Traveling alone is not a solitary venture if approached correctly. Numerous journeys of mine start in solitude but conclude with amazing friendships and unforgettable experiences! Here’s how.
When I inform my friends and family that I’m embarking on my own to a new location, they frequently roll their eyes or shake their heads, thinking to themselves (and sometimes voicing aloud) that I might be somewhat insane – why would I travel alone to places so far from home and the familiar?
I, in response, shake my head and roll my eyes because I recognize that solo travel is the finest way to embark on a journey, and it is certainly not a solitary experience.
There are numerous methods to explore internationally, but the three I will emphasize here are sure to be social encounters.
These methods include volunteering abroad, studying overseas, and traveling with minimal belongings but an open mindset (and ideally a guidebook).
Read about some of my solo travel adventures and how they were truly very social, and how yours can be as well!
Check out: The best destinations to explore in Europe as a solo traveler and the Complete guide to solo backpacking.
Volunteering abroad
A few years ago, I was anticipating a volunteer opportunity in South America when it was abruptly canceled. Instead, I managed to find a reputable organization for volunteering abroad, akin to Worldpackers, and had an incredibly enriching experience in Rajasthan, India.
I set out on my own without even knowing how I would travel from the airport to my volunteer location.
As it turned out, it wouldn’t have made any difference. With a flight from Delhi to Udaipur being canceled, the journey began on a challenging note. Fortunately, I encountered two other college-aged girls from the same flight who had travel insurance and I was able to join them.
Sure enough, my first evening in India turned out to be a delightful mix of room service, TV, and girl talk. Delhi, with its vibrant rickshaws and chaotic influx of people and vehicles, can be quite daunting for a solo traveler, yet this makes it more likely for other international travelers to strike up conversations with you!
Participating in a volunteer program guarantees that you will form a few good friendships. You gain significant insight into someone when you are brought together for a new experience, such as teaching abroad. In this instance, I was at a Teacher’s College situated outside of Udaipur, where other volunteers were also placed on a rotating basis.
Right away, I met three students from American colleges who were spending a semester in India, teaching at the college and assisting at the community hospital. By the end of the first week, we were already well-acquainted and even looked after the neighborhood dog, Lindsay.
Fast forward a few days later and I’m dressed in a Salwar Kameez, enjoying spicy pakora from the street (American Spicy since Indian Spicy is extreme), know a handful of Hindi words (mostly related to food), and have formed local connections, including my two good Indian friends Rahul and Kamal.
The local friendships I developed in India serve as excellent examples of how to create meaningful experiences when you venture out into the world on your own.
Not only did Rahul and Kamal inform us about their culture, they also opened our eyes to the issues confronting the communities we were visiting, along with the individuals tackling these challenges.
Meeting with and listening to local individuals and communities is essential when volunteering internationally.
When we ventured into the villages around Udaipur, we frequently found ourselves accompanied by groups of villagers—it’s almost impossible to remain alone while traveling in rural Rajasthan! We were an unusual sight, and this initial experience volunteering abroad was incredibly enlightening for me.
At that time, I did not possess the abilities required to be effective in many of the communities. I felt more like a visitor, an outsider, a privileged American who was taking rather than contributing.
This nation of over 1. 3 billion people has regions that are significantly deficient in infrastructure. Children are still frequently required at home to work and are kept away from school.
There is much that can be accomplished, particularly in educational institutions, but volunteers coming to India should have at least some fundamental skill sets. Whether that includes experience with children, teaching English, or general maintenance.
Needless to say, there was a lot to absorb, often done over cups of Chai.
Honestly, the only word in Hindi I recall aside from paneer (cheese) is bus, pronounced like the vehicle, it signifies something similar to enough. Repeated several times in quick order, bus bus bus, it may prevent your hosts from refilling your plate/cup repeatedly. . .
With my new friends, I visited Mount Abu, still one of my most unforgettable experiences! Located on a steep plateau that rises from the isolated surroundings, the town of Mount Abu is accessed by driving (often recklessly) up an endless array of heart-pounding roads, until you finally arrive at an actual jungle oasis, featuring a central lake and elaborate, white Jain temples.
To this day, the friends I forged during this journey refer to each other as “BFF,” which is quirky yet charming. Indian people, in my experience, cherish this sentimental stuff, and every mountain edge we neared was filled with artificial Roses and Jacks on the Titanic.
