Do you have a bucket list of places you want to visit? Delicious foods you want to try? Or just be more comfortable being alone and not lonely?
No matter your interests, age, or finances, solo travel is one of the most empowering and enjoyable activities as a woman. It’s one of the best ways to discover more about yourself while having fun and experiencing new things.
Starting at 20 years old, I’ve taken dozens of solo trips to over 30 countries! From 3 months of slow travel in South Korea to road trips in New Zealand and solo cafe dates in a new city, it’s so fulfilling to enjoy your own company in any location.
With solo travel, you’ll learn the joy of exploring at your own pace and doing absolutely everything that you want - no need for compromise 🙂
This beginner-friendly guide has the top tips for taking your very first trip as a solo female traveler!
Pre-travel Planning Tips
Ever heard the quote, ‘Planning is the key to success’? If you’re feeling anxious or nervous about your first trip or overwhelmed and not sure where to start, planning your trip makes everything about solo travelling so much easier. When you arrive at your destination you can just enjoy and live in the moment!
Start Slow and Near
When going on your very first solo trip, take it easy! There’s no need to rush and jump right into the deep end.
Whether you’re gearing up for a one week holiday, a year-long OE or planning to travel until money runs out, take a short solo weekend trip first.
This way you can start to develop your key skills for solo travelling all while being in the comfort of your own country. Things like ordering food, looking for directions and chatting with strangers are so much easier when speaking your language.
If you want to dip your toes into solo travelling, you can even start with a solo day exploring your hometown.
Choose a new cute cafe or restaurant for lunch and a nearby activity or attraction you want to see. Bring a book and your headphones and enjoy the present moment.
This is also such a great way to fall in love with your hometown again!
As you get comfortable with eating alone and enjoying your own company, you can start taking longer trips. This way, you won’t be so overwhelmed when you take your first trip overseas.
Chose Your Trip Budget First
Often travellers will choose a destination and then research how much they need for that location. However, currency exchange rates, accommodation, food, souvenir spending etc. can vary widely from person to person.
This is why I recommend deciding your budget first, then the length of your trip second and location last.
There are so many countries you can visit, let alone all the beautiful cities and small towns within each country - it’s impossible to see everything!
It can be so disheartening to have your heart set on a destination, just to realise that you’ll have to eat convenience store sandwiches or miss out on activities because you don’t have the funds.
Travelling is so much more enjoyable when you are excited to see, shop and eat all the things you want to do without feeling stressed about your budget.
If you do feel a pull to a specific (expensive) city, no worries! You can always take your time, save for longer and feed your wanderlust with small trips nearby.
Research, research, research your itinerary
When you’re travelling alone, you are completely in charge of your itinerary.
This is a wonderful thing as you can spend your time exactly how you want. On the other hand, so much choice can be confusing and overwhelming.
When you’re at a destination don’t waste your time searching for restaurants, attractions or shops. This is time better spent exploring the new city and creating core memories 🙂
You might realise that the cafe you want to visit has a huge queue at lunchtime, you missed a festival by a day or the cute boutique you wanted to visit is closed on Mondays.
It’s taken so much time and effort to get to your destination, you don’t want to miss out and have regrets on your trip.
You don’t have to follow your itinerary to the minute, but having a general guide takes away so much stress and mental load while you’re travelling. Especially for your first few solo trips, the less thinking you have to do while you get used to travelling alone, the better!
I like to plan my travel days by choosing my top must-sees, then I look for other attractions, food and shops around that location.
Get a Data SIM
When travelling abroad having mobile data is so useful to navigating a new place alone.
For shorter trips, eSIMs are super handy. From airalo.com you can prepay online at home and then connect to data the moment you arrive at your destination. There’s no need to look for a phone sim company at the airport or change out your sim and risk losing your local one.
Just check that your phone is eSim compatible before purchasing.
