I've visited London for myself, that was the first time travelling alone (17 years old). It was very exciting and nice to just do what I wanted to. It also feels cheap because you're used to being in restaurants with 3-4 people who order wine and stuff but on your own you'll be in a good restaurant for €15 already. When I'm with my parents in a restaurant I only look at my mobile screen anyways, so there's no difference.
Going around the city can also be very fun. You can do everything at your own pace, and you don't have to wait for other people who want to shop or visit something you dislike or who go to the toilet all the time. Everything like how you want it to.
You also get a lot more rest... you wake up and go to bed when you want to!

Downsides are that if you're like me (shy) you'll end up having no social interaction for the whole stay. You also feel less secure because being with others is always safer. It also depends on how confident you are. Sitting alone in a restaurant made me feel good, but for someone else it might make them feel bad.

I flew to Amsterdam a couple weeks ago on my own for 4 days, it was amazing. Decided on the Friday I wanted to do something with my week off and on the Tuesday I was exploring the city. So much freedom, done exactly what I wanted when I wanted. Next time I'd consider staying in a hostel to more easily meet random travellers, but I'm such a light sleeper.

Was a bit nervous at the airport alone, but as soon as we took off it was so exciting. Brilliant experience.

Thank you for sharing!

I'm very shy that's one of the reason I'm scared to travel alone. I'll be so scared and everything but I also like being alone. I think I just need to really organize everything.

Where are you planning to go if you don't mind me asking ?

And by the way, I got lost once while trying to find the hostel. I apparently took the wrong subway station out, and eventually just asked a taxi to drive me.. cost 15£ but that's always an option. If you have an internet connection on your phone there you can use google maps .

I traveled alone like last week. I was actually super nervous at first but it actually wasn't that bad.

I did almost get on the wrong train when I was going back though

no I feel weird when im just chilling in public places all on my own.

Yes I did it this year for the first time ever and it was great.

No I always have at least one friend to go with.
I went to Poland, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand this year (with friends) and I'm going to Scotland this friday again with friends


But when I backpacked this year and last year I met loads of solo travellers and when you travel alone you meet other people way more easily.

I only travel alone - I went to Bali for 10 days by myself in Feb, it was amazing, and also to Melbourne. Had so much fun! I even met an ATRLer in Melbourne.

I always travel alone. It's fun. I'm the only person I know that flies to other cities for concerts so I usually meet with people I've met from previous concerts.

I did an train trip around all Europe 2 years ago - Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, and honestly, it was the most rewarding and eye-opening experience. It can be scary but if you like travelling in general, chances are you will enjoy it. It is a whole different thing than travelling with somebody, tho. These days it's so rarely that we get to be really alone with ourselves, you can be surprised with the thoughts in your head when you actually do it.

The freedom you have to do whatever you want is awesome, it made me feel free in a way I've never felt before. I would recommend staying in hostels - they are cheap and you'll get to meet so many like-minded people. But the best part for me is that it changed my perspective - it made me more open to new people and experiences, and to myself really. So go for it

I have done nothing else than travelling alone and checking out all the possible options to get to a country (e.g. UK: flying, car on train in Eurotunnel, car on ferry, Eurostar high speed train) and finding to cheapest (and still fast) ways to get in/out of cities. I love to explore places.

Usually it's a festival or a bunch of concert dates with additional days for detours to cities or meet Kats. I chased tour dates in the neighbouring countries, festivals in Germany, France and UK.

Plane tickets can be much cheaper if you arrive a few days too early and you leave a few days later, a Spanish tour date turned into a week in Spain.

Hostels are cheap and you can meet people in the ones with an active communal room. The people you can meet are completely random.

I shared a room in Germany with a Kat from Turkey who let his laptop play the entire Teenage Dream album. He excused himself for doing something not entirely straight.

Meeting people speaking the language of your own country, having the same profession, listen to the same genres, having the same interests,... or having completely different views.

Local prepaid 3G/4G data sim is brilliant for Google Maps guiding you through the streets and the public transport networks in the most unreadable languages.

Road tripping is leaving when you like, loading up whatever you see in the shops/supermarket, (if you have the time for it) stopping wherever you want for a historic site, the scenery, the architecture,... 1 week vacation is short and a wild rush for me, if I got 2 weeks, I would definitely stop in more places.

I traveled alone for the first time this year and honestly, all I wanna do from now on is to travel alone. it was only for 5 days but still... I was by myself in Honolulu and SanFran. I was scared and nervous at first, but you'll actually see the perks of traveling alone very soon.
I didn't have a concrete plan (I did have accommodation and transportation from and to airport secured before I actually went on the trip), but you can basically make your own schedule when you arrive to wherever you're going.. you'll be able to take your time and not rush from place to place (or somewhere where you don't even want to go in the first place).
it could a bit more expensive tho, because when you travel with a group of people, you can split the price of accommodation or car between each other.. but from my experience, I didn't spend a lot, I found pretty affordable places on airbnb (there's also couchsurfing but I didn't use it) and since I don't have a driver's license, I took a bus/train/etc.

I would highly recommend you to have offline maps/gps ready (only if you won't be able to use data on your phone since that can be pretty expensive when you're abroad/won't be able to catch wifi) and a general public transportation app that can show you public transportation based on your current location.

NYC


Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. I really want to do it.