Travelling Solo for the First Time: What I Wish I Knew

August 27, 2026 · Heather Crozier

I was in my 30s the first time I ever travelled solo. It was one of the most freeing things I’ve ever done — here’s what I wish I knew before I went.

I was in my 30s the first time I ever travelled solo. It was one of the most freeing things I’ve ever done — here’s what I wish I knew before I went.

I was in my 30s the first time I ever travelled solo.

Technically, my first solo trip was also my first group trip, so I guess I was only really solo for half of it. But still, there I was, 5'1", carrying everything I needed in a backpack and heading off on my own.

And honestly, it was one of the most freeing things I've ever done.

But I very clearly remember stepping outside the airport in Berlin, looking around and thinking:

What am I doing? 😂

That little wave of anxiety was very real.

I was in another country. I didn't know anyone. There was nobody beside me figuring out where we were supposed to go next. It was just me.

And then… I figured it out.

That's one of the first things solo travel taught me: you're probably a lot more capable than you think you are.

And every trip after that got a little easier.

Why I Started Travelling Solo

At the time, I was single, and I didn't want my ability to see the world to depend on whether someone else could come with me.

Friends couldn't always get the time off. Sometimes they didn't have the money. Sometimes the timing just didn't work, and sometimes we didn't have the same travel plans.

For the first time, I had both the time and the money to travel.

So I didn't even think about asking anyone to come.

I just booked the trip.

And I'm so glad I did.

A few of those trips looked a little different:

My last couple of solo trips were to Paris—a city that, funny enough, was never even on my travel list. Then I went… and completely fell in love with it. The streets, the cafés, the architecture… just wandering around with nowhere I needed to be. How could you not fall in love with Paris? It became one of those places I never expected to love as much as I do.

That's something I've learned about travel: it doesn't have to be one or the other.

Sometimes you go alone. Sometimes someone joins you. And sometimes you end up falling in love with a place you never even planned on visiting.

The important part is that you go.

Solo Doesn't Necessarily Mean Lonely

Before travelling solo, it's easy to picture yourself wandering around completely alone for the entire trip.

That wasn't my experience at all.

Staying in hostels made it incredibly easy to meet people. You start talking to someone in your room or the common area; someone asks where you're from, you compare travel plans, and suddenly you're grabbing food together or heading out to explore.

Now you're sharing a once-in-a-lifetime experience with someone who was a complete stranger a few hours earlier.

It's kind of cool.

Some people you meet for an afternoon. Others you might spend a few days exploring with. Then you continue on your separate adventures.

You're travelling solo, but you're not necessarily alone. I like Solo Traveler as a resource if you want more of that community side of it.

You Learn to Do Things Alone

Here's something funny about me:

At home, I'm not someone who normally goes to the movies alone. I don't typically go out to restaurants by myself either.

But put me in another country with a backpack?

Apparently, I'm doing all of it. 😂

When you're travelling solo, you stop worrying so much about whether something is weird to do alone.

You're hungry, so you find a restaurant. You want to see something, so you see it. You want to sit at a café and people-watch for an hour, so you do.

There's nobody else's schedule to work around and nobody you have to convince that something is worth seeing.

You just… go.

And there's something incredibly freeing about that.

I Think I Notice More When I'm Solo

This is something I didn't expect.

When I'm travelling alone, I'm much more aware of what's happening around me. I'm more observant.

I notice the buildings. The streets. The people. The food. The little details I might normally walk right past.

Sometimes I honestly think I see more when I'm travelling solo.

There's nobody beside me reacting to something before I've had a chance to form my own opinion. I can just stand there, take something in, and experience it completely for myself.

And speaking of taking things in…

I'm also not great at selfies.

Which is probably why I can come home from a trip with thousands of photos and somehow have surprisingly few photos of myself. 😂

I'm usually much more interested in capturing what I'm seeing than turning the camera around.

I'll take pictures of streets, buildings, food, views, random doors, little cafés, and probably 47 photos of the same sunset.

So yes, some of the selfies in this blog may not be my finest work. But they're mine, and they bring me right back to those trips.

The downside of travelling alone is that there isn't always someone beside you to turn to and say, “Can you believe we're actually here?”

But you experience those moments differently.

They're completely yours.

And there's something pretty special about that too.

My Solo Travel Safety Tips

I absolutely think you should take the trip, but travelling solo also means being smart about it.

Being prepared doesn't mean being scared. It means doing a few things ahead of time so you can relax and actually enjoy yourself once you're there.

Here are some things I recommend:

Prepared Doesn't Mean Paranoid

This part is important.

You can read a list of solo travel safety tips and suddenly start thinking:

Okay… maybe I shouldn't go anywhere.

That's not the point.

Being cautious and aware of your surroundings doesn't mean spending your entire trip looking over your shoulder.

Do your research. Prepare yourself. Make smart choices.

Then go enjoy the hell out of your trip!

Talk to people. Try all the food. Sit at the restaurant alone. Take that tour. Get a little lost… within reason. 😂 Take way too many photos.

Stand somewhere you've dreamed about visiting and actually take it in.

This could genuinely be one of the best experiences of your life.

So… should you go solo?

Absolutely!

If travelling is something you've always wanted to do and the only thing stopping you is having someone to go with, my advice is pretty simple:

Go. Take the trip.

I haven't travelled solo in a few years, but I've done it a few times, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's been thinking about it.

And you don't have to start with a month-long backpacking trip across Europe. If you do want help with a custom Europe vacation later, that can be a slower, more planned trip — it doesn't have to look like backpacking.

Start somewhere that feels manageable. Take a shorter trip. Join a group tour for part of it as I did. Stay somewhere social if that's your thing.

Solo travel doesn't have to look a certain way.

It just means deciding that you're not going to miss out on seeing the world because someone else can't come with you.

And if I'm supposed to tell you what I wish I knew before my first solo trip?

I guess it's this:

I wish I'd known how much it was going to change me.

How capable I'd feel afterward.

How freeing it would be.

How much confidence I'd gain from figuring things out on my own.

And mostly?

I wish I'd done it sooner.

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