Hey there grrr traveler is welcome back again.
Earlier this year I had a goal that I would do kind a like a travel more series where
I start answering some questions that you have about traveling alone, traveling Long
term, or living abroad.
This year I thought I'd give you a little more insight into the world that I live in
as a traveler as well as how I make some of my travel trips happen.
So let's get down today's topic shall we?
Traveling alone is never what people think it's going to be like.
The pros far away the cons- if it didn't I probably wouldn't be doing it as long as I
have been- and loneliness is not some in curable disease that you'll be cursed with for your
entire trip.
The things that people think are going to be challenging sort of really aren't.
And the things that they never suspect, well wow, those can be killers.
Today I'm gonna share with you my top five biggest challenges of solo travel.
One.
Booking your flight
Booking your flight is the biggest hurdle of solo.
The reason why, is because it requires faith that once you book it you, will be able to
manage your travels on your own.
What if I got robbed?
What if I get lost?
Would i get stranded?
What if I get pick-pocketed?
What if I get raped?…
Something that a lot of people don't know is that the moment you book your flight, the
anxiety lessens.
Everything gets to be a little more smooth sailing.
From there are you going to planning mode, which is now about engineering this trip so
that all those beers, all those what if yours that you had, you can start building in secure
precautions against it.
To avoid pick-pocketing, I'm going to have to stash my money in different parts of my
bag.
To avoid trouble or danger, i'm going to utilize street smarts.
What if I get stranded?
I'll take my hotel business card and then I can have a taxi.
The reality of having booked your trip throws you into the action of making it work.
If you'll be building and back up plans and safety precautions and you were planning out
your itinerary in a very structured and grounded way so that you don't have to suffer these
what if's.
Even for me that is one of my biggest hurdles is booking my flight.
Number two.
Making decisions for yourself.
Traveling alone forces you to get to know your self better than you thought you knew
yourself before.
And ultimately you are responsible for creating your own happiness.
So where should we go next?
You know what, I feel like doing just a jangly thing.
Like, what is that?
Hiking, and caves, feeling like I Marco Polo.
Marco polo?
Are you serious?
You got to give me more than that.
We've got to work fast.
Well, what about Vietnam.
There's mountains in Vietnam.
Air Asia has a sale on flights to Vietnam right now.
We should see what we could do there.
Uhhhh.
I feel like going to someplace I've never been to before.
I know that could be anywhere.
What do you want?
You know if I knew what I want I wouldn't be thinking about it.
What are we gonna do?
When you traveling alone, one big problem is that you don't have so much about ideas
off of, you don't have someone a partner to create parameters for you by telling you,
oh I don't like doing this or I don't want to see that.
Instead your options of things to do can feel limitless.
When you have so many possibilities at your hand, and you have all the freedom in the
world to choose anyone of those possibilities, it becomes overwhelming.
Should I go to the museum today or should I go hiking?
Go with that tour agency or this tour agency??
What do I feel like eating?
Because you're forced to make your own decisions for every little thing that you do, there's
a lot of pressure.
The solo traveler is forced to take this intensive travel experience.
They have to make their own decisions, to trust on and rely on their own instincts,
they have to make decisions which will make them happy or which force them to look at
themselves better, they learn how to get around on their own or through their own resources,
using other travelers or locals.
That alone is a lot of travel experience.
All these things and more are what tests the solo traveler a whole lot more rigorously
then the average traveler.
In many regards the way I see so the travel new bees compared to the average for trailer
or truck was with companion who has traveled say 5 to 10 times, I knew I'd say that the
newbie is gaining a lot more travel experience then the person who is traveling with a travel
companion or with a group of people.
But before I start scaring some of you off, you find your way in a very intuitive process
and a very instinctual one.
Due to the fact you will be in survival mode, you won't even think about some of these things,
you just act on it.
Just out of sheer necessity.
And within the process you start discovering a lot about yourself.
And there are many people out there who are willing to help you and who want to help you.
Three.
single supplement costs.
Sometimes it's just easier and cheaper to travel as two.
Taxis, hotel rooms costs, you don't have to worry about Single supplement fees for tours
or cruises or even on your accommodations.
Two budgets put together can also afford better accommodations and upgrades in transportation
as well as the ability to order a lot more food to sample when you're at dinner.
However I've see that theory of two or more work against travelers as well.
That's when there are matched up with people who or other partners who don't have the same
but uses them.
Taking taxis in hiring drivers.
To get around.
Bars restaurants, shopping.
Taking the bus.
Taking out a map and trying to find a way around and interacting with locals.
Oh my God, really?
Four.
No want to take your photo
Before the aerial selfie's, I actually used and the other travelers who had partners are
friends or family to take their photo for them.
That was my one big crypt tonight super solo traveler a moment.
Because it showed me something I wasn't able to do or we source on my own.
In this day and era of Smart phones with selfie cameras, with Merlis cameras, with flip out
screens, the art of selfie taking is a lot easier than it used to be.
I still occasionally and be the Instagram or's, with Instagram boyfriends were there
to like sneak take a photo of them looking very glamorous, and some huge epic shot.
What is forcing me to do is to again, master of my own art of the selfie taking.
But yeah, I have to figure out how to do that amount.
Also for those of you who are interested in what cameras are use, I get these comments
a lot.
The answers in the description box and it always is.
In fact it's on default.
I also have a link to my travel resources page out on my website which tell you all
the travel gear I use everything from travel blogging to traveling to photography and videography
all my equipment is listed on that page.
Whenever you have a question, first look at it in the description box to see if I have
an answer that.
Or on my website because I put in a lot of time in and effort in to create that answer
for you.
And I know there are people out there who are really lazy and don't want to click on
things and they want me to just give them the answer right in their hand without having
to do anything.
One of my biggest pet peeves.
Five.
No one to watch their luggage when you have to go to the toilet.
Having someone to watch our luggage when we have to go to the toilet is something that
is has been a thorn in the side of solo travelers.
What do you do?
Like I said in my last video it's always best to travel light and compact because it helps
you to maneuver awkward or difficult situations like these.
There been times I have had to take my bag in the stall with me.
God for bid if it was a squat toilet stall.
There can be backsplash.
And there have been times that I have left it outside my stall with fingers crossed that
no one was going to run away with it.
I will note that if I am in a public restroom where there's a lot of people in line, but
I feel a lot more easier leaving my bag outside my store because people see you go in with
your bad outside, they know you own it and anyone who runs off with it obviously they
have to read through the whole lot of people.
Even though there is a Travel rule of not leaving your bags unattended, especially if
you're in the airport, sometimes there's you just really have no choice.
There's also been times I've asked strangers, like either mothers with children, to watch
my bag.
But for the most part it's one of the more uncomfortable situations of solo travel.
I've been tackling some of these questions to help you travel more.
So there, I hope this video was helpful for you.
If it was give me a thumbs up or like, subscribe to this channel if you if you have not subscribed.
Leave comments down below, what are some of your toughest challenges of traveling alone?
Leave it down there.
Also my China and India videos they are coming.
Sorry if there's been a delay, I am still waiting on my collaborator, partner for my
Chinese snack taste test video for China.
The videos I've been working on are obviously a compilations of my trip and take a lot longer
to edit.
Until then travel safe smart and fun I will see you on the road alone, made the GRRR be
with you.