A Guide for Solo Travel

Date

06.24.24 More info+

Learn how to make the most of your solo trip.

Some people spend their entire lives filled with the desire to travel the world solo — just “me, myself, and I.” Others prefer company: a partner, friend, the whole family, or even a group of strangers. But if you’re in the latter group, aching to explore but uneasy about doing so alone, what happens when, for whatever reason, you’re single?

You should make the journey anyway, says travel writer Jenn Rice. Rice was already well into her travel-centric career when, in 2018, she got divorced. After this twist of events, “I no longer had a partner to join me for portions of my travel, so I dove head first into solo travel,” she says. She’s stayed single and fallen even more in love with travel. “I became so obsessed that I am now 100 percent nomadic, with a few things packed in storage at a friend’s house.”

Rice has since written extensively about how she’s used her single status to her advantage, leveraging dating apps to meet locals and gain insider recommendations she wouldn’t have found in Google searches or city guides. If the only thing stopping you from taking a life-changing trip this summer is the lack of a travel partner, Rice’s tips should help you buy those flight tickets.

Pick a Singles-Friendly Destination

A location ideal for solo trips hits that sweet spot between adventurous and familiar. “Safety is always first, so I try to solo travel in places I've heavily researched and places that locals and friends have vetted,” says Rice. “Pick a destination you really want to visit. Cities are usually more ideal [when traveling solo], but I do love road-tripping to smaller destinations and villages. This, of course, took me a while to get comfortable with.”

You’ll also want to look for a spot that has two must-haves: good public transportation and — an underrated essential — a coffee shop near your hotel. “A coffee shop is like magic when traveling alone,” says Rice. “You can meet people there and have a place to repeat that feels like ‘home.’”

Travel Lighter Than Normal

When traveling solo, you won’t have a partner or friend helping you lug bags between terminals or trains. Rice has learned to pack lighter when going it alone. “You need to be able to lightly bop around and manage your luggage while zipping around cities on trains and ferries.” When in doubt, leave it at home. If push comes to shove, you can always buy something — an umbrella, extra sweater, etc. — while traveling.

Download Dating Apps

Rice can’t recommend using Tinder highly enough — for good reason. Many of her best travel stories start with a swipe right.

“Last summer, I’d made half-ass plans and ended up meeting someone from Tinder who ended up being a highlight of my summer,” she says. “We had major chemistry upon meeting, and one drink turned into a five-day road trip from Padova to Lago di Iseo to Lago di Como. We stopped at villages and towns along the way and I got to know so many things I probably would not have seen. This actually happened a few times last summer, and most recently on a date who toured me through Pisa (I mentioned I’d never seen it) and Lucca.”

Lean Into Last-Minute Plans

The best restaurants in bustling cities often book up weeks, if not months, in advance. But here’s the thing about being single: Most of the time, you can squeeze in. “Nine times out of 10, there’s always room for one more at a booked-out restaurant or bar,” says Rice. “Traveling solo is more, dare I say, relaxed for me as I’m only worrying about myself. If I want to change plans or add or take away something, I can, as it’s only me.”

Stay at a Hotel

Rice has found that she prefers hotels over other accommodations for one prime reason: the front desk. “I typically stay in hotels for the convenience of having someone at the front desk or a concierge to help with any questions,” she says. Those hotel employees are always great for restaurant recommendations, and they may also share insider knowledge about their city as you build rapport during your stay.

Just make sure to book directly with the hotels. “I stopped using Booking.com a couple of summers ago after ending up in a sketchy situation,” she says. She’s all for using these types of platforms to research hotels in an area before traveling, but she recommends going directly to the hotel website to do final research and book your stay. “Hotels will also always match a price on a third-party site,” she adds.

Trust Your Gut

Safety rule number one while traveling alone: If something feels off, skip it. “This sounds so corny, but I do have a solid gift of trusting my gut,” Rice says. “If something feels slightly off, I'm out as fast as I can blink. I also always, always, always have my location shared with a few good friends and try to keep in touch with them along the way. And if [you’re] dating while traveling solo, I recommend always going back to your hotel versus the date’s house or hotel, as there are 24/7 staff and it’s just a safer measure, in my opinion.”

Know That Solo Travel Will Hit Different

And that’s the beauty of it, according to Rice. When you travel with a companion, you’re less likely to strike up a chat with strangers simply because it feels awkward at first. That’s especially true when you don’t speak the language well.

“I find that I’m prompted to be more social when traveling solo and try harder to speak the native language in a place or strike up a chat with a bartender or waiter versus when traveling with other people,” Rice says. “I think solo travel, in this crazy media space, has given me the beauty of seeing beautiful new things and people across the globe.”

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