How to Get Started Solo Traveling

I neglected to include one of the most important aspects of my trip, how I got started. You see, me personally, I’m a planner. I needed at least the first 1-2 months to have an established plan of where and when I’m going to be somewhere. I had the full 6 months figured out early, in terms of where I wanted to be and when, without booking everything until it was 100%.

I started my solo travel journey cautiously, I didn’t want any unaccounted for variables (or at least that was the goal). I chose to travel first in the US for a few months because it would help me be comfortable being alone for long periods of time, and stay in the familiarity of knowing the culture and the language. My intention had always been to start with the US, and then head over to Europe once I proved to myself that I could do it.

US Travel

I left a little wiggle room so that I would be able to change plans or be prepared in case weather prevented me from getting somewhere. While I’m personally a planner, not everyone operates this way. In terms of US travel, make sure hostels are booked a couple days in advance if possible, cause it can be very easy to get stuck with nowhere to stay since many towns only have one hostel among lots of expensive hotels. I booked most of mine even further in advance.

Budget

My main goal was to figure out budget first and foremost, so I knew how much I wanted to spend. I planned to spend around the same amount of money on accommodation as I did on rent, around $700. Between Trusted Housesitters, hostels, and family, I was able to keep my costs just about the same when divided amongst the 6 months, some months spending more than others.

I didn’t plan out any other cost specifics, but intended to spend no more than what I earned monthly. The only areas where my budget was messed up a bit was flying home for the holidays, which wasn’t factored in, and gas.

So in total, I spent $926.60 on gas, $956.79 on groceries, $4,921.49 on restaurants (YIKES), and $2,180.44 on accommodation. Clearly, I needed to cook for myself a bit more. Everyone has their hamartia, and I’m sure you can evaluate whether this is going to be yours.

If I hadn’t spent it on restaurants, I would’ve tripled or at least doubled my grocery spending. Ultimately, I spent $8,985.32 on my 6 month roadtrip in the US (not including the two flights roundtrip home.

I very easily could’ve budgeted my trip down to $1,000 a month if I had been a bit more frugal. I also chose accommodation near ski mountains so I could take advantage of the winter season, if I had been more flexible with accommodation I could’ve stayed much lower on that front.

Choices to Consider

A trip like this, meaning staying in accommodation, not camping. Camping would be considerably cheaper if you know where to look, but since I wasn’t comfortable going solo camping for my first trip, I decided to save that for later. I used Wanderlog for some of the trip specifics so I could see how long each trip leg would take.

If you’re traveling alone, make sure you don’t plan for trip legs that are longer than you can drive in a day. I typically planned for 8 hours, and 10 at most if needed. If you’re traveling with someone else, you could probably make 12 hours of driving possible. Personally, I wanted to move slowly, so I could see as much as I could. I made sure almost every destination was a week long, aside from a couple interval stops.

While traveling alone wasn’t exactly a choice for me, there are a lot of benefits to going alone. You can make your own choices about what you want to do and who you want to do it with. There is a lot more flexibility in solo travel. When you travel with others, it’s a trip of compromise, but also guarantees more security. Solo travel is freedom. You just need to learn your own ways to keep yourself safe in the meanwhile. If you had asked me 6 months ago if I would prefer to travel with a friend or more, I would have said yes immediately. Now, that answer is very different.

I wouldn’t have met all the people I know, or feel comfortable going off on my own and leaving my friend to do other things. I absolutely love traveling with friends, but a week trip is very different from full-time travel. The only other person I could imagine traveling with is a significant other… but even then, spending all days with someone can be incredibly challenging, so you have to be totally sure. I feel like traveling alone is an exploration of self, as much as an exploration of places… but traveling with others is more of an exploration of compromise.

Packing!

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that I overpacked. I had 10 pairs of shoes, more outfits than I could count, a duffel bag full of socks and underwear, and lots of jackets shoved in the back. Not pictured, I had bags of toiletries, one for miscellaneous items like tampons, retainer cleaner, and a big bag of things I would need in the bathroom like shampoo and conditioner. I also had another bag that included things I might need like a first aid kit, tree hammock, and a few other seats. My backseat had a blanket and a large pillow.

For a roadtrip, this wasn’t a big deal since it was just me. It was also strategic in a way because it made me figure out what I would need for my European trip, since I’d be downsizing times 50. My European packing was much better, and took up considerably less space.

European Travel

I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm when planning for this trip.

I didn’t plot this trip out in the same way as my US road trip, especially because I knew there were a lot of variables that I can’t control. I made sure I packed much lighter so I could travel a bit easier and I paid attention to some important details so I could be prepared no matter what I was doing or where I was.

Travel Insurance: Do I Need it?

In my opinion, yes. It’s worth it for the peace or mind, you never know what is going to happen. And if you don’t care about peace of mind, then it sounds like you are probably someone who needs it the most since they cover a lot of “fuck it” behavior. Personally, I’d recommend getting SafetyWing Insurance to make sure you’re covered for everything. They take care of everything so you don’t have to think about it. From health insurance to lost luggage, so it hits all the bases of what you might run into while traveling. You’re also protected with things like natural disasters, emergencies, and personal liabilities.

I like SafetyWing in particular because they are low cost (less than $50 a month), and their services were designed by nomads for nomads. To me, this means that things that I wouldn’t think about or even consider when traveling is all implemented in the plan so I don’t expect to run into something that another nomad hasn’t already run into. I found this particularly important since this was my first time nomading and I didn’t want to mess anything up. Now that the important logisticals are squared away, it’s onto the stuff you’ve been putting off.

What do you pack?

Packing is hard for everyone, but it added a layer for me since I didn’t want to bring a suitcase. The length of the trip should have a major influence over your clothing choices. The longer I stay somewhere, the more versatile I need my clothing to be. I opted for a lot of neutral colors, and avoided patterns. Since you need to make outfits out of every clothing item, you don’t want something that can only be worn with one other thing. Also white is very hard to keep white, so consider that. I brought a lot of tan clothing that wouldn’t stain easily.

Consider the weather. I knew most of my trip would be warm so I opted for a lot of linen. I didn’t anticipate the cold weather in Amsterdam on arrival, and was not prepared which definitely dampened my trip’s experience.

Then there is the age old debate, do I bring a suitcase or a backpack? I opted for a large, carry-on backpack because I knew I’d be travelling around quite a bit and I wanted free hands, but the choice is dependent person to person. Next trip, I’ll probably take a suitcase for the ease of my back, but I have the option for both which I prefer.

How long do you want to be gone for?

Deciding how long you want to travel for is an imperative part of your journey. It has a direct influence on packing, choosing destinations, and cost. Long travel can be a lot more affordable, but it might mean you won’t have cash flow for a while if you aren’t a remote worker. There are also destinations that don’t allow you there for longer than a certain amount of time, most are 90 days.

There has been a common misconception that you can enter the Schengen area in Europe of 90 days, leave and come back for it to reset, but that is not the case. This popular travel destination only allows visitors for 90 days in every 180. That means, it’s a rolling number. In the last 180 days, you can’t spend more than 90 days. It’s very important to keep track of this. Luckily you can exit to Eastern European countries, the UK, and Ireland if you are nearing your limit.

Where do you want to go?

Now this is a big question, and very important. Even if you don’t want to plan your whole trip before you leave, you should have an idea of which places are nonnegotiable. You should also have your first month figured out before you get there.

Of course, Europe is a popular destination, but if you’re looking for a longer, budget trip, consider Southeast Asia or South America.

If you need flights for your trip, check out my Flight Hacks post. An Accommodation Tips post will be available soon, as I have a lot of hacks for that too.