For First Time Solo Travelers
Recently, I had the chance to travel alone to Bali, Indonesia a few days after my 21st birthday. It was my first time traveling alone. I never thought I’d get the chance to do so, considering my parents’ very strict Asian-style parenting. I wanted to travel alone for a myriad of reasons, particularly to discover myself and to have a bit of time away from everyone else.
This piece is for all of you who have made plans to travel alone for the first time. It’ll be lovely for other solo travelers to impart us with some advice in the comments below as well.
- Keep everything (bags, drinks, food) in sight
While traveling alone, you won’t have a friend to tell you your bag is unzipped or something is hanging out of your pocket. And you can’t put too much faith on strangers to help you either. Keep your bags in front of you and never leave your bag unattended. Carry a small day pack for daily sightseeing.
If you must go to the ladies or gents, do so after your meals. If you go during meal times, do not resume eating or drinking. In the short period you were gone to relieve yourself, anything can happen. Someone might put something in your food or drink. I know this sounds really paranoid, but it can happen. Don’t take chances especially when you’re away from home, alone.
- Plan ahead
I was so used to traveling with my parents (who usually arranged the travel itinerary for the family) that I forgot to plan and ended up wasting my first day in Bali planning my trip. I’m not asking anyone to plan everything down to the minutes, but a having a rough idea of what to do on each day of the trip or having a general theme (example: surfing trip, water sports tour, temples tour) to the trip will help a lot.
- Have a local guide show you around
If it’s your first time visiting the place, it helps to have a local guide show you around.
While I was booking my hotel room, I asked the customer service officer for guide recommendations and she introduced me to a friend of hers. Unfortunately, I was only able to meet him on the 2nd day of my trip. Fortunately, he wasn’t a conman out to cheat me of my money but was a genuine guy who was passionate about what he does. I told him the places I’ve heard of and wanted to visit, and he gave me local recommendations of places to visit or food to eat. I was happy to have been able to visit museums, monuments and temples that I’ve never heard of, thanks to his recommendations.
- Learn to speak some of the local language
While I was lucky enough to be able to speak Bahasa Indonesia, I didn’t speak it well enough to convince anyone that I’m not a tourist. Fortunately, it’s appreciated and it helped me ease the tension of talking to strangers, especially when they laughed at me.
However, for those with no background in any of the local language at all, it helps to learn at least “please” and “thank you” in local languages.
- Always be alert
Most importantly, always be alert and careful. Read about common scams travellers have seen when they travel to certain areas. Trust your instincts. If something is too good to be true, it probably is. Better be safe than sorry. Traveling is meant to be fun, not daunting.
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