Solo Travel Tips for Young and First-Time Travelers

Solo travel has become a hot topic. Unlike “single(s)” travel, it is a broader group. It can include those who are single, married, or have a partner/significant other. It may be a business person looking to add a leisure weekend or extension on a trip for work.

Two stumbling blocks to solo travel can be: 1. whether it is lonely to vacation as a “party of one” and 2. whether eating alone, especially dinner, is uncomfortable.

Now having visited 68 countries and all 50 states, I have found five good ways to go alone without feeling you are “going it alone.”

Today we are going to teach you tips for traveling solo as a teenager.

River Cruise and Small Ship Cruises

I highly recommend river cruises and small ships. They are primarily a good fit for a first-time solo traveler. However, they are also great for well-traveled solos in two cases. That is where destinations like Cambodian boat villages are not otherwise easy to reach. Secondly, they work well in places where security is an issue.

Here are the key advantages of such river and small ships for solo travelers:

• Give you time alone but a group for tours and meals.

• Can be competitively priced when compared to a piecemeal approach

• Make unpacking a one-time chore.

• Work well with land packages.

• Often have discounted package pricing, including flights.

Select your lodging, and take day trips.

Here are the key advantages of this independent approach:

• Affords you the opportunity to select your personal interests and travel style.

• Provides more opportunity to interact with local residents.

• Gives you a “day-off” when you need it.

• Works with a range of budgets.

Combine both of the above approaches.

I favor this approach when I travel. On solo travel for 17 days at New Year’s, I toured Southeast Asia. I started with a private taxi tour in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I then joined a top Mekong River Cruise on to Vietnam. On the last leg, I had five days in a 5-star hotel in Bangkok. At my last stop, I tried all three ways of sightseeing: 1. An extensive bus tour 2. A private guide, and 3. Self-directed subway tour.

This blended approach puts you in the driver’s seat and:

• Will let you set your own course while being free to pick and choose

• Gives you a part-time group of travel mates but also time alone

• Makes it possible to follow a budget (or splurges) tailored to what works for you

Sign up ahead for a class abroad.

Studying abroad has become very popular now for cooking classes in France and Italy. However, for decades, language classes abroad have lured students for short-term or full summer programs. Add to that options for photography classes, skiing, and scuba diving.

Here are the key benefits to this approach:

• Provides you with a ready-made group

• Gives you a local contact to hear what not to miss off the tourist path

• Make it possible to connect with classmates for meals or sightseeing.

• Results in providing local contacts in an emergency

Join a volunteer group or exchange program.

I have done this twice. My first trip out of the US was at 18, joining five other girls on a summer YMCA project in Trinidad and Tobago. It was the best way to learn about day-to-day life in another country and participate in community activities.

The benefits were endless. They included:

• You can meet locals outside of the typical tourist path.

• Seeing distant and often more unusual destinations

• Providing volunteer efforts to communities than may have experienced natural disasters or other hardships.

If you are new to solo travel, take a look at each of these options.

You will be surprised how fast solo travel gives you the chance to make new life-long friends from around the world so that you feel you are isolated no more.

Create a simple safety and communication plan

Share your itinerary and lodging details with someone you trust, agree on a check-in schedule, and keep offline copies of essential contacts and documents. Use official travel advisories and destination information close to departure because conditions can change after you book.

Trust your judgment when a situation feels wrong. Leave, seek a staffed public place, or contact local help rather than worrying about appearing rude. Keep enough money and battery power to change transportation or lodging if needed.

Keep one location as your personal milestone

Your first solo journey may have one place that represents the whole experience: the station where you arrived, the view you reached, or the café where being alone began to feel comfortable. Save the map pin and use our coordinates guide to verify it. If you want a wearable reminder later, browse the personalized jewelry collection after the trip rather than making a rushed choice while traveling.

Shop the pieces in this guide

Bring the Place Home

The problem with a great trip is that it ends. Photographs sit on a phone; souvenirs end up in a drawer. The one format that survives is something you wear — which is why travellers increasingly mark a trip with the coordinates of the exact spot that mattered rather than a fridge magnet from the airport.

Pick one location per trip, chosen after you get home when you actually know which moment counted. A coordinates bracelet ($42) stacks trip by trip; a coordinates necklace ($89.99) is the version for the trip that changed something; a coordinates keychain ($35) works for anyone who does not wear jewelry at all.

Getting the numbers takes about thirty seconds — see how to find the coordinates of any place, or browse the coordinates collection.

Related guides

• How to find the coordinates of any place
• Why coordinates jewelry means more
• The complete guide to personalized jewelry

Or browse our coordinates jewelry.