Solo travel sounds exciting and romantic, and perhaps even a bit bold when you first think about it, but then you find yourself standing in a new place by yourself, and the sudden realisation that every decision you make from now on is yours and yours alone. That can be pretty scary. But the good news is that being by yourself doesn’t have to mean being uneasy and uncomfortable, and there are some things you can do before and during your trip that can make it all a lot more pleasant. With that in mind, keep reading to find out more about how to travel fearlessly even when you’re alone.

Get Comfortable With Your Own Company

A lot of the time, the first hurdle isn’t the airport or the train station – it’s the moment you wonder if you’re actually okay to be doing all this by yourself. It’s fine because most people will feel that, and it does pass, and of course, the more time you spend working things out for yourself and solving the little problems that come up, the more confident you’ll feel in your own abilities, and the more you’ll be able to do. It’s all going to become like second nature to you after a while – you just have to get there first.

For some people, that’s going to start with looking up routes before they go anywhere, and for others, it might be finding a nice cafe that becomes something of a home base for the trip, and so on. If you can find the thing that helps you and keep doing it, everything else gets easier.

Know The Basics Before You Go

When we say you need to know the basics, we don’t mean you (necessarily) have to learn the whole guidebook and know everything. What we mean is that you’ll do well if you can get familiar with the essentials, like how to get from the airport to the city centre or your hotel, for example, and any local customs you might need to know about, and so on. The more you understand about where you’re going, the less worry you’ll do when you get there, and you can enjoy your trip a lot more.

It also helps to check the local laws around anything safety-related you might want to carry, including things like a stun gun. It’s legal in some places and banned in others, so it’s best to know, and if you can’t have one, there are plenty of other self-defense items you can choose instead.

Build Routines To Make You Feel Safe

Little habits are great if you want to feel safe and secure, and you’ll probably have a load of them you already do at home that make your days go better – the same can be said for a trip; if you’ve got some good routines in place, you’ll find you can relax more and you won’t miss out on anything through stress and confusion.

Some of the routine habits to get into when you’re travelling could include sharing your location with someone, screenshotting maps and other information just in case you lose your signal when you need it, and keeping a backup payment method separate from your wallet. And of course, asking for help isn’t a sign of failure – it’s a good idea. If you need it, there are going to be people around who can help you.