Hi! I'm traveling to England by myself soon, and I noticed in your recap that you travelled by yourself. I know Alaska and England are two completely different places, but any helpful traveling alone advice?
WHOOOO boy. Alright. YES.
So I did Alaska by myself but I also did Europe by myself a couple years ago! You’re in for an awesome time. A few pointers below, and people are welcome to reblog with additional tips.
Make copies of all your documents. Like, 3 copies of everything. ID, credit card, passport, everything. Then stick one copy in your luggage, one in a backpack/purse, and keep one at the hotel/hostel. Leave another one back home with friends or family if you can. It makes things way easier if you happen to lose it or get anything stolen.
Know where the Embassy is! If you get in any major trouble or lose your passport or something, you won’t just be wandering the streets like a lost puppy.
Give your itinerary to multiple people back home and have scheduled check ins with them, whether by phone or email or whatever. Be sure you don’t miss the check ins because if your family is anything like mine, they’ll immediately go to the police and assume you’re dead or something.
Split up your money! Don’t carry all your money in one place. Put some in your luggage, some at the hotel, some in your wallet. That way if one thing gets lost or stolen, you aren’t totally broke.
Get a selfie stick. Seriously. Or get really comfortable with asking people to take pictures of you. I hate doing it but selfies don’t always capture where you are!
Don’t wear headphones. I know it can be tempting to ignore people and awkward interactions by having headphones in while you’re walking the streets. It is for me, anyway. But you’ll be more likely to meet people and have pleasant conversations if you don’t have Spotify in your ears the whole time. (You’ll also be more aware of your surroundings and less likely to lose something.)
In the same vein, take public transport! Cabs are expensive and isolating. Trains and busses are a good place to get some people watching (and a little sightseeing!) and conversation in.
Go out! Get dinner, have drinks, spend some time at a pub or something (if you’re of age). Even if you don’t strike up a conversation with anyone, just the experience is worth it and better than sitting in a hotel room by yourself watching cable.
JOURNAL. I can’t recommend this enough. Take a journal and write in it every day! I like including things like public transport tickets, maps, hotel keys, even writing down what I ate that day. Super fun to be able to look back and see what you did!
Traveling alone is a great experience and I really encourage everyone to try it if you can! You’ll get comfortable eating alone, sightseeing alone, shopping alone, all that good stuff. You might even meet new people, but if you don’t, that’s okay too!
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