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| Travel Tips for Solo Travel & Traveling Alone |
Traveling alone and traveling solo can be quite exciting, you’re traveling to, perhaps, an unknown destination, meeting new people, tooling around town on your time and sightseeing at your leisure, it’s a great and unique way to travel . Solo travel has become quite common amongst retired individuals, university students, women traveling alone and travelers seeking a respite from the daily grind. Some travelers simply travel alone to reconnect with themselves, while others use this opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.
Whatever your reason for traveling solo might be, with our carefully researched travel tips for traveling alone, we hope your trip is hassle free and enjoyable.
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| Travel Tips for Solo Travel & Traveling Alone |
Published
On: October 14, 2009 |
- Personal Documents Needed for Traveling:
Before you begin your expedition, make sure that you have all the necessary documents in place and with you. Ensure that you copy all of your important travel documents like your ID, passport, credit cards and travel itineraries. This will be extremely handy in case you lose any documents along the way, or if something happens to the originals, it will be much easier to get replacements.
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Avoid Showing Off:
Many of us feel that a vacation is an opportunity for buying and wearing new clothes, jewelry and carrying high tech gadgets. However, this can make you more susceptible to unwanted attention.
- In many parts of the world, iPods, cell phones and certain clothing styles are the norm. However, in many countries those gadgets might make you stand out more than blend in.
- If possible, leave expensive gadgets at home. Also, before departing do thorough research about the destination you are visiting before your vacation.
- Try to blend in versus stand out.
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Knowing the Destination You’re Visiting:
Before you embark on your journey, make sure you have browsed guidebooks and websites that provide street maps, public transportation routes and schedules, as well as taxi and rental car information. Your task is to get a general overview of the place you’re visiting.
- Learn about safe neighborhoods as well as dangerous neighborhoods. For a solo traveler, avoiding bad neighborhoods is of equal importance because you’re not traveling with friends, or family.
- Read up on the local news, laws and customs of the area before you go, to avoid any possible trouble. Sometimes, even things you think are harmless might be offensive and even illegal in other parts of the world.
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Before you leave, learn some basic words and phrases to help you hail a cab, order food, make purchases and do other basic day to day activities.
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Blend In:
The best way to shield yourself from any prospective trouble and enjoy your trip is to blend in with the locals. The idea is, once at your destination don't advertise yourself as a tourist.
- Dress conservatively and use a body or belt wallet to carry money, credit cards and IDs.
- Study how the locals carry themselves and emulate them to the best of your abilities.
- Keep your valuables close by, or hidden or in the hotel safe instead of carrying them with you.
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Budgeting for Traveling Alone:
The world has pretty much opened up to the idea of solo travelers. However, traveling alone can be a bit pricier as you aren’t sharing the cost of airfare, hotels and sightseeing with someone else. While hostels may charge per person, most hotels will make you pay the full price of a room, even if you are traveling alone. Also, tours are often based on double occupancy. The best way to avoid this extra expense is to research and book in advance.
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Communication:
As a solo traveler, the idea of total freedom can be very enchanting. However, we strongly urge you to carry a phone card, even if you have a cell phone.
- Should your phone or wallet get stolen, with a phone card you can make a quick call to a cab or your hotel to arrange for transportation or to get in touch with friends and family that might be able to assist you if you need them.
- Not telling anyone your plans prior to your departure, including details about your flight arrangements, accommodations and daily itinerary can be extremely foolhardy, should you find yourself in danger. Keep a few people in the loop, both pre-departure and during your vacation, just in case.
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Avoid Carrying a lot of Cash:
When traveling alone, carry a small amount of cash with you at all times to use for cabs and little things along the way.
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Ask the Concierge:
Ask the concierge for advice on the safest places to shop, eat, sightsee and go for a morning or evening run, should that be part of your daily routine you don’t want to forego during your trip. Many hotels now offer small maps with safe and recommended routes.
- If you are jogging before dawn or after dark, tell the concierge or front desk approximately how long you intend to be gone.
- If you’re heading out for a day of sightseeing, let the front desk know when you intend to be back, the same applies for heading out at night. Keep them in the loop as to what you’re doing and check in with them when you return.
- Do Not Reveal Personal Information:
While travelling solo is a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends, you want o be extra careful about revealing too much of your personal information before you know a person well.
- Don’t give out your personal postal address
- Avoid giving people your personal information and history
- If you want to exchange information, give out your email address. Most hotels offer business services, which include computers and access to the Internet.
- Don’t tell new people you’ve met where you’re staying.
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Carry the Hotel’s Business Card With you:
Carrying the hotel’s business card with the address of hotel and contact numbers comes in handy.
- You don’t want to end up stranded in a foreign country or domestically with no way to get back to your hotel.
- Carry your hotel’s business card with you, so you can show it to the cab driver if you don’t speak the language. Conversely, if you’re traveling domestically, just give the cab driver name and address of the hotel.
- Keep the hotel number handy so you can call if you need to.
Always remember that solo travel can be an extremely rewarding experience, provided you're observant and utilize the above mentioned tips. Don't let fear stand in the way of the experience of a lifetime.
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*The 15 USD off offer is on our transaction service fees only, the discount varies based on the transaction service fees charged for that ticket, and the value of discount will be up to the amount of the service fees charged for that transaction or USD 15 per transaction which ever is less. You must use the coupon code upon check out to avail this offer. This offer may be revised or dis-continued without notice.
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