I was a rebellious child, and I still am in some ways. I love to go out and explore the world. I’m a rebellious child at heart. My first travel tips were always having fun and enjoying exploring old haunts or whether it’s taking trips to new places.
I began traveling on my own at a young age. I always preferred traveling by myself.
When I was a teenager, I bravely took a train from Blitar, East Java to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia by myself.
The journey from East Java to Jakarta, West Java, took over 24 hours.
It was then that I decided I was going to travel the world.
I never looked back after that day. I just love traveling and being out there.
From that day on, I knew I wanted to be a travel writer or a journalist.
Traveling is my life. I just love to travel. I love traveling on my own. I’m a solo traveler.
Where did you travel for the first time and when?
Before Facebook and other social media, Instagram, and Twitter even exist, I had lived and traveled through Asia and Europe in the early 1990s.
I’ve traveled in Japan, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Singapore, Taipei, and all over Europe. I went to Thailand for the first time in 1992, for 2 weeks. It was an amazing experience. I got to learn a lot of things there.
I had been to the grand opening of Disneyland in Paris in 1993. I went camping and enjoyed white water rafting at De Joncel, Montpellier, France. I love Paris and I will go back there someday. I also used to live and work at Timeshare in Bali. I also lived in Taipei for about a year.
The Netherlands was my home for a few years before I moved to Sacramento, California, United States in 1998. And made California my home til today. Traveling across the USA is equally rewarding as traveling internationally.
I had visited at least 17 countries, 25 states, 105 cities in the United States, 15 cities in Germany, and many other cities overseas.
Travel Tips for a Solo Traveler
If you are a teenager or a young adult, and you’re planning to travel alone, here are some tips to help you prepare.
- 1. Research the destination and learn about the culture. You can stay at a local family-run guesthouse, hire a private local guide, or shop locally. Tell people to get involved in a travel event, one of my favorite travel tips.
A great travel tip is to learn about the culture and customs when visiting new destinations. Ask yourself a bit of question before you travel about how the culture dresses and what your accepted behavior is in public.
- 2. Learn a second language if possible.
If you do plan on traveling to this region of the world, learning a little bit of the language will certainly come in handy. Through a website like midnight study, you can gain that much-needed language ability and make your trip more enjoyable.
Try to steer clear of other travelers from time to time and begin conversations with locals. Make eye contact and smile more when you are traveling.
- 3. Pack light and be flexible with your schedule.
We believe packing light is the best advice we can give you. Overpacking is terrible, and we know what it is like to do.
Get comfortable carrying your own bag. Sometimes you’ll have to use two hands in order to cross the street or climb escalators, and it’s often heavier than you think.
Traveling alone can be a lot of fun, but you need to prepare for the unexpected.
- 4. Pack enough vitamin C. You can use them to help treat colds and other ailments.
- 5. Be prepared for a long trip. Pre-book flights and rent a car, cab, or local bus for redundancy.
- 6. Have fun! Keep your day focused on having fun, seeing local places, and learning about the area.
- 7. Let it go! Expect what you are going to get, expect the unexpected, and let go of any frustration. When you let it go, you can have a much happier trip.
- 8. Plan ahead. Do the best you can to plan ahead, and travel to the US, Canada, and Europe with the same itinerary. This will help you see where you are going, and plan it from there.
- 9. Don’t spend money on non-essentials while you are traveling.
- 10. Record where you are going, either in a journal, a smartphone app or on a website.
- 11. Be prepared to deal with pickpockets. Be mindful, keep an eye out, and don’t give in.
- 12. Plan out your day and nights. Set your time zone, and don’t do anything to break your daily routine.
- 13. Plan more than 1 day in Paris. It’s a beautiful city, and you are going to want to spend more time there than just a few hours.
- 14. Don’t expect to spend a day or 2 wandering a single city. Booked accommodation, and booking in advance, is key.
- 15. Mind your money. There are people who will take it easy on you, and others who will make you feel like you are trying to scam them.
- 16. If you are going to public swimming pools, keep in mind that most of them become public during the summer. Some of them are free, but others require one key. A great option is to go to a small private gym and swim there. They charge a monthly fee (usually between $10-22). Dive in the sea, it will save your wallet.
- 17. After the beach, the museums are the best places to visit. The city’s history is very rich, and so, plan to spend more time on the history tours.
What Gadget to bring?
- A camera is always nice. Images can be a good source of foreign language practice. Snap some photos. As you travel, take photos for your blog, family, and friends. Shooting photos always serves as a great way to make your day that much better.
- Don’t forget about your laptop or tablet! You can use it to watch media, buy souvenirs, see where you are, and message friends and family. A great airbag for your device is crucial.
Foods, beverages, and transportation to consider.
- Street food and bakeries are fun thing to eat at night and are cheap.
- You don’t have to buy expensive bottled water. Drink water from the tap (often salty groundwater) or buy bottled water (for which you’ll often be charged an added bottling fee).
- Stay away from taxi drivers trying to rip you off. They are scammers and should not be trusted.
- Canned food is sometimes much cheaper than fresh/non-canned. But fresh fruit and vegetables are almost always cheaper.
- The metro is ridiculously cheap. A trip between the airport and downtown São Paulo will cost around 50 reis (between $20 and $40)
- Always carry a bottle of water with you. You can drink it in the metro or in a taxi and if you are lucky, it will be warm.
- Don’t be afraid to travel by metro. It’s safe and not that bad at all. Just make sure that you have a good transport card because you can’t pay for your tickets with cash.
I am the type of woman who likes to roam the earth in search of adventure. I would go anywhere from hiking, and camping out, to the museum, and all those fun activities.
Traveling makes me happy. I’m thrilled most of the time. I like to share my travel experiences with people because it’s interesting to know what other people have seen.
I enjoy traveling, seeing people, and meeting new friends. Traveling brings a very positive feeling to me.
Traveling is a passion of mine, and I cannot stress enough how important it is for me to retire from work and travel full-time.
It may seem simple, but this is one of those travel tips that people should remember. You might get pleasure from having a photo, but it is how you feel at the moment that you will remember forever. Most of my pictures were lost due to lost pictures, bad pictures were taken, or lost contact with my friends/ex-friends traveling with me. I tried to preserve the images as much as possible.
Although we may lose money, and materials, travel is the best teaching and learning experience we do not get at school. Travel is the best memory you can’t replace with material things. Friends come and go. Material things can disappear in a blink of an eye, but memories will remain forever. Unless you get Alzheimer, you’ll lose your memory (my sarcasm).
What travel tips you found the most useful?
How old were you when you start traveling?
How would you rate your favorite international travel tips? Did I miss anything? Share with us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!
Let me know in the comment below.
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