Traveling with friends or organized group travel is quite common, but depending on choice or needs, many people also travel alone. Although traveling alone has some shortcomings, it can be a unique experience, or a trip that benefits a lot.
learn
Traveling alone is not uncommon. Most single travelers can find it in hotels, bars, and organized tours.
Advantages of traveling alone
- Your time and budget are yours! It all depends on how much time you spend spending time in a certain place, your daily travel style, etc. You don’t need to consider the preferences and requirements of your travel partner; you don’t need to worry about a boring partner, and vice versa. You also have more space to complete your own journey. Traveling alone can be a great opportunity to reflect and move your own pace. (You may bring any problems to yourself, but you may have a different view of them. If this is your first time traveling on your own, then you may be lucky enough to discover how resourceful you are.) Traveling alone, you just have to please yourself .
- It is easier to make friends with locals. Without friends or other companions, there are many good opportunities to communicate with local people on a personal level.
- You have no social responsibility. In addition to family and work roles, you have the space and time to be yourself.
- You will be much more flexible than a non-single traveler, and may be easier to deal with unexpected setbacks and problems. For example, if a flight or a restaurant is overbooked, you can make replacement plans more easily. After all, no one will blame you for your own mistakes!
- You can change your plan more easily because you don’t have to let all other members of the team deny your personal ideas. But you have to think twice, most air and train ticket refunds are limited, and some hotel reservations are difficult to cancel (or keep all or part of the prepayment).
Disadvantages of traveling alone
- Personal safety can be a problem because no one will notice you; when driving a car, if you feel tired, no one will help you drive. When you go to buy a train ticket, there is no one to guard your luggage. You will have to carry all your equipment with you, which can be inconvenient and stressful.
- Since no one you know will share the cost with you, if you are inexperienced, personal arrangements may be more expensive. Although transportation tickets are priced separately, the hotel rooms are usually designed and priced for two people (a double bed or two single beds). Therefore, single travelers have to charge the same price, which is very expensive. If you want to drive a car, do it aloneRent a carIt is also more expensive. Therefore, the budget you may need will be more expensive than a group trip. Generally speaking, careful selection of relatively low-cost accommodation, transportation, restaurants, etc. requires planning and consideration first.
- In some activities, such as walking alone on the street at night, people may often be noticed or blackmailed.
- You may experience loneliness because you have no one to talk to. But in many densely populated areas, you can use almost ubiquitouscell phoneservice. If you are willing to choose and can afford the cost, it is now easier to keep in touch with people at home; it is also easy to use email to keep in touch with friends at home. Finally, unless you trek through the Sahara on your own, you will almost certainly surround others. Please try to have a conversation with some local people!
Language
If you are a tourist in a non-English speaking country, but do not speak English or the local language, you may not be able to communicate with the locals; the tourist may need to learn the basic local language, so as not to find a Who is seeking help. It’s not difficult to learn the basics of any language now, you can get it from WikivoyagePhrasebookCome for reference and study, but make sure you can understand or understand some basic words and expressions yourself; and before you go, learn how to use oral dictation. Borrow some language teaching CDs from the local library or find teaching videos on the website. For example, Spanish, German, Arabic, Russian, Chinese (with Confucius Institutes in foreign countries), and Spanish are easier to understand than English. Even in some non-native languages, you can study at the university in their country. Or the cultural representative office to study, the price is quite affordable in almost any place.
arrival
Some destinations are more suitable for solo travel than others. You may find places where individual travellers have fewer or more expensive accommodations. Of course, there may also be places that cater to individual travelers.
Travel around
Your own travel bag should be as light as possible. In a group, when you travel with friends, sharing daily necessities can reduce the burden; when one person looks at the equipment, the other person will wait in line for train tickets, or even buy drinks or go to the toilet. However, you need to travel alone on your own. You may carry your daily necessities with you and prepare all the itineraries by yourself.
When you want to take transportation, consider taking an intercity train instead of a bus, so that you can move around freely and mingle with other passengers. On most long-distance trains, locals will bring a picnic, so please bring more food to share with new friends. And long-haul air flights can also be a good opportunity to learn about fellow travelers.
