Traveling alone, please help

March 9, 2010 11:30 AM

20's & female wanting to travel alone at the end of May for 7-10 days and preferably not too expensive. Any suggestions or advice? Or if you've traveled alone in the past, please share your experience/tips!

I would like to plan a trip at the end of May for about 1 week internationally. I think most likely I'll be traveling alone. I'd like to keep the budget hotel+airfare to ~$1K-1.2K for my entire stay. I'm looking for suggestions, or if you've traveled alone in the past, where did you go? Share your experiences/tips please

Thanks

posted by frozenyogurt to Travel & Transportation (17 answers total)

I've got to plug couchsurfing for trips like this; staying with locals is a great way to cut costs, get some local insight on what you should be up to, and have people to hang out with. Be sure to look around at some of their articles discussing issues that solo female travelers run into and how to deal with them. On the whole it's a very safe community, but there are the occasional sketchballs. Feel free to memail me if you have more questions about the community.
posted by craven_morhead at 11:42 AM on March 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Er, where are you starting from?
posted by handee at 11:48 AM on March 9, 2010

Response by poster: new york city.
posted by frozenyogurt at 11:54 AM on March 9, 2010

I've traveled alone all over the US, Europe, southeast Asia, and North Africa. As a young woman in her late teens/early 20s, of the places I've been I strongly recommend southeast Asia. You'll definitely get the most bang for your buck because it's CHEAP, very safe, and the people are friendly without being overbearing or aggressive. Specifically, I visited Cambodia, and both Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat were amazing. You could have a very nice trip to Angkor Wat in your price range.
posted by booknerd at 12:06 PM on March 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Journeywoman is a wonderful resource for women travelling alone.
posted by tzuzie at 12:11 PM on March 9, 2010

I've recommended this before, but you might consider checking out Guatemala, especially if you speak any Spanish at all.

I traveled with my boyfriend, but had a great time exploring on my own when he was taking naps, etc. Enough tourists/backpackers that you can make friends if you want, but a small enough crowd that you can easily avoid them if you prefer to keep to yourself. I'd particularly recommend San Pedro.
posted by rebekah at 12:20 PM on March 9, 2010

I have to second craven_morehead on couchsurfing (I am also F, <30, often travelling alone). It means you don't have to be alone, get local recommendations on the good things (where to go) and the bad (sketchy areas, etc.). To increase your comfort level, start out by getting an account now and participating in NYC events so you can grow a social network and find hosts through people you have already met in NYC.

booknerd is right about SE Asia, but you will probably have to up your budget a bit for that unless airfares are better than expected. I would pick Thailand over for Cambodia for its frequent direct flights (more competition), ease of traveling, and generally lower level of sketch. Especially if you are not used to traveling internationally, it is a good "intro course," with more luxury/home-style restaurants and accommodations if you get bugged out by something.
posted by whatzit at 12:28 PM on March 9, 2010

Guatemala. Or, if you can get a cheap flight, the south of spain or france.

I have traveled alone as a young single woman a lot. I am a wealth of info. Please feel free to send me a message.
posted by Kololo at 12:29 PM on March 9, 2010

Shoot for Europe and stay in a hostel. You will be around young people who like to travel and have fun. Try Antibes, France many nice hostels and close to other big cities. Everyone speaks English and the weather should be great that time of year.
posted by bravowhiskey at 12:31 PM on March 9, 2010

Thirding couchsurfing. I've never actually surfed, but have hosted a lot of interesting people, all on vastly different journeys. There's as much in it for the hosts as there is for the surfers.
posted by headnsouth at 12:36 PM on March 9, 2010

I'm just throwing this out there as a possibility, but you might be able to find a cheap last minute cruise -- something like on vacationstogo.com where you could buy out an entire inside cabin for yourself and still be under budget, including food. There are usually events for singles, but I usually skipped that and just would rely on the ship for a means to get me to the next place and for food. Then I would go out and explore during the day by myself wherever we were in port. The down side was that there's lots of couples on cruises, usually older too, but you get to see a lot of places without having to worry about logistics.
posted by thorny at 12:44 PM on March 9, 2010

I prefer cities when travelling alone - I find that beach resorts or secluded forests just aren't as appealing to me when I'm by myself. Amsterdam is a great city for solo travel - lots to do & plenty of places to just sit & watch the day go by if that's what you prefer.
posted by judith at 1:37 PM on March 9, 2010

I've been to Europe, South America, SE/Northern/Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa traveling alone. From NYC it makes sense to head East, rather than West because with only 7-10 days you're already using two of those days for flying. I can't give you specific destination advice without knowing where you've been before and what you like to see/do.

I've couchsurfed and hosted couchsurfers. My advice is to read profiles and reviews carefully and pick someone who seems to have a similar vibe about them as you or someone who you think you might get along with. I appreciate people contacting me as far in advance as possible and its nice when they take you out to dinner or reciprocate in some way.
posted by Bunglegirl at 1:46 PM on March 9, 2010

Costa Rica? Relatively safe, beautiful, many travelers. One of my female friends traveled there alone and loved it.
posted by tacoma1 at 2:42 PM on March 9, 2010

Like judith above, I prefer cities when travelling alone, though I have no problem with lying on a beach reading for a few days either. I like to do a few organised things (walking tour, or a cooking class, for me) where you have a chance to meet a few people that you can perhaps share a meal with later, and then spend the rest of the time doing exactly what I like.

I'd probably look at heading over to an interesting city in Europe (but I have already seen plenty of Asia etc). I have had mixed experiences with hostels - mostly mixed between nothing special and "I really don't like this place", but I have had slightly better results in Europe. Do consider whether an apartment or budget hotel might suit you better - it depends on your temperament.. I just spent two weeks in NYC and rented an apartment through Air BnB (who also do international rentals). I actually costed it against a private room in a nearby hostel and it was cheaper, plus I had a kitchen to make my breakfast and sometimes dinner (dining out solo is ok, but sometimes you just feel like a night in).

My tips generally for solo travel - have a cell phone on international roaming at least so that you have it in an emergency (or inconvenience, or for messaging if you have local contacts), pack light so it is easier for you to manage your luggage (this includes packing light carry-on as when you are travelling by yourself, you will have to take it all into the airport bathrooms!). I prefer to use the same sort of handbag etc that I do at home as I am used to it and it doesn't scream tourist. Pack a few granola bars so that if you arrive late at night and don't feel like going out into the unfamiliar when you are tired, you can have a snack in your room. I will take mass transit from airports where I can easily get to my hotel, but otherwise, I arrange a transfer (rather than taxi) except for cities I already know well or have judged as non-chaotic (ie well regulated taxi services). Take comfortable shoes.
posted by AnnaRat at 5:21 PM on March 9, 2010

I don't know how tickets will be this time of year, but once you are there Thailand is wonderful and cheap. I (male) spent 3 weeks traveling alone there and had a great time.

A private (but not fancy) room is about $5-10 a night, and delicious street food meals are $1-2. A nice sit down meal (outside of the tourist traps) will be under $10.

English is pretty widely known in most of the major places you'd end up going.
posted by vegetableagony at 8:53 PM on March 9, 2010

I've been to pretty much of all of Europe and some of SE Asia alone, and it's never been a problem. Try staying in hostels and/or couchsurfing.com . I like hostels because there are always other people traveling alone, and more often than not you can join up together for at least a few days.
posted by canadia at 3:51 AM on March 10, 2010