The Terrifying and Underrated Art of Traveling Alone: How to Do It Right

It’s easier than you think, and so satisfying!

What good are wings if you don’t have the courage to fly? 5 years ago, that was me: I wasn’t even aware that I had the wings.

The thought of traveling alone seemed like a big crazy get-yourself-killed-never-to-be-found-again kind of idea. I wasn’t even considering the possibility.

But then… I found myself in the middle of it, flying by the seat of my pants, loving every minute of it. It didn’t even feel like I was out of my comfort zone. It felt like — why haven’t I been doing this my whole life? It felt right.

And it happened because one day, as I was scrolling through a Facebook group of people from all over the world, I saw a conversation between a bunch of 7 unknown ladies that said they were going to visit Los Angeles.

And through no power of my own, at least none that I was aware of, my mouth just opened and I blurted out the words: I’m coming too.

I was one month away from the trip, 7000 miles away from the place, and a million light years away from a plan.

But as luck would have it when you truly want something, I got everything in record time: the visa, the plane ticket, the plan, and enough time left to realize what I was doing: flying across 2 continents and an ocean to meet people I knew nothing about.

And stay one extra week completely alone in the City of Angels. Yes, I took it that far.

Weirdly enough, instead of scaring me, it made me feel like I was finally doing something that mattered to me. A trip that made me meet some of the best people I’ve ever met and see some of the best places I’ve ever seen.

An adventure that opened up a space inside me that could only be filled with more intense emotion, deep connection, and pure happiness.

Seem daunting? I was surprised to find out it’s quite the opposite.

Here’s what you need to know about solo travel if you want to do it, but you’re afraid of it:

It’s easier than you imagine.

Thinking about it is much more difficult than doing it.

Even now, after I’ve done it about 10 times, every time I have to leave somewhere on my own, there’s always this one thought in my head: what if I won’t make it?

But somehow, every time everything just falls into place. And when it doesn’t, it does the next day. It just works. There must be some magic protector of solo travelers, but it works.

One time I flew from Belgrade to Bucharest, to Istanbul, to Miami in about 30 hours. It was right after covid and the US wouldn’t let anyone passing through the Schengen space enter America without a 2-week quarantine. So I had to go around it.

I wore a mask this whole time, I was only taking it off to eat and after about 12 hours I didn’t even know that I had it on. One time I tried to put a spoon full of jello through it because I forgot I had it on my face... The magic protector might have been sleeping that very moment.

It seems grueling, doesn’t it? It did seem to me before leaving. I thought: what if I fall asleep in one of those hard airport chairs and don’t wake up for my next flight, and somebody steals my passport and credit cards? What then?

Well, sure, that can happen. But somehow, it doesn’t.

When you travel you’re in some altered state of extreme vigilance that also gives you a lot of energy. You’re like a superhuman with a backpack and a passport. The Supertraveler!

Not putting yourself in harm’s way, like walking the gang streets of Miami at night also helps, just saying.

2. If you’ve done it once, you’ll want to do it more and more.

You know what they say about life after marriage: once you find out how peaceful it is, you won’t want to be married ever again.

While that might be true for some but not for others, solo travel has surprised me from the first time with how much fun it is, even if you are completely alone.

You make your own schedule. You sleep in as much as you want.

Or, in my case, you wake up as early as you want. I’m such an early riser that when I travel (or live) with people, and I wake up at 5 AM, I bother everybody.

And I don’t know about you, but if I’m with somebody, a friend, lover, family, or whatever, I tend to rely on them to organize my time. I don’t do anything before they wake up because I want to do things together.

So by 10 o’clock, which is the usual time people wake up when on vacation, I’m already frustrated because I’ve spent the past 5 hours on my own, doing my best to be quiet and not sing Nessun Dorma at the top of my lungs.

How much can you even ask of one person?

When you travel with friends, it’s sometimes difficult to match your schedules.

Everybody either has mean bosses who don’t want them to have time off work, fewer vacation days than they actually need, can’t leave then because there’s a huge project, etc.

When you travel with family the same can happen, plus… maybe you need some time away from family, just saying.

Maybe you need to walk down the streets of Paris and not hear your 2 lovely, adorable, the best-children-in-the-world-love-them-to-death-but-omg-please-not-today yell their lungs out.

Maybe all you need is a long walk, a buttery croissant, and the biggest glass of chilled white wine France has to offer. Solo travel can give you that.

3. No, it’s not lonely.

The weird thing is that when you travel solo you get to meet a lot of people. Of course, not if you hide inside the hotel room.

But look, a couple of weeks ago I was in Munchen. I bought a city tour with a local guide. It happened to be a rainy day, but the tour was on anyway and it was packed with people.

Close to me, I heard this family of Americans wondering about where the tour was going to end.

I answered the question and we got to talking. Americans are so friendly, I adore them. They’re kind of loud, but that’s part of their charm, and I’m kind of hard of hearing anyway, so it works out for the best.

I found out that they’re retired and traveling through Europe with their grandkids, one of their sons is in Italy and the other is married to a Bulgarian girl. Then we started talking about corruption and how it’s the same all over the world, America just hides it better. I had to disagree with that, they don’t hide it that well, but they do have less of it.

We had a great time together and parted friends.

Later that day, as I was taking a break on a metal bench, stuffing my face with a huge red velvet cinnamon roll (yes, Munich has them and they are mind-blowingly delicious), probably looking like a lion devouring a fresh kill, this gorgeous man approached me and asked me out on a date.

I was shocked. He must have been attracted to my primal instinct of shamelessly devouring blood-red food right in the city center.

Now I haven’t been into dating lately, but we did go out for a beer (it’s Germany after all) and he was so charming that I might reconsider my views on dating…

So you see, it’s not lonely, it’s just different.

If you’re still wondering if it’s right for you, have no doubts that traveling alone will be the scariest, most liberating, life-changing experience of your life.

But the truth is it’s only scary before it starts. And then it’s nothing but liberating, exhilarating, marvelous, and truly life-changing.

You won’t be the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world, walking in the shoes of a different culture, and having the privilege of being alone to take it all in.

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