hey guys kristin here today we're talking about traveling alone as an introvert
over the past few years i've seen people talking a lot more about being introverted and i feel like
there's more introverts out there maybe even than extroverts and even though i've been traveling
for the better part of nine years by myself it doesn't mean that it hasn't been without its
challenges as someone who really recharges when she's alone it might seem counterintuitive that
someone who travels alone would be introverted but i think for a lot of us that's the case
and it's just so weird because i feel like in my 20s i was extremely extroverted to the point that
i didn't even know who i was anymore if two days went by and i didn't spend it with other people
and as i got into my 30s i'm 35 now i just started to really need to be alone to recharge so i'm very
outgoing and friendly i'm not shy but i need to be by myself sometimes just so that i can like
recharge plug back in and sort of reset the whole situation if you're the same way and
you're worried about traveling alone don't worry i've got some tips for you so that you can still
meet people not be super lonely and still have a really good time traveling by yourself
my first and biggest suggestion for you is to stay in social accommodation so when i first started
my big trip nine years ago i bought a one-way ticket to bangkok went to southeast asia by myself
nothing but a carry-on backpack zero plans except for i knew that i wanted to stay in
dorms as much as possible not only to save money but just so that i could meet people really easily
and so the beauty of that is that you've got a built-in network of people pretty much everywhere
you go you just meet people so easily and you know if you're at the point where you're kind of past
wanting to share rooms with people but you still want the socialness you can stay in a private
room in a hostel and still meet plenty of people that way but i actually exclusively pretty much
traveled in dorms for the first two years that i was traveling by myself
starting at age 26 and i've found them to be such an amazing way to meet people the world over
in south america and southern africa in central america i heard they're amazing they were freaking
awesome in china and so i've found them to be a wonderful wonderful built-in way to have friends
around without even really having to try but now i'm 35 and i don't want to stay in dorms or
hostels anymore and so if you are finding yourself in the same situation don't despair hotels airbnbs
whatever these are all still fine you're still going to be able to meet people in other ways just
know that they can get really isolating after a while and that it can be really seductive to just
stay in your room and never talk to anyone never meet anyone i know some people are constantly
doing things when they travel but i can't do that and i sometimes just like lay in bed for hours
and so you're gonna have to take that extra effort which i know for introverts can be hard
to get out there and meet people so these are the ways that i make sure that i do that one
thing i like to do is sign up for a day tour and pay for it so that i'm losing money if i back out
if i haven't paid for it already i'm not going to be as motivated to go i might find excuses i might
just find it easier to be by myself so i find it better to sign up for things and to pay for them
and look i pretty much always enjoy myself i mean you can take a walking tour if you're in
a city when i was in the philippines i did day trips all around charge island i went to little
lagoons i went to some of the famous beaches and i met a really good friend that way who i still know
today and so i didn't have to be staying in dorms in order to meet her i was able to meet her on the
day trip that i took and so that really simplified things for me that way you can also stay in things
like yoga retreat types of centers when i was in indonesia those seem to actually be pretty common
and popular and i think thailand as well some yoga centers there actually have accommodation
as well and so to me that's kind of the in between of like a dorm because you're going to get people
who are a little bit probably older and higher end travelers there maybe that would be a little bit
more your speed than a dorm if you just kind of feel like you're past that point in your traveling
career in southern africa as well for example you're going to find a lot of backpackers or
camping accommodation and you meet people of all ages in those they have everything from dorms to
like private chalets to campgrounds usually all within one spot and like a lot of really cool
hangout spots that are communal so there's a lot of different options out there other than dorms or
totally being by yourself it just depends on the part of the world that you're in so do a little
bit of research when you pick where you want to go and see if maybe you can meet people that way
the next thing i like to do is sign up for classes so these are a little bit different than day trips
because with classes it's even sometimes a little bit more interactive cooking classes are super fun
it's not only a really good way to get to know other people and other travelers but the culture
that you're in you often get to go to markets to buy the food which is a super local thing to do
you get to learn how to make all of this delicious food and it's hard to think of a place where
it wouldn't be a good idea to take a cooking class you could take dance classes you could take
language classes if you're going to be in a place for a longer time language classes are a great
way to meet other people usually a lot of other people from all kinds of cultural backgrounds and
so i do highly recommend that if you're going to stay in a place for any stretch of time
next look online there are lots of meetup groups that you can look at so look at meetup.com
there are lots of facebook groups where you can meet other solo travelers i actually created one
called the solo female traveler connect and that's on facebook i'll link it below it's already got i
think over 13 000 members so if you want to meet other solo female travelers that group is open to
women traveling alone couchsurfing is another one where you don't necessarily have to stay
with the person but you can use the platform to meet people and just meet up for like dinner or
things like that also social media can be your friend in terms of tapping into your network
you never know who might know somebody somewhere that you're going i've actually made really good
connections by meeting people on the road and then meeting up with their friends on the road and it's
even like sometimes quite a removed relationship and still you can meet up with these people and
have a really cool time with them and so i do highly recommend tapping into your network and
really making plans and meeting up with people and following through with it when you're traveling
alone so that you have a chance to meet people and make new connections finally as a fellow introvert
i feel i have to tell you that being alone is actually not a problem when i travel alone
when i went on a solo road trip through utah this summer i was alone for pretty much the entire week
i would meet people here and there and have conversations with them like when i was at
the hot springs i had an opportunity to meet some people then but for the most part i was
camping completely alone and isolated i was in the car alone and isolated hiking alone and isolated
and that was exactly what i wanted i actually really quite like being by myself and i don't mind
these days not seeing people for for days it's it's not a problem for me in fact being alone is
my big chance to sort of come back to myself and so it is really nice and important especially as
an introvert to take that time and really enjoy it and not feel bad about being by yourself i think
it really comes down to learning to be comfortable with what it is that you want learning how to tune
in to your needs and really listen to yourself and when you're feeling like you want that interaction
going and getting it and not holding back and when you're feeling like you want to be alone letting
yourself do that too and letting that be okay the wonderful thing about traveling especially
by yourself is that you are the you that you are right then and there no one who knows you
is around and so you get to choose how you want to show up and nothing in the past really matters
so i hope that this helps you to feel a little bit more confident about traveling alone if you are an
introverted traveler solo traveler because there's a lot of amazing opportunities for us out there
too so have a blast watch my other videos on this channel about mistakes not to make when you travel
alone and some of my favorite places to travel solo watch those next and have an amazing trip bye