Making a trip alone can be one of the most rewarding ways to travel. It’s entirely your trip, from start to finish you can make every decision without compromise from destinations, timescales, right down to what to eat, when to sleep, etc. Here are 5 tips to make it a success, take it from a seasoned traveler, follow these suggestions and it will make your trip a little easier.
Make Sure You Plan Ahead
Plan for when you’re away, especially when you will be taking a prolonged trip, it’s important to ensure your home and belongings are safe. Consider having someone watch the place, either as a house-sitter or even just looking in occasionally. You can get all manner of technologies to help out in home security these days as well, CCTV systems, automatic lighting that comes on to simulate people being at home, even online door-bells where you can see who is calling even if you are not there.
Don’t Be Contained By An Itinerary
Once you go, though, you are free to do whatever you like. With no travel companions, you are not only able to set your own schedule but can alter it or even abandon it entirely without checking with anyone else. How many times are the best adventures ones that you just found, in the wise words of J.R.R Tolkien, “You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to” so go with your gut, and you won’t forget it.
Rent A Car
What is the point of freedom if half of it is spent waiting at a bus stop. Public transport can be patchy at best and when you don’t know the quirks of the local system even more so. So is it not best to find your own wheels? These days it’s easier than ever to find and book a vehicle for rental, say you want to rent a car in Toronto just log on to give your license details, pay up and it’s done.
Stay In Hostels & Other Communal Accommodation
Traveling alone is lonely by its very definition, so it’s essential to choose where you stay with a bit of purposefulness in this regard. A great way to get to know people is by staying in hostels, and similar accommodation but not all of these are the same, find out about the ones you are going to stay in, ones with their own bars or at least communal areas are best.
Find A Local Pub
A local pub is an undiscovered goldmine when traveling to new cities and towns. Think about it, who knows the place best? Those that have lived their lives there, you can get recommendations on where to go, and if you pick the right place, you’ll get a good vibe and stories to go along with it. You may laugh at me, but the best of these places are the ‘old man pubs’ these places are full of the history of the place and to top it off are a cheap place to drink usually.
