Travel Tips for a Female Solo Traveler

The first time I traveled solo, I was 23-years-old. It was never my intention to become a solo traveler. It was really not something I ever thought about before I was in the situation. I was supposed to take a course in Dublin for 3 months. Check out the post on my Experiences in Dublin. I had booked my flights before finding out the class had been cancelled. As a recent college grad, I did not have any peers that had the money or could take the time off from their newly acquired jobs to travel around Europe for a couple of months. My parents, aunts and uncles were all in their 50’s and still working as well. Also to my family, dropping everything for two months would be considered insane. So, I embarked on what would become the first of many solo adventures.

In my first solo trip I went to a region of the world where I could physically blend in as long as I didn’t speak. This isn’t necessarily important as I have visited many counties I didn’t fit in and was traveling alone. But as a 22-year-old with a lack of life experience, it made me a little more comfortable visiting places that are culturally similar to the US as well as countries that use the same/similar alphabet system so I could have had somewhat of a chance figuring out signs and certain words in conversation.

Growing up in the New York City area, also gave me a bit of an advantage. Anyone who has been to NY, knows you need to walk with a purpose and confidence. Even if you are scared or have no idea where you are, you don’t show it. While visiting Dublin, I was lost in the Temple Bar area and couldn’t find my way back to the hotel so I walked into a bar (at 12pm local time) and ordered a drink. I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me and the bartender for a bit. Finally a while later, in passing I asked if they knew where a certain location was. The bartender stopped in his tracks and said, wait are you lost and you stopped in for a drink, that’s amazing. I retorted with the fact that I was just trying to make the best out of the situation. When I walked through cities during this Europe trip, I can’t count how many times people stopped to ask me for directions or take their pictures and chat, like I was a local.

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