With longer trips that are 1 month+, I prefer to get a local sim card with a telephone number. It’s so much easier to make restaurant bookings, book taxis/ubers or sign up for local apps with a local phone number.
To find a physical SIM card, google ‘Country name sim card’. Some companies will mail a SIM card directly to your home address before you travel while others will let you pick up at the airport.
Figure out your route from the airport / ferry terminal / train station
You’ve been dreaming about your solo trip and today’s finally the day! You’ve arrived at your destination! You’re so excited to start exploring or head to your accommodation … But wait, how do you get to where you want to go?
Whether leaving from an airport, ferry terminal or train station, you need to figure out transport. If you’re in a new country, especially where they speak a different language asking for directions on the spot can be so daunting.
It’s best to research how to get to your accommodation before you arrive at your destination.
When deciding on transportation to the city, the most important thing you need to take into account is -
What time does my flight / train / boat arrive?
If it’s late at night or early in the morning public transport might not be operating. Your options might be to taxi or arrange for a private car pick up. f you’re the last flight/train/boat for the day, the airport or terminal might have closed with no tourist information centres open.
On the other hand, if you arrive at peak hour traffic taking a train or metro might be a better option. You can skip all the traffic jams on the motorway and save a lot too.
Not all airports have easy public transportation options, so make sure to research your route before you arrive.
Choose a Solo-Female Friendly Destination
When starting out with solo travel, pick a city/country that is popular with female travellers. You can always explore places of the beaten track, when you have more experience. If you can, pick an overseas country where you speak some of the language or choose a destination that's known to be be 'easier' for women.
Some of my favourite solo-female travel destinations are -
New Zealand - English speaking, beautiful nature - beaches and mountains, lots of options to join group tours or perfect for a solo road trip.
Montréal - French speaking (but most locals speak English in the city), amazing food and architecture. Montréal is a great option for North Americans, if you want a more 'European' feel without leaving North America 🙂
Singapore - English speaking, great nightlife city vibes with amazing food and public transport.
Japan - Friendly locals (that will try to help you out even if you don't speak Japanese!), a wide range of city and nature activities with incredible public transport.
Share your solo travel plans with a loved one
Before you set out on your adventure, make sure to share your solo travel itinerary with a loved one back home.
It’s fun for your loved one to feel like they are following along on your trip and can live vicariously through your updates and photos you send. Keeping communication open also helps to soothe any fears or worries they might have for you as a female travelling alone.
If your loved ones are a bit anxious or worried you can pre-arrange times (that work for both time zones) to check in for a quick video chat or message.
On my first solo trip, I messaged my sister every day when I got back to my accommodation. We even had a ‘code phrase’ I would send to her in case I needed help. Looking back, we laugh about it but it really helped us both to feel less worried.
It made my sister feel at ease knowing that I was safe, happy and having fun. At the same time, I felt reassured that if anything ever did happen, someone would be looking out for me as soon as possible! Thankfully to this day, we’ve never needed to use the ‘code phrase’ 😀
TOP TRAVEL TIP - Many countries also have safe traveler programs. Just in the event of a natural disaster or emergency, your country’s embassy will know where you are and it’ll be easier for help to find you.
You can normally apply online and enrol with the local embassy of the countries you’re visiting. Simply google ‘safe travel countryname’ to find if your country’s passport has a programme.
Believe in yourself!
In the lead up to your departure you’ll feel lots of emotions - excitement, anxiousness, fatigue - you want your holiday to start now! Remember that you’ve prepared yourself as best as possible and you are ready.
As you start your solo travel journey, there will be ups and downs but through it all you’ll always have yourself. You’ll surprise yourself in your resourcefulness, resilience and strength.
Like anything, the first time is always the biggest step. Even if things don’t quite go to plan the first time, it’s ok as you’ll learn and grow. Then you can use your experience to have an easier time on your next solo trip.
With more time and solo holidays under your belt who knows, maybe you’ll fall in love with solo travelling and it will feel like a breeze!
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