10 Tips for First-Time Solo Travelers (From Someone Who Got It Wrong First)
Solo travel is one of the most rewarding things you can do. Here's what I wish someone had told me before my first trip alone.
My first solo trip was a disaster. I over-packed, under-planned, missed a train, accidentally booked a hostel in entirely the wrong city, and spent one memorable evening eating instant noodles on a park bench because I hadn't accounted for restaurants closing at 9pm in small European towns.
It was also one of the best experiences of my life.
Solo travel has a learning curve, but it's not as steep as people think. Here are 10 things I wish I'd known before my first trip alone.
1. Start With a Destination You're Not Intimidated By
Your first solo trip doesn't need to be to a remote island with no wifi and a language you can't read. Japan, Portugal, New Zealand, and Canada are all beginner-friendly — good infrastructure, low crime, and easy to navigate. Build your confidence there first. The more challenging destinations will still be there.
2. Book the First Night in Advance — Nothing Else Has To Be
Arriving in a new city without knowing where you're sleeping is a recipe for anxiety. Book your first night (even if it's just a dorm bed) before you land. After that? See how you feel. Some people love having everything booked. Others prefer showing up and deciding day by day. But that first night should be sorted.
3. Tell Someone Your Rough Plans
You don't need to file a detailed itinerary with your mum. But someone should have a rough idea of where you are and how long you plan to be there. Share your accommodation details, a few key dates, and a check-in schedule. It's a five-minute investment that removes a lot of stress — yours and theirs.
4. Get Travel Insurance. Actually Get It.
This is the one that people skip and then regret spectacularly. A single medical evacuation can cost $50,000+. A cancelled flight during a weather event. Lost luggage. Insurance isn't expensive if you're young and healthy. It's very cheap compared to what it covers. Get it.
5. Pack Half of What You Think You Need
You will not wear everything. The jacket "just in case" will take up half your bag and be used once. The smart approach: pack light clothes you can layer, do laundry every few days, and buy anything you genuinely need when you get there. Luggage shops exist everywhere.
The rule of thumb: pack everything you think you need, then remove half of it.
6. Learn Three Phrases in the Local Language
Hello, thank you, and "do you speak English?" in the local language will open more doors than any translation app. People appreciate the effort enormously. It signals respect and usually results in significantly better treatment.
7. Have Offline Maps and Your Accommodation Address Saved
Your phone will die. The wifi will drop. You will be standing on a street corner in an unfamiliar city with a dead battery. Download offline maps for every city you're visiting before you land, and save your accommodation address in multiple places (Notes app, email, written on paper).
8. Hostels Are Brilliant (Even If You're Not 22)
The social element of hostels is irreplaceable for solo travel. You will meet people who are also solo, also curious, also up for exploring. Mixed dorms aren't for everyone, but most hostels now offer private rooms with the same social spaces. The bar, the common room, the breakfast table — that's where solo trips become shared adventures.
9. Embrace Eating Alone (It's Actually Great)
Counter-intuitively, eating solo is one of the pleasures of solo travel. You can sit at the bar and talk to the chef. You can eat at off-peak times. You can order exactly what you want, take as long as you like, and nobody is waiting for you to finish. Bring a book for the first trip. After that, you won't need it.
10. Plan Your Itinerary, Don't Improvise Your Itinerary
There's a difference between being flexible and being unprepared. "Spontaneous" travellers who improvise entirely tend to spend a lot of time figuring out what to do next instead of doing things. Have a plan for each day — the main activities, the neighbourhoods, the meals — then be flexible around it.
The difference between a great solo trip and a mediocre one often comes down to preparation. Not rigid hour-by-hour scheduling, but knowing what you're doing and why, with room to deviate when something better comes along.
DayPack was built precisely for this: generating a structured itinerary you can customise, reorder, and adjust as you go. Start with the AI plan, make it yours, then go.
One Last Thing
The anxiety before a solo trip is almost always worse than the trip itself. Every solo traveller I've met says the same thing: "I don't know why I was so worried." The world is significantly kinder, safer, and more navigable than the news suggests.
Book the trip. Figure the rest out as you go.