Please try not to look at the map on the busy streets of foreign cities (this will represent your easy target to become a pickpocket); please read the map in the coffee shop, and relax, a refreshment will help you get better thoughts . In many cities, useMobile deviceTo know where you are, it is often better to distinguish your location than using a paper map, but in some areas, there may be no Internet service. Therefore, before traveling, you must know whether the destination you are going to has unlimited Internet service. . An unremarkable option is to print out a map, cut it into palm-sized pieces, and put together the maps you need for your trip.
Dining
Try to find a relaxing atmosphere in a European city in warm weather, such as a cafe, bar or outdoor terrace in a department store. Other good placesFast food shop, Takeaway shops, afternoon tea restaurants,Street food stall, And restaurants, etc.
In addition, you don’t want to eat alone by yourself. You can also enjoy meals with other people in lively food stalls or restaurants. Food in some restaurants is expensive, so it is recommended that visitors try to enjoy the food in small restaurants, fast food shops or street food stalls. But whenNew YorkSuchAmericaIn cities, people traveling alone can even sit in the bars of the most acclaimed high-end restaurants. This is very common, and they can usually choose from the full menu there. existJapan, Solo tourists can book a table at the counter of a sushi/sashimi restaurant, and when they want to interact with the chef, they can choose Omakase (おまかせ, that is, let the chef decide the food). On the other hand, it’s completely natural for a Japanese individual to sit down at the counter of a ramen shop and enjoy a cheap meal.
stay
- In places where accommodation is expensive, you can try to collaborate with other single travelers, share rooms and share the cost. Going to a new place on the bus/train/plane is a good place to share and communicate with people. Although this can be a great way to save money, be careful who you trust.
- The simpler and more convenient the accommodation, the easier it is to make new friends. If you feel lonely, go to ahostel, Not a five-star hotel. Hotels usually have many solo travelers, many of them want to enjoy a beer with one or two friends.
service
- Hiking is the best way to travel alone. You can have the opportunity to meet the locals and even experience the local life for yourself.
- Internet travel forums can be a good way to seek information, so as to provide you with new knowledge about your destination through other tourists.
- Buy someone a beer and start a conversation! Even if you are no longer in your own home, it is time to start. Ask someone who seems to have been there for a long time to see what is interesting about the destination. If you know a popular area, politely provide information to people who have just been there. Even better is to talk to the locals. In some countries, hotels are equipped with a social environment that likes to make new friends.
- Ask the locals to teach you a few words in their language. Ask the locals how to toast in the local language. Don’t be afraid: in the worst case, you will never see these people again, and in the best case, you will make a new friend.
- Ask local people or others to help you take personal photos, or help them take photos. This is also a good way to initiate a conversation.
- Some places are not forbiddenSmokingYes, there are even outdoor smoking areas; however, in most countries, smoking is prohibited in local public places, and offering cigarettes to others is not the best way to please dialogue.
Safety
Life is for living, so don’t go crazy from worry, but some simple measures can make your solo travel safer:
- If possible, during the dayReach a new place. This will give you enough time to adjust your accommodation conditions, and living during the day will keep you relatively safe. In some places, security is good during the day, but it is dangerous at night. There are also places where it is dangerous during the day, but it gets worse at night!
- It is very important that money is not revealed! Once the valuables are lost or stolen, there is very little to get them back! SeePickpocketing。
- Pay attention to your instincts. If your mind tells you not to enter that taxi, then please change another one. If you feel bad about a place, a restaurant, or a person, then leave! Before consciously recognizing these, your intuition often encounters tiny signs of danger.
- Be careful with drugs andAlcohol. If you don’t have someone around you to assist you, or if you’re drunk, you can’t walk home by yourself. If you are unconscious and make decisions about who to trust, where to go, how to do it, and what to do well, these decisions will become much more difficult.
- If you are in a place and have been in a coma for more than a short period of time, please try to seek assistance from a local person you trust. If you find a good taxi driver, ask if he can drive on other days. If you find a good hotel/restaurant and the staff there seems to be reliable, then please stay more! Find a favorite bar and make friends with the bartender; when you are drunk, they will pick you up in the driving car and help you explain to the driver where to stay, so you won’t be left behind No matter the lane.