allows me to be very flexible in the places I visit, and also I feel much more safe having all my belongings on me rather than left somewhere in a safety box or at a hostel.
With having a small backpack and limited space for equipment, it makes it very easy to know what exactly I need and what I need to pack.
Which is very easy, as it saves a lot of time and I guess brainpower because I don’t really have to think about it as much.
For most travelers though, a packing list is very much recommended.
The reason why I would recommend a packing list is because you might forget important things such as a passport, visa documents, or even something small such as charges.
More importantly, it’ll just save you plenty of time and give you peace of mind that everything that you have packed is exactly what you need for your trip.
There are plenty of packing lists for travelers online, and I would definitely recommend downloading one that suits your personal needs.
In beach locations you may require swimmers but on backpacking trips to cold weather countries you may require extra layers with clothing and hiking shoes.
Finally, to make sure that the packing list you find is good, make sure it’s broken up into categories and includes things such as important travel documents, passports, medicines you require, and clothing depending on the weather of the country you will be visiting.
7. Notify your bank:
One of the most frustrating things that can happen while you are travelling is trying to pay for food or book accommodation and all of a sudden your credit cards and debit cards do not work.
What might happen is your bank thinks that there are fraudulent activities happening in your account and decide to freeze that account.
In one way this is very reassuring that you have this kind of protection but on the other hand it’s also quite frustrating especially if you have already eaten food and have no way to pay for it.
So my recommendation is to just simply contact your bank prior to leaving on your holiday and letting them know that you will be visiting different countries and also need to share for how long you will be travelling.
If that is not up your alley, why not consider getting yourself a travel card such as N26 and use that card to make purchases while travelling.
What you might find by using a card such as N26 is that you may save money due to not paying international transaction fees, but also have protection in the form of health insurance and travel insurance.
It may have a monthly fee, but in the long run it could save you plenty of money and who knows maybe you will need to use the insurance.
Check out N26 to see if the card fits your needs. There are also many other cards on the market such as Revolut.
8. Get travel insurance:
Travel insurance is a no-brainer.
You never know what might happen during a trip and if you do not have travel insurance it could end up being extremely expensive.
One visit in Iceland’s hospitals for a very basic infection cost me upwards of $700.
If I had travel insurance it would have produced that amount quite a lot.
On the other hand, travel insurance can at times provide insurance on your belongings, so if in the off chance your belongings might get stolen you may be able to recoup some of your money.
Travel insurance also can cover delayed flights, cancelled flights and many other things that will bring you peace of mind when travelling the world.
With N26 you are able to get very good travel insurance at a very affordable price.
9. Research local attractions:
This one is quite simple: if you’re travelling to a place it’s because you’ve heard something good about it or there is something that you want to see in that country.
Take the time to research the local attractions as you may find that they are season dependent or require booking well in advance.
In Iceland, the world-famous blue Lagoon during summer is almost impossible to book a few days prior.
This is quite crazy considering that the blue lagoon has a 500-person limit at any time during the day.
Who knows, maybe sometimes you can kill two birds with one stone and find attractions that you are interested in that are actually quite close to one another.
In doing so you can plan your trip a little better.
These days when I travel I find that I have a mixture of travelling without any plans, but at the same time have a few things already researched so I don’t end up walking around aimlessly.
When you become more comfortable travelling, I would definitely recommend trying this approach as it provides you with a unique way of exploring countries.
It provides you with ample time to see the things you want to see without the hassle of having to see absolutely everything.
10. Download relevant apps:
This one is a good one to consider. Check out applications that are specific to the countries you visit.
These may be apps with attractions for certain places, they may also be apps that can help with translating things and or communicating with locals.
Or they might just enrich your experience in a country.
In Iceland there is a very popular application called Aurora forecast, which pretty much notifies tourists of chances of seeing the northern lights.
It can notify people at any time during the night of the possibility of seeing them.
This is huge because so many people have northern lights on their bucket list of things to see during their lifetime.
And any assistance in seeing them enhances their experience.
11. Make copies of essential documents:
You are most likely not going to lose your travel documents, but in the off chance that you do, it’s always a good idea to make copies of the documents you have.
This is so you have some sort of identification which you can show to authorities or at the embassy. You can take a photo and send them to yourself in an email.
Or just go for the old fashion way and print them and store them separately from the originals.
12. Prepare for emergencies:
It’s always good to share your itinerary and plans with friends and family so that they have an idea of where you may be in the instance that something might happen.
This also goes for situations like going camping in the wilderness and hiking.It’s always better that someone knows where you are so that if you go missing it makes it easier to find you and call for help if required.
Now, most likely nothing will happen during your holiday, but it’s always best to be prepared, and also it gives peace of mind to your friends and family.
And this also goes back to having travel insurance. This really will take a huge breather of your shoulders in the instance something does happen.
First they could cover cancelled flights, accommodation, but also stolen or lost things.
But more importantly, if you end up in some sort of accident or incident, having travel insurance could save you hundreds, if not thousands.
I definitely would consider getting travel insurance and what I have been using for the past few years is N26
It not only is a travel card, but also has travel insurance that’s affordable and you pay it monthly.
13. Relax and have fun:
The most important thing about traveling is to enjoy it and be prepared for unexpected events.
Meet others that are in the same position as you.
It will be amazing how many stories you will be able to share, how many adventures you will be able to join on and who knows maybe you create friends for life.
The most important thing is to always keep a positive mind and if you have everything prepared before your trip such as the flights, accommodation and activities, those are fewer things to worry about during your trips.
This gives you plenty of time to immerse yourself into the culture, food and everything that comes along with travelling for the first time.
I hope you have a wonderful trip, filled with incredible memories and photos that you will be able to share for years to come afterward.
And hopefully the first trip will inspire you to take numerous more throughout you life to help discover who you are and also fall in love with the world we have around us.
