Why (and How) I Travel Solo
There's always an excuse not to do something.
I'm (currently) 31 and I've been single for most of my adult life. You get older, your friends get into long-term relationships, get married, have kids, and you're still truckin' along, just you and your plant babies. Priorities (rightly) shift, and suddenly your #girlgang can't drop everything and hop in the car for oysters in Portland anymore.
I do a lot of what I call my Single Lady Single Day Getaways. When I lived in New England, this meant day trips to Maine and New Hampshire to hike (or drive up to Portland, grab a sandwich and milkshake at Duckfat to go, then get in my car and eat it on my drive home). Now that I'm in Florida I haven't done too much exploring outside of Disney, but I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can stretch my budget this year to find new and interesting places.
I love traveling alone. You can literally do whatever you want. Morning person? Get up early! Hungry? Get a snack, you don't have to wait for anyone else! Having an existential crisis? Sit on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and stare at nothing for an hour and get a sunburn. Even before I moved to Orlando, I went to Disney World alone multiple times. (Have you ever been to Disney by yourself? It's so fun.) When I go out to eat, I sit alone at the bar and chat with the bartenders or the people sitting next to me. I've met some really incredible individuals this way! (Except for the time I was in Hobart, Tasmania and was the only person in the bar and I couldn't get the hot bartender to talk to me. This was in 2015 and I'm still mad about it.)
When you're tight on funds, traveling can seem like an impossibility. But with a little bit of work, you can do it! Here are my tips for planning a solo vacation:
1. Figure out where you want to go.
Um, yeah, this is hard because I want to go everywhere. But there are things that you should consider, like are you looking for somewhere that has good nightlife? Good food? A world-class spa? Do you want to become one with nature? Thinking about the type of getaway you want to have is going to help you to narrow down your options.
2. Come up with a budget.
Figure out a number that you feel comfortable with. And also think about how you want to spend your money. Do you want to stay in a 5-star hotel and skip excursions? Or, if you're planning on doing more exploring and just going to your hotel to sleep, do you want to allocate more money for food and experiences? Are you a tchotchke person who needs to bring an empty bag for souvenirs? If you need ideas for how to make some extra cash, check out my blog post Side Hustles that Pay for My Adventures to Disney (& Beyond).
3. Decide when you want to go.
Are you going somewhere that has a very busy season? Do you have flexibility on travel days? (Flying in the middle of the week is generally less expensive than on the weekends. Traveling to any major tourist destination during school vacation is generally a nightmare.) The best part about flying solo is that your schedule (generally) doesn't revolve around anyone else's, which is great if you've got the means to take a last-minute trip.
4. Set up a flight tracker.
There are many websites that track flight prices, and you can sometimes get some really awesome deals. Someone I know recently went to Iceland for, like, $300 round trip. Crazy! (Some people will say that when searching for flights you should browse in incognito mode, but I'm finding conflicting reports on whether or not that actually makes a difference.) Another way to save money on your flights is to travel light, especially if you're flying on an airline that bundles fares. I basically only travel with a carry-on. I've done a weekend trip with a backpack.
5. Book it, baby!
Honestly, this is probably my #1 tip – smash that "book now" button! Go! Tell your boss right now that you're leaving for vacation. If you've never traveled alone it can be scary, but I love it and I don't regret doing it at all. The most annoying thing is not having an Instagram Boyfriend to take my pictures for me. Speaking of which...
Worried about who's gonna take your photos? One of the best gifts I've given myself is the gift of not giving a f*ck what I look like taking selfies in public. I will also put my phone down and either use the self-timer or take a video of myself posing (to screenshot later for the 'gram). If you head over to my Instagram, I've started posting pictures along with the "behind the scenes" video the screengrab came from!
In terms of safety, my phone's location is shared with my best friend 24/7. She also gets access to my calendar and itinerary. We've known each other since we were 5 and she already knows everything about me, so I personally don't think this is that weird. A lot of people think it's overkill, but we're both comfortable with it and it makes me feel better knowing that there's someone who knows where I am just in case the unthinkable happens.
Don't be dumb like me and put vacations on credit cards when you really can't afford them. Or do it, I'm not the boss of your life. I don't regret going on any of the trips I've taken but I do regret being irresponsible about how I paid for some of them.
Now that I'm reading this back, I guess that these tips can apply to any trip, not just a solo trip. But I mostly travel alone, and this is what I think about when deciding what I want to do! At the end of the day, if you only take one thing away from this post, it's JUST DO IT. (Nike please don't sue me.) You only live once. (Drake don't sue me.) Yeah, it's scary doing something for the first time, especially alone! Yeah, it can suck when your budget is tight and you feel like creditors are breathing down your neck. But you deserve to be happy and to do things that make living your life a little bit more bearable. So fly to the Caribbean, or take a train up the coast, or drive to that amazing pie shop an hour away from your town. My wish for you is that you find things that make you take pleasure in being alive.
