Many people that I know don’t have the confidence to travel alone.
In the past, friends have even asked me how I find the courage to travel to foreign places alone without knowing anyone or speaking the language.
Or, if not, have been completely baffled by the fact I have spent months traveling around countries such as Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina.
Confidence is not a word that usually get used when it comes to travel. But when paired with the idea of being alone, it can open up new worlds.
Building confidence to travel alone
On this page, not only will I share my personal experience, I’ll share six top tips to help you build travel confidence before, during, and after your trip.
Knowing the benefits of traveling alone is one thing, but solo travel for the first time can be daunting, especially without a mentor or companion.
1. Do your research
Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution.
The benefits of solo travel may not be as clear for you until you have a plan. Without a plan, nothing seems to make sense. I mean, why would you travel alone, again? I’ve already forgotten…
Before I do solo travel, I sometimes use free online tools to help me plan.
Who would have thought that the tool that you can use for a trip around the world would include Evernote, Google Drive, and Dropbox?
The truth is that these are pretty much standard tools for experienced travelers and digital nomads to plan and work as they travel the world.
Being able to access your research at any moment during your trip for me is key. For example, with trello.com, I usually like to create some visually interesting (and useful) trip notes that I can refer back to later.
2. Pre-Book accommodation
Book your first night’s accommodation before you arrive.
Turning up to a new place with no knowledge can be like climbing Mount Everest to get your confidence back. The more you know about the place, the more confident you’ll feel.
Learn to understand local things such as:
- Urban sprawl
- Currency
- Food
- Accommodation
- Transport
Find a balance in-between having a guide and being the guide. During solo travel, I like to leave 80% of all the collected information to one side.
3. Find a mentor
Create a line of communication from somebody who’s done it before.
Finding a travel mentor is a great idea, and I was actually surprised by how many people doing solo travel aren’t even considering this!
I suggest that you to try to find somebody who’s already done it and can recommend the best places to travel to or backpack alone. But more importantly, someone who’ll understand how important it is to challenge and support you while you’re actually on your solo travel adventures.
I mean, sure, I don’t doubt for a second that there are some benefits of traveling with friends, but this type of adventure is another level.
Have your mentor ask you powerful questions leading up to the trip. Get them to press you for information while you’re there. This will force you to become more interested and engaged with your surroundings.
4. Make contact with locals
Use social media to build contacts before you arrive.
Like when I first arrived in Guatemala back in 2014. I’d been in contact with the lady from the Spanish school, who helped me find a family to stay with.
Having a local contact can help you in many ways, from saving funds to finding accommodation. One of my favorites is when a local I’ve met starts to shows me some of their best local restaurants and breakfast spots.
5. Read inspiring books
Books give you the confidence to get up and go.
Books are stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, and we can find many situations in real life, similar to what we can read in books.
Having more time for reading books is one of the advantages of traveling solo. For many people, books are like friends. They can simulate experiences before we even travel, thus building up our confidence.
Here I invite you to look at these 7 inspiring books you can try before your first backpacking trip in South America. These types of books will surely help you build up the confidence to start your travel solo plans.
6. Learn the local language
Learn a few basic words and phrases before you arrive.
Learning a new language isn’t easy, and depending on who you are, neither is solo travel. However, traveling to foreign countries while learning a new language gives you a purpose when traveling to any new destination.
Being able to speak fluently with locals in their native language can give you greater insight into their world.
Speaking the language gives both parties a richer experience and insight into how each other things. I experienced this in Mexico on my first trip.
Learn new words and phrases and practice them daily with local people. We are capable of learning a new language at any age. In fact, age is not a factor, however, many believe age stops them from learning a language.
Initially, I chose to learn Spanish for the simple reason; I always liked how melodic it sounded when spoken, especially Latin American Spanish.
Take a look at the Paisa Spanish accent for example, it was one of my first encounters with Spanish in South America when visiting Colombia.
Nobody challenged me to learn Spanish. On one cold day, back in England in 2013, I decided to take a night class at my local college. During that time and shortly after, it hit me. There is so much more to learning a language than meets the eye. My comfort zone challenge started to commence.
Building confidence to travel alone
So there you have six tips to help you build confidence before you travel.
Remember, a trip of growth means you are traveling outside your comfort zone. Read more on how to travel alone for the first time while you’re here.
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