This initial solo trip of volunteering greatly prepared me for my solo travel to the land down under. . .
Studying abroad
If there was ever a destination to explore alone, it is the solitary continent of Australia. In my situation, I embarked with the hope of studying there for about five months, which I ultimately extended to seven.
You see, once you arrive in Australia and meet the locals there, you’ll never want to depart!
When I mention to an Australian that I studied in Darwin, they invariably ask “why? ” Even Bill Bryson didn’t appreciate it, despite adoring this “sunburned country. “
I discovered from many Aussies that Darwin was a location where people could vanish, a town closer to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea than other places in Oz, but I cherished the expansive empty beaches and remarkable wildlife present.
Darwin (pronounced “Dah-win”) was suggested to me by my study abroad advisor during college. As a major in Anthropology, Arnhem Land, which is situated near Darwin in the Northern Territory, intrigued me, since it is home to the majority of Aboriginal Australians who preserve their traditional societal structure and customs.
Upon arriving in this tropical backwater, isolated from the rest of the continent by vast stretches of deserts and bushland, I encountered an incredibly fantastic group of people. Many were fellow international students, but most were wonderfully welcoming Australians who readily offered beer and companionship.
Seven months later, while traveling down the East Coast to Sydney by Greyhound bus, it was fascinating to contrast the more modern Australia with the one I had come to know intimately.
The wild tropical storms and desolate beaches, the regular patrons at the café where I worked alongside a group of Aussie “misfits,” and even the dive-bombing peewee and plover birds; northern Australia is indeed distinct from the central and southern regions, leading to encounters with diverse types of people.
Traveling through the country alone allowed me to be more receptive to forming new friendships and exploring possibilities.
I even joined the rugby team and met Australians of Samoan descent. Together with four international friends and one Australian, I embarked on an Outback adventure to witness the sacred Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), all of us sleeping in a “Wicked Van,” or camper van, for five days. I continue to regard them as some of the best friends I have ever made.
Traveling south by bus was an unforgettable journey in itself, and the individuals you encounter while traveling by Greyhound and staying in hostels are precisely what you would imagine — adventurous, spontaneous, and enjoyable to be around.
Do not hesitate to participate in a group excursion; they are designed for people traveling alone or with just a few companions! In Australia, I explored Fraser’s Island and the Great Barrier Reef on group excursions, and formed amazing connections.
My friends from Darwin joined me for the latter part of this trip, and we ended up encountering two guys on the Gold Coast who showed us the sights. We connected with a group on Fraser’s Island and had a fantastic time together for a few days before we parted ways.
In Sydney, I chose to embark on a solo journey to an opera at the Sydney Opera House while my friends socialized with other travelers at the hostel.
Having the liberty to pursue what you wish whenever you want, without the pressures of accommodating a group, is truly the greatest advantage of solo travel, but it also provides numerous social opportunities.
The ideal companion is a guidebook.
During a solo trip to Southeast Asia, I reunited with some friends I had made in Darwin months earlier. We arrived in Bali, Indonesia, with nothing except a guidebook (an outdated one at that).
Traveling with just a guidebook requires courage but grants you the freedom to create and join the adventures of those you meet along your journey.
With our limited budget, we shared a hotel room and ventured into Kuta, which we quickly left since we were not seeking a heavy party atmosphere. Bali is a fantastic place to meet fellow international travelers, specifically Germans, Australians, Swedes, and French.
The “hostels” in Bali are home-stays or hotels that you can reserve for the day or in advance at very low rates.
The same applies to Thailand — you can enjoy a stay in a resort on Phi Phi Island for as little as $5 USD! If you go during the Full Moon Festival, you are sure to make friends quickly — Thailand is a paradise for travelers, with many returning year after year.
In Malaysia, we all dispersed on our own, and I chose to explore a portion of Chinatown in the impressive capital city, Kuala Lumpur.
I faced some challenges ordering food when a local advised me to try the Black Pasta. This turned out to have a black color due to the squid ink used in the cooking process. He joined me at the table (well, I pretended to eat), and shared some insights about his life in Malaysia.
It was an unforgettable conversation that I’ll always remember, which took place because I was receptive to it. I could have easily brushed him off and left, but I found myself in a comfortable environment, and it turned out to be one of the best moments of my journey.
