Travel Solo Like a Pro
A few trips and tricks to help enjoy your solo travels and stay safe too
We all love to travel, sometimes with friends and family, other times solo.
When traveling solo, you’ll start to gather your own tips and ideas, even if they are unconscious. I’ve gathered some thoughts from the back of my brain and from fellow solo travelers. If you are a paying supporter (thank you!) please share some of your own travel like a pro tips in the comments.
Where Was I Staying Tonight?
You check into the hotel, hostel, Airbnb and walk off to explore the local town. After visiting some cafes, bars, and perhaps a museum, or club, it’s time to head back to find your bed for the night. And here is where you find a little problem - you can’t remember where you are staying! And the battery on your phone where you saved the location - is flat.
Pro Tip: Pick up three business cards from the hotel and put one in your wallet or purse, one into your bag, and the third into a pocket. That way, if you are unfortunate enough to have your wallet, purse or bag stolen, you’ll still have one card left.
Pro Tip: Put the name, address, and number of your home for the night into your mobile phone - but still pick up the cards in case of that flat battery.
Keep in Secure Touch with Others
Many (most?) solo travelers take to the road with a laptop or tablet and everyone carries a mobile phone.
At home, you probably use the family or home internet to connect to the world and pop your phone in your pocket every time you walk out through the door.
When you are abroad, especially in some specific countries, connections to home may not be as simple or secure. This is where using a VPN becomes important. A VPN, or virtual private network, is a secure way to connect to the internet. The security they offer includes helping to prevent malware from being downloaded to your device, especially when you are using a public and potentially insecure public Wi-Fi connection in some remote location.
A VPN can potentially be useful to watch TV while in a distant country, which is generally blocked when you are away from the country.
More importantly, they help to offer a secure way to access your online banking, unseen by someone who has hacked that convenient Wi-Fi spot you found in a cafe bar.
In some countries of the world, you will find that access to services such as Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, or X are blocked by some regimes, intent on keeping their own populations away from ‘capitalist’ news and access to information. This is especially true of China, Iran, and Russia. A VPN can help you to access your all-important social media and check the news headlines from home.
Pro Tip: Set up your VPN connection before you leave. This is essential, as in many places, you won’t be able to access a VPN website to download the software. Test the VPN at home, so you understand how it all works before you travel.
Ask More Than One Person for Directions
Person 1: “Walk 200 metres, turn left at the library, walk two blocks turn right and you are there”.
Person 2: “Walk straight down the road for a mile/kilometre, turn left by the police station, then right at the fountain and you’ll find it 200 metres on the left”.
Those can be instructions to find the same place!
Both people may genuinely think that their directions are entirely correct. People love to help with directions, and sometimes if unsure, will try to be accurate, while being way off the mark. A few will purposely mislead you “just for fun”.
Pro Tip: Ask several people for directions and go with the majority.
Learn a Few Local Words
It is well known that English speakers are the worst in the world at learning a foreign language. After all, most of the world understands English, doesn’t it? Well, no, not really.
You will make mistakes. I’ve made some real howlers trying to speak Spanish or French. This doesn’t matter, as people will appreciate that you have tried to communicate in their native language.
Learning a few words and phrases will help you to communicate, without the need to study the full language. What can happen if you try, is the person may reply in English, often so they can practice your language.
In some places in the world, people won’t want to communicate with you unless you have some words in their language. I’ve heard many people say that trying to speak English to a French Canadian in Montreal will result in a shrug of the shoulders and no response. Using a few words of French and in most cases, the French Canadian will speak to you, either in French, or will break into English. The fact that you tried French, is often enough.
Top Tip: Learn a few phrases and words in the languages of each country you visit.
Top Tip: For verbal pronunciation and spelling, use Google Translate to practice. See the article, 18 Essential Apps for the Solo Traveller for that and other useful apps.
To Tip or Not to Tip?
This can be a tricky one.
In some parts of the world, a tip is expected. In other parts, it is considered an insult.
Leave a restaurant in the United States without tipping and you might find the waiter chasing you down the road for their expected tip. Some establishments pay staff so badly, that they need tips to make ends meet.
In another country, leave a cash tip on the table, and the waiter will chase you down the road to give you the change you forgot to pick up.
The rate of tipping varies from country to country, so it is worth checking up on local customs. In general terms, a tip of 10 to 15% is normal in a restaurant in many parts of the world. However, in Japan, no tip is expected and there may be confusion as to why you left cash behind.
Some restaurants will automatically add a service charge or cover charge to your bill. If you have paid a service change, there is no need to add a tip as well.
Top Tips?
What are your own top pro tips for your fellow solo travelers?
Safe travels!