The thought of social distancing being the aftermath of Covid 19 makes me think about solo travelling more…. After reminencing about my University outings with friends and my solo travelling to University of Ibadan Zoo. In the end, I concluded that if a regular journey could make me a better and smarter person, the solo adventure will make me a super smart person. Once you dare to overcome some of your fears, you will be inspired to confront all the other fears. I decided to pen this down so I can plan towards my future solo trip to Iceland! Finland! Belgium! Chile! Canada! Switzerland and Japan!
Solo travelers journey is mostly a mix of entertainment, adventure and culture. They get to know localities much faster and better, they get to meet interesting people, but they came back home from the trip knowing themselves far better. Spending some time all alone is a reliable way to test your resourcefulness, get to know yourself and your own desires. A single trip can be a powerful, life changing experience. You get to do what you want when you want. You can connect with people if you wish or avoid them completely if you want to be alone.
Herein are some interesting tips on solo travel

- Decide on Your Destination: Maybe you have a dream destination or maybe you just need to get away and the destination doesn’t matter that much. Deciding on your destination makes your trip more fun and relaxing.
- Study a Map of your Destination and Be Patient: It can be difficult arriving in a new city alone. Take your time. Take a day to relax, watch the city function, and settle in, also you have to get to know your map. Get a sense of direction using major landmarks like the nearest Police station, Central Park, or the Amusement Park, a Popular Tower, restaurant or supermarket . This will help you explore cities safely.
- Book Solo-friendly accommodation: for your first solo trip, I highly recommend at least pre-booking your first couple of nights. This will allow you to get into the groove of traveling alone without the added stress of finding a place to stay right away. It also allows you to do some research about where you’re staying beforehand, especially if I’m going somewhere I’ve never been before. Book a homestay,guest house, hotel, hostel, small inn that is particularly good for solo travelers.
- Stay in Touch: Before you leave home, come up with a communication plan that will work for both you and any concerned family members and friends. As much as you want to be free from family and friends pressure, you want to relax and be happy alone, please know how to stay in touch with your family and friends. Give them update of your new environments and let them also be relaxed that you are safe and having fun.
- Travel Between Destination: Whether you choose the train, bus, or plane, live within the limits of a carry-on bag or backpack. You’ll be happy you did as you manage to move around from destination to destination with greater ease.
- Be Obvious: Place your camera, travel guide, or map on the table, making it obvious that you’re a tourist. Some people are concerned about looking like a tourist and therefore looking like a mark. In a restaurant there is a certain amount of safety. Yes, you should still be discerning in who you talk with but in most cases the person will be not only safe but also interesting.

Everyone should try this kind of adventure at least once in a lifetime.
Experienced Travel Enthusiasts
- Buy Travel Insurance: Think you don’t need it? You may want to give it a re-think. It’s not nice to think about, but getting injured/sick is a possibility whenever you travel. Plenty of other not-so-nice things can happen to you while you’re abroad, too, like getting pick pocketed on the street. If you don’t buy travel insurance, you’re responsible for anything that goes wrong. If you do, you can claim many expenses back.
- Be Proactive. If you’re unsure of yourself, ask for help. Standing around looking dazed will not get you where you want to go and it may get you noticed by the wrong people. It would be a strange occurrence for you to choose to ask the wrong person for information, so go ahead, smile, and ask for help. It’s one of the fundamentals of staying safe as you travel solo.
- Safety is Key: Safety is always a hot topic when it comes to solo travel, and there are plenty of things you can do to ensure the safety of both yourself and your belongings. How you’ll keep your stuff safe is something you can plan for in advance, too. Along with being aware of your surroundings and trusting your gut instincts (and not carrying all your money on you at one time!), there are some products you can buy to make it harder for pickpockets to get you.
- Know Your Budget. You don’t want to get stranded in a foreign city? know you budget and don’t spend more than you planned. There are few steps involved in planning your travel budget, you may want to have a small jotter for how you spend and how much you have spent to avoid story that touches the heart.
- Be Happy: Understand how travel contributes to happiness. I find that once I understand the why of something it’s easier to follow through and do it.

- Go Far Off The Beaten Path: Travelers who find each other where there are few tourists are more inclined to talk to each other. Meet someone on a hike or in a specific zoo or museum and you already know that you have an interest in common.
- Walk And You May Also Like To Take a Book: There is no better way to get to know a city and understand its culture than walking. It slows you down so that you can see the nuances of the society and understand how the city is designed. It will not only occupy you but also signal to other solos that you travel alone.
- Smile and Learn a Few Words in the Local Language: Smile means the same things in every language. It means you are happy, friendly, approachable, kind. A smile opens many conversations. Making an effort to communicate in the local language is always appreciated and often returned with an effort to communicate in your language.
- Pack Light and Pack Smart: You’ll of course want to take the weather forecast into account when you’re putting together your packing list, but you also should do a little homework into whether or not there are any cultural standards that you should know about before you go. I personally hate heavy luggage and one of the most important thing about travelling to me is packing light and packing essentials. If you’re going someplace where you’ll want to be a bit more fashionable. When traveling in summer or winter? you should also know what to pack.
- Plan Your Travel Effectively: Because am a foodie I will suggest you bring light snacks with you. If there’s turbulence there won’t be service during the flight. Confirm that your flight is on schedule before leaving for the airport. Board early so you have no trouble putting your carry-on luggage in an overhead compartment. At check-in, ask if the flight is ‘full’ or ‘light.’ If it’s light, you may be able to jockey for a better seat. If you have a connecting flight, get all the information you need before boarding your first flight to make the connection easily.
This way of traveling is ideal, and especially for extroverted people. In no time you’ll meet new, interesting people in a nearby cafe or on a beach. All what you need is to be open-minded and a bit cautious, especially when in distant and unknown countries.

You may want to share your solo travel experience with us. We await your story in our comment session.














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