Dealing With Solo Travel Loneliness.

So you’re thinking of travelling solo. But won’t you get lonely? I have travelled extensively and I have dealt with being lonely as all solo travellers will have at some point. It’s just inevitable. But the good news, it’s not often for long. Let’s go into some more detail and hopefully diminish some of your worries about solo travel loneliness!

I remember my first few days when I arrived in Thailand for my first big backpacking trip. I was young not very confident and kind of introverted. Before I left home I had this belief that when I arrived I would meet loads of people straight away and have a new friend group that I would go on crazy adventures with. The reality. I stayed in my hotel room for 2 days wondering if I had made a massive mistake. I booked a bed in a hostel dorm and again didn’t really talk to anyone, and the few people I did talk to shunned me when I suggested getting food together.

So why am I telling you this? Because I felt very lonely and it’s completely normal for this situation to arise. But, this won’t be the case for the majority of your time away!

I soon realised that if you don’t put yourself out there you can’t expect to meet people. And sometimes when you do, you will still be lonely. But that’s all part of solo travel. Sometimes you will be alone, but most of the time you won’t be. But yeah it sucks when you are.

Dealing With Solo Travel Loneliness.

So if you do find yourself feeling lonely, there’s really only one solution. Go and talk to someone! Hostels are a great place for meeting new friends. If you’re introverted this can seem like a mammoth task I know. But you really have to push yourself! You wanted to meet new people, make new friends and have a great time. But these things don’t just happen, you have to pursue them.

There are so many great ways of meeting people in hostels that you really don’t ever need to feel lonely, as long as you make yourself available! That means taking off your headphones and going and sitting at breakfast with other guests. Most people in hostels are really open to meeting new people, and maybe they feel the same as you. Strike up a conversation and you will beat the loneliness in no time.

It can feel like a real slog trying to be upbeat and meeting new people all the time, especially when you’re feeling a bit down. But it’s really just going to make things worse if you hide away. Which you will probably feel the urge to do. You really can’t do this or you’re just going to ruin your trip. Just because you haven’t met new people and made new friends doesn’t mean that you have failed on your trip in any way. You just need to work on meeting new people and getting out of your comfort zone!

Be Proud to Be Alone!

You have struck up the courage to book a flight and go and travel alone. So don’t feel like you haven’t done what you set out to achieve just because you are feeling lonely! You made a massive step to get out of your comfort zone already, and just because you haven’t made any new friends just yet, I’m sure they will come. As long as you go out and find them! Nothing will happen if you just mope around, just go and talk to someone. Just ask them a question if you don’t know what to say and see where the conversation goes! And if at first, you don’t succeed, persevere until you do.

Travelling solo takes a massive amount of confidence, most people just wouldn’t take that step. But you have, so fight the fact that you feel lonely and get out there, once you do you won’t regret it. Being alone and being lonely are two different things, the first is a physical state whereas the second is mental. You have the power to change both extremely easily. Feeling lonely is only temporary, it’s your brain craving human interaction, so just interact!

Embrace The Loneliness.

Yeah, it feels pretty horrible being lonely, but remember it’s temporary. So if you are feeling lonely just allow yourself some time to be alone and do what makes you happy. I know I’m contradicting what I said earlier about getting out there. But sometimes it’s okay to just sit on your own and binge watch Netflix or read a book. It’s just not a great idea to get into a cycle of doing that. Just remember you won’t be lonely forever.

Avoid Being Lonely.

There are several ways to avoid being lonely, but for me, the best way is to stay in hostels. If you have never stayed in a hostel read this guide to see what it’s all about! Staying in hostels literally gives you a constant flow of other people who like you, are looking to meet new people. They really are the best way to meet people and defeat the loneliness solo travel can bring. You won’t always meet people in hostels though, sometimes the atmosphere just isn’t there, or you just don’t find anyone you “click” with. But that’s fine, you don’t have to be friends with every person you meet. You probably won’t want to anyway!

I have stayed in hostels where I’ve been lonely and stayed in hostels where I’ve made friends with everyone in the room. It really depends on who is staying there at the time! If there is nobody in the hostel to talk to, or nobody you want to talk to, a personal favourite of mine is to go on a free walking tour!

Walking tours are usually free, guided tours around a city, regularly frequented by other solo travellers looking to meet people and discover the city at the same time. You are not obligated to pay for the tour, but if you feel like your guide did a good job then you should pay what you think the tour was worth. But anyway. They are a great way of meeting people, I always go on walking tours if I want to meet new people but haven’t found anyone in the hostel!

Hostels also offer group trips that you can go on, usually for free. When staying at a hostel you are not just limited to talking to people in your dorm, you can speak with people in the common areas, but going on a group trip is usually the best way to meet people staying in other dorms. Also, make use of the hostel breakfast, I have met so many cool people at breakfast and made lifelong friends.

A List Of Ways to Avoid Being Lonely While Travelling solo.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about all the ways you can avoid being lonely so here is a list of ways you can meet people and beat the loneliness of solo travel!

• Stay in hostels.
• Go on walking tours.
• Go on hostel group trips.
• Take a class in the city you are in.
• Go to bars or restaurants with communal tables.
• Use the hangout feature on Couchsurfing.
• Use Couchsurfing to stay with a local!
• Ask locals for recommendations on what to do, eat, see…
• Call your family and friends! It really helps.
• Just be brave and talk to people! Literally anyone!