The lesson here is that you’ll encounter numerous new and thrilling situations with a variety of people from different cultures and diverse personality types.
Don’t hesitate to make new friends, share Whatsapp numbers, and even split the expenses of an enjoyable local experience!
You’ll only regret the discussions you missed out on while abroad.
Meet local people
Labyrinthine Medinas, homes adorned with blue tiles, lengthy bus rides, and geometrically shaped lanterns and souvenirs in the marketplace; the daily calls of the muezzin to the faithful are both magical and reassuring, these are the images of Morocco that constantly resonate with me.
Since this was my first visit to a Muslim country, I can’t say I wasn’t a little apprehensive about traveling alone. Moreover, I traveled during Ramadan, a month dedicated to fasting in remembrance of the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad, during which the faithful refrain from eating or drinking during daylight.
This created a couple of challenges, one being that people appeared somewhat tense, and another being that there weren’t many stores open, which meant I was also unintentionally participating in the fasting. Additionally, you tend to feel guilty sipping a glass of water in front of someone who is quite thirsty.
Nevertheless, I found myself welcomed to break the fast with families I stumbled upon in the Medina — something that would never occur for me in New York. What New Yorker would invite a stranger to his/her home for dinner after merely running into you at Grand Central Station?
The Moroccan people were incredibly hospitable; I found myself sitting on a rooftop in Fez, which seemed to me like the most ancient and traditional place in Morocco, enjoying camel meat and conversing with a family who was clearly sharing all they had. Gazing up at the stars and chatting with individuals I had just met about their lives, I realized it was undoubtedly the most remarkable experience I could have hoped for.
Naturally, not everything was shining minarets and lovely white storks nesting on their tops. Store owners in Marrakesh can be quite pushy, and more times than I would like to admit, I was tricked into buying something just to escape their grasp.
However, I did meet some wonderful people who happened to work for the same company as I did and were traveling the same way.
With my newfound friends, we took the train, which is amazingly easy to navigate, north to Chefchaouen through the Rif mountains.
Within the walls of this blue Moroccan city we met many international travelers, swam with the local kids in the nearby river, chatted with the taxi driver who took us to a nearby gorge to hike, and visited a hammam, a centuries-old Turkish bath house where your skin is scrubbed off with black soap.
Further north in Tangier I departed from my companions. In northern Morocco, my Spanish skills helped me communicate and meet new people.
My Arabic is limited to the standard greeting “As-salamu alaykum”, peace be upon you, “wa alaykumu as-salam”, and upon you peace, and “yalla” which is the most useful and means “let’s go!”
Knowing a little of the local language enables you to make your solo experience somewhat more social.
A journey to Morocco isn’t complete without experiencing the Sahara Desert, so after a challenging trip of thrilling turns through the Atlas Mountains, and a two-hour camel ride later, I found myself sprinting up a dune to watch the sunset, which was primarily hidden by. . . you guessed it. . . sand.
Sleeping in one tent in the Sahara Desert truly brings people closer, and those of us on the journey quickly formed strong friendships. They offered me valuable advice about where to head next, as they were traveling in the opposite direction.
It was also remarkable to become acquainted with our Tuareg guides. Their community, believed to be descendants of the Berbers who first settled in the Sahara, wear blue-colored garments, played drums for us throughout the night, and conveniently neglected to mention how painful the camel ride back from camp would be the following day. I would have gladly enjoyed camel tagine that afternoon.
Concluding my trip in Essaouira, the coastal city recognized for its fortress walls and stunning beaches (also visited by camels), was a fantastic choice and one I attribute to my newfound friends.
Follow people’s suggestions, and don’t hesitate to seek advice as a solo traveler!
Avoid planning out your entire trip if you’re traveling solo, or you might miss the best moments and the chance to connect with those you meet along the way.
Final thoughts
No matter where you venture independently in our world, you’re bound to encounter others like you, and many not like you, on your journey.
Traveling broadens your perspective and links you to your global community. Why travel anywhere if you’re not interested in experiencing different cultures and meeting new and fascinating individuals?
Traveling alone not only opens your mind to fresh adventures and experiences but also to new friendships and connections.
Therefore, don’t hesitate to introduce yourself at the hostel where you’re staying, enroll in a group trip by yourself, or be open to engaging in conversation in any city or village you are exploring.
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