Until next time,
xx Amanda
I do a lot of what I call my Single Lady Single Day Getaways. When I lived in New England, this meant day trips to Maine and New Hampshire to hike (or drive up to Portland, grab a sandwich and milkshake at Duckfat to go, then get in my car and eat it on my drive home). Now that I'm in Florida I haven't done too much exploring outside of Disney, but I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can stretch my budget this year to find new and interesting places.
I love traveling alone. You can literally do whatever you want. Morning person? Get up early! Hungry? Get a snack, you don't have to wait for anyone else! Having an existential crisis? Sit on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and stare at nothing for an hour and get a sunburn. Even before I moved to Orlando, I went to Disney World alone multiple times. (Have you ever been to Disney by yourself? It's so fun.) When I go out to eat, I sit alone at the bar and chat with the bartenders or the people sitting next to me. I've met some really incredible individuals this way! (Except for the time I was in Hobart, Tasmania and was the only person in the bar and I couldn't get the hot bartender to talk to me. This was in 2015 and I'm still mad about it.)
When you're tight on funds, traveling can seem like an impossibility. But with a little bit of work, you can do it! Here are my tips for planning a solo vacation:
1. Figure out where you want to go.
Um, yeah, this is hard because I want to go everywhere. But there are things that you should consider, like are you looking for somewhere that has good nightlife? Good food? A world-class spa? Do you want to become one with nature? Thinking about the type of getaway you want to have is going to help you to narrow down your options.
2. Come up with a budget.
Figure out a number that you feel comfortable with. And also think about how you want to spend your money. Do you want to stay in a 5-star hotel and skip excursions? Or, if you're planning on doing more exploring and just going to your hotel to sleep, do you want to allocate more money for food and experiences? Are you a tchotchke person who needs to bring an empty bag for souvenirs? If you need ideas for how to make some extra cash, check out my blog post Side Hustles that Pay for My Adventures to Disney (& Beyond).
3. Decide when you want to go.
Are you going somewhere that has a very busy season? Do you have flexibility on travel days? (Flying in the middle of the week is generally less expensive than on the weekends. Traveling to any major tourist destination during school vacation is generally a nightmare.) The best part about flying solo is that your schedule (generally) doesn't revolve around anyone else's, which is great if you've got the means to take a last-minute trip.
4. Set up a flight tracker.
There are many websites that track flight prices, and you can sometimes get some really awesome deals. Someone I know recently went to Iceland for, like, $300 round trip. Crazy! (Some people will say that when searching for flights you should browse in incognito mode, but I'm finding conflicting reports on whether or not that actually makes a difference.) Another way to save money on your flights is to travel light, especially if you're flying on an airline that bundles fares. I basically only travel with a carry-on. I've done a weekend trip with a backpack.
5. Book it, baby!
Honestly, this is probably my #1 tip – smash that "book now" button! Go! Tell your boss right now that you're leaving for vacation. If you've never traveled alone it can be scary, but I love it and I don't regret doing it at all. The most annoying thing is not having an Instagram Boyfriend to take my pictures for me. Speaking of which...
Worried about who's gonna take your photos? One of the best gifts I've given myself is the gift of not giving a f*ck what I look like taking selfies in public. I will also put my phone down and either use the self-timer or take a video of myself posing (to screenshot later for the 'gram). If you head over to my Instagram, I've started posting pictures along with the "behind the scenes" video the screengrab came from!
In terms of safety, my phone's location is shared with my best friend 24/7. She also gets access to my calendar and itinerary. We've known each other since we were 5 and she already knows everything about me, so I personally don't think this is that weird. A lot of people think it's overkill, but we're both comfortable with it and it makes me feel better knowing that there's someone who knows where I am just in case the unthinkable happens.
Don't be dumb like me and put vacations on credit cards when you really can't afford them. Or do it, I'm not the boss of your life. I don't regret going on any of the trips I've taken but I do regret being irresponsible about how I paid for some of them.
Now that I'm reading this back, I guess that these tips can apply to any trip, not just a solo trip. But I mostly travel alone, and this is what I think about when deciding what I want to do! At the end of the day, if you only take one thing away from this post, it's JUST DO IT. (Nike please don't sue me.) You only live once. (Drake don't sue me.) Yeah, it's scary doing something for the first time, especially alone! Yeah, it can suck when your budget is tight and you feel like creditors are breathing down your neck. But you deserve to be happy and to do things that make living your life a little bit more bearable. So fly to the Caribbean, or take a train up the coast, or drive to that amazing pie shop an hour away from your town. My wish for you is that you find things that make you take pleasure in being alive.
Until next time,
xx Amanda