11 things every first-time solo traveller needs to know — Travelling Tom

Travelling solo doesn’t have to mean hitting the road alone, because there are several ways to go about it.

You can keep yourself to yourself and explore somewhere at your own pace, or you could book a place on a group tour and enjoy exploring with strangers. It may seem a little overwhelming, but group tours can bring like-minded people together.

If you’re social but have no-one to go away with, then why not try a group tour? You may make some new travel buddies along the way.

10. It’s cheap and easy to get your self-shoot game on point

If you’re worried about travelling solo because it’s more difficult to get those all-important Instagram shots when you’re alone, then fear not, because you can still get good quality photos and shoot them yourself.

When I go away and I’m on my own, I take a Joby GorillaPod, a phone clamp and a Bluetooth remote with me, so if I ever want to take a photo of myself, I’ve got a setup that’s cheap, easy to use and can take multiple pictures, ensuring I get at least one that’s good for the ‘gram.

11. It is okay if you don’t like it

You only need to spend 30 seconds on Instagram or TikTok to see someone singing the praises of solo travel, but the final point in this blog post is the exact reason you should give it a go – you might not like it.

One of the reasons that many of my travels are solo is not because I prefer going it alone, but because I go to many destinations that, to most, aren’t desirable.

I have no UK-based friends or family that are up for exploring Comoros or keen on traversing Kyrgyzstan, and so it’s down to me, myself and I.

But even if there was interest from acquantinaces for each and every trip I took, I’d still want to try solo travel.

Although I love this type of travel, you may or may not. But if that’s the case, you won’t actually know until you try. If you don’t end up liking it, you’ve still had a valuable experience and you’ll never look back and wonder if you’ve missed out.