Preparing for Your First Solo Trip Abroad
First off let me start by saying how amazing, cool and brave you are for deciding to take on the great adventure of solo travel. So many people lack the courage to even consider this and you are taking the first step. That’s amazing!
Second, planning your first trip might feel overwhelming at first, and that’s completely normal. It’s crucial to not let this discourage you! Like all great adventures– this one will feel like a lot at first, but I promise you… it will be worth it. The most important part is to remember that you are stepping into the unknown and your mentality must be that you are open to receiving all of the amazing things that this adventure will bring you. Everything might not go as planned, but that’s always a possibility and taking this chance means you won’t ever wonder what could have been. Plus this adventure could change your life– like my first solo trip did to me (I’m rooting for you to experience this).
I won’t pretend that this one article will teach you everything, but my goal is to give you the essentials without overwhelming you. Below I highlight the most important things you need to get in order when planning your first solo trip abroad based on my personal experience backpacking through 30 countries across three different continents.
The time me and my dorm-mate started a pub crawl at our hostel because they didn’t host one.
Pick a backpacker friendly location
This might come as a shock, but not every dream destination is good for solo travel. If you are looking to be amongst other solo travelers or plan to travel on a budget– it’s best to look for “backpacker” locations as they will be catering to budget travelers overall. Being in a backpacker destination means there will be more single-person accommodation options, more activities to join as a single person and overall more opportunities to meet people who are on a similar adventure as you. On my first solo trip I spent 9 weeks traveling throughout Europe and decided to spend my birthday in Santorini, Greece while I was there. To my surprise… or maybe to my ignorance… Santorini was full of people on their honeymoon! Haha. I spent my birthday amongst honeymooners and even though it didn’t take away from the beauty of where I was– it definitely felt lonely in comparison to everywhere else I had been prior. The moral of the story is– do your research!
For quick info on great solo travel destinations follow me on TikTok @Londy_B!
2. Make sure your visas are in order
Before you buy your ticket make sure you can enter the country AND if you have layovers elsewhere make sure you are aware of any necessary permissions to enter the country's airport. I know several travelers who didn’t account for their layover transit visas who had to be deported back to wherever they came from even though they had valid visas for their final destination. All of the necessary visas vary based on the governmental agreements your passport issuing country has with other countries. Every country is different and rules constantly change so make sure you check your country’s official embassy website for accurate information! Some visa applications may take a while to process, so make sure you have enough time before your trip to have this sorted.
3. Make sure your budget is realistic
You don’t want to be worried about running out of money when you’re traveling. Thankfully there are so many bloggers with helpful information on the ‘average daily cost of travel’ in various places. I find using this number to help me budget my trips the most helpful because I just take that estimated number and multiply it by the days I plan to spend somewhere. This is especially helpful if you will be jumping around through different countries– since even neighboring countries can vary drastically in cost! I will say, however, that you should make sure you understand your style of travel. If you are not looking to stay at hostels and prefer not to cook some of your meals… you don’t want to follow the average daily cost of travel suggested by a budget traveler. There are bloggers for all sorts of travel styles– choose one that suits your needs! Aside from figuring out your budget through ‘average daily cost of travel’ in the specific location you are traveling to– I would always encourage you to also include an extra ~$1,000 USD for emergencies AND be sure to save some money for when you return back from traveling. There is really nothing worse than coming back from a trip and having little to no cushion savings post travel (especially if you quit your job to do this!).
4. Make sure you meet foreign immunization requirements
Some countries have immunization requirements for foreigners– especially those with developing healthcare infrastructure and more exotic ecosystems. These rules are put in place in order to keep everyone safe and healthy. If you arrive somewhere and you can’t prove you satisfy their immunization requirements you risk being denied entry. Something important to note is that sometimes if you are traveling from your home country, you might be allowed to enter your first destination, but if you later want to cross into another country your immunization record will be based off of the immunization entry requirements from the country you are leaving. For example, when I was in Latin America, I was flying from Colombia to Costa Rica and needed to show proof of my yellow fever vaccine. If I had flown from the US into Costa Rica– or even from Panama to Costa Rica– it wouldn’t have been required for entry. The rules for each country are different!
Passport Health is really helpful with understanding what vaccines are required for entry into each country, but make sure you double check the information on corresponding national embassies to be completely safe.
5. Get travel insurance!
Travel insurance is SO important when you are traveling. You never know how your body might react to so many new things and traveling really does put your body in sort of a shock with long nights, time changes, lots of public transportation, exotic foods, hostels/hotels and so on. It’s so comforting to know that you are covered if anything happens to you. When I was in Cambodia I got an eye infection from swimming in the sea with my contacts in… to say I was not expecting that is an understatement. The situation was so painful that I went to the doctor on my own to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. When I finally recovered… I remembered I had travel insurance and filed a claim. Once I sent in my receipts I got my refund right away. It was really nice. This was a less severe situation, but knowing you are covered in any case that might arise just brings you peace of mind.
In my experience, I have used SafetyWing as my travel insurance provider and have loved them. They are fairly priced and filing claims has always been very easy. (Unlike dealing with typical American insurance providers! Haha.)
Although there is still a lot to sort before you take off, I do believe these are some of the most important things to have in order as soon as possible.
Keep coming back for articles on how to pack, getting phone service in foreign countries and more!
