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Traveling alone can be daunting for some—it is not the
easiest thing to do, and it’s certainly not the cheapest
way to travel. However, it can often be the most liberating.
Being in a foreign city or country alone, having no one to
rely on except for yourself, forces you to do things you
might normally resist—talk to strangers, eat alone, get a
popcorn for one at a movie, or even stroll through a museum
all by yourself.
There are certainly drawbacks. On one hand, there is no
one to share an amazing sunset with, you will have to order
and finish a whole dessert by yourself and you will not have
anyone to keep you warm when you’re walking along the
Seine at night. On the other hand, you also don’t have to
worry about compromising over which sights to see, you are
not on anyone’s timetable but your own—you can wake up
and go to bed as early as you want—and you certainly do
not have to take into consideration any special dietary
needs on your restaurant excursions (more foie gras,
please!)
The key to traveling alone is to be organized and
focused. There will be no one around to get you up in the
morning (save the often unreliable hotel wake-up call) or to
force you to experience the wonders around you. The success
of your trip rests solely on your shoulders. Here are some
tips I’ve picked up throughout my travels.
Before your trip
•Copy your passport, driver’s license, and flight and
hotel itineraries. Keep one set of copies with a trusted
emergency contact back home and take one set of copies in a
sealed envelope tucked in a safe place in your luggage.
During your trip
• Always keep your passport on your person, preferably
inside one of those skin-colored fanny pack-type units you
keep tucked in your pants. I swear, no matter how dorky it
may make you feel, no one will ever know it’s there, and
you will find yourself enjoying the trip much more if you
are not spending time worrying about getting pick pocketed.
• Learn how to say “hello,” “goodbye,” please,”
and “thank you” in the local language. No one expects
you to be fluent in Swahili, but simply putting in a little
effort usually goes miles with the locals.
• If you are traveling to several cities during one
trip and have only a limited amount of time in each city, I
suggest making a daily itinerary. I had four days in Paris
with about 500 years of history to soak up in just 96 hours.
In order to maximize my experience and visit all the “must
see” sights, I made a timetable for each day. I decided
which museums and sights were non-negotiable (Eiffel Tower,
Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, etc.) and selected a
couple of “if I have time to get to them” extras. I
allowed myself two hours at each museum/attraction, and left
room for a bit of leeway if I found a place I wanted to
enjoy a little longer. By being so efficient, you might even
find yourself with enough time to stumble upon some hidden
treasures not listed in any travel guide.
• Traveling alone as a woman can often seem a bit
scary. However, there are some surefire ways to avoid being
bothered. It’s all about your swagger. You just have to
look like you know exactly where you are headed. You have no
time to stop to be heckled by street artists, homeless youth
or to be charmed by some random suave guy who is
pontificating on how your eyes remind him of the moonlight
reflected on a still pond. (Note to you foreign guys:
American girls aren’t as dumb and easy as you think we
are.)
After your trip
• Write reviews for the hotels, museums and restaurants
you visited. This is something that should be done by all
travelers following any trip, but can be most helpful to
single travelers who really need to find the best deals, the
safest areas of town to stay in and the best locations in
the city to stay for seeing all the sights easily. A good
site to use for planning and to leave reviews is
tripadvisor.com.
I have never felt more alive, confident, independent and
strong than I did the first time I went to a foreign country
alone. Navigating a large city by myself, let alone one
where I barely spoke the language, was so empowering. It
made me realize that if I could conquer this hurdle, I could
do anything I set my mind to.
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