My solo travel story

This is me!

The photo was taken in Banff, while I was travelling around and studying in Canada solo last year.

I had not been on a plane by myself beforehand and left after a year having been on twelve.

This of course does not make me an expert in any way, but I learnt so much about solo travelling that I can share with you.

A survey by tour operator Overseas Adventure Travel and Solo Traveler suggests 68% of participants report being independent travellers. It states that solo travelling is on the rise, from taking up travel percentages as 39% in 2019, 47% in 2021, and 50% in 2022. It also claims that 85% of solo travellers are women, explaining that women tend to be more sociable and willing to seek out experiences.

Meeting new people is often a worry amongst first-time travellers. How I have met others, who I now consider life-long friends, is through simply saying hello. Start conversations. ‘Haha, did you see that’, or ‘that was incredible’ can go a long way. We are humans, we all want to make connections.

Sure, it can be lonely at times. Eating alone is a bit of a struggle, as is not having anyone to share certain memories with. Yet, you get to pick what, where and when you eat without restrictions of company, as do you get to do whatever you want to make those memories.

There are also amazing ways to meet people online. I use a lot of Facebook groups, where I have found so many likeminded people, some to meet while I am travelling and others a supporting figure to share memories with online.

It is incredible to make connections with local people while travelling. My most memorable is a shopkeeper in Banff. She was an Indigenous woman a part of the Blackfoot tribe, and sold tourist memorabilia. We had a conversation about the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada that I will never forget. It is so surprising how some short exchanges will stick with you forever, and how much you can learn from them. 

I learnt that I could truly do anything. It is hard to know our true possibilities when we are draped in a comfort blanket – whether that be the streets of our hometown that we could navigate with our eyes closed, friends and family that will always be there to fall on, or even knowing that no matter what, a wagging tail will be waiting for you at home. Take that away, scrap the familiarity, and you will do things you never imagined possible. I drove a land rover up the edges of mountains and engaged in incredible conversations with people I had never met before. I learnt to let go and allow whatever will be to be, and trust that everything will work out.

Anyone considering solo travel for the first time should not think twice about it. Do it. Let it consume you because it will completely change your being. To experience that kind of freedom, of being free from demands and expectations, there is nothing quite like it.