I'm 24 and I cannot fathom traveling alone.
However I'm having a quarter life crisis and want to do something. I've always been a shut in moron who wasted his life and is missing knowledge and experience that my peers have. I'm trying to change that by traveling. How do you not get lost, or bored, or killed when traveling solo to a foreign land?
What is your advice for new solo adventurers?
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Not everyone is cut out for solo travel. You will either love it or absolutely hate it and you really wont know which without trying it out first. Getting lost is the fun part. Getting bored shouldn't happen unless you are too scared to leave your hotel room. Getting killed is the risk we take for living life to the fullest, use common sense and it's no more likely to happen abroad than in your home country. I've never stuck to the tourist routes and always just forged my own way usually through some backwater parts of the country and loved every minute of it. Challenging situations can occur but they make for great memories and interesting stories. Do what interests you though. If you just follow what others do, then it's not going keep your interest for long. Nothing worse than hanging around a bunch of instagramers and boomer tourists when you are trying to experience what another has to offer.
> You will either love it or absolutely hate
Dude frick off with your absolutist bullshit, I'm OP's age and I merely enjoy it. I don't love it or hate it. It's a nice way to take my mind of shit at home for a bit. Quit acting like a fricking father figure tiktok grifrer. Yes, OP should travel. Maybe he'll hate it, or love it, or think nothing of it. Who gives a shit. You're acting like getting on a damn plane is some feat of badassery.,
If you have a car, try taking a camping roadtrip first. It's travel on easy mode - you're in your home country, you have all your shit with you in your car, you can go anywhere you want. Try to meet people along the way, at least to get used to small talk.
>how do you not get bored
Boredom is the constant companion of the solo traveler, especially the traveler who is not very sociable and does not make friends. Travel teaches you to adapt to your circumstances and enjoy what little morsels of pleasure you find along the way. Travel also dispels delusions and fantasies more than it fulfils them. The more discomfort and privation you experience while traveling, the more you will appreciate a good meal and a comfy bed. In my experience, it is best to travel with no expectations. Rather, be open and ready to say "yes" to whatever opportunities present themselves. Of course, if you are in a country known for insecurity, you might want to be more careful in fraternizing with locals, but what the hell, limit your losses and roll with the flow.
>getting lost
You can't get lost if any place is as good as any other place, you have nothing to go back home for, and you have no imprisoning itinerary or prepaid reservations. This is the true freedom of travel; with cash and a passport, you can live virtually anywhere, for a day or a week or a month, on the merest whim.
> advice for new solo adventurers
be prepared to be lonely sometimes. Eat at takeout places, on patios, at cafés, or in your apartment/hotel bar because going to a sit-down restaurant alone, while everyone around you is with their girlfriend or laughing with friends and the waiter looks at you with pity, is just an awful experience
When I was 18-19 I wanted to be alone as a way to mature/find myself, so I would go on long solo hikes and the like, and it satisfied my psychological needs. Once I got older and still single, travelling alone became depressing (unless of course it's for business). I suspect if I ever succeed in getting married and having children, I'll find solace in being alone once more.
> camping roadtrip
> try to meet people
lol driving a car is the hardest way to meet people. trains (that aren't crowded and filled to the brim with pajeets) and hostels are the easiest
>mid-20s
>quarter life crisis
Rather optimistic of you to believe you'll live up to 100 or at least the late-90s. Even perfectly healthy people who do nothing wrong don't usually make it that long.
But for real, good of you to start thinking of traveling. Once you get the hang of it, you'll never stop wanting to do it.
>How do you not get lost
Google Maps
>or bored
Planning ahead of time
>or killed
Don't travel to third world shitholes
quit being a pussy dude. get out there and do it.
you’re gonna die one day anyways, regardless of whether or not you solo travelled.
I exist in the exact opposite state, OP
I haven't a person to do activities with in nearly a decade
I've traveled alone. It's not bad. It's fun.
But it was just that. I saw cool things. I ate cool foods.
But I didn't change. I didn't get "fixed". I didn't make friends.
Traveling alone was just like being at home alone, except with different and interesting things to do.
If you like to travel, you'll like to travel alone. But you won't change a thing about yourself.
This. I have done several 3-5 month stints of backpacking in my 20's through Asia and ten Europe. Cool, fun, hard, interesting and certainly has given me more confidence in relying on my own to sort things out.
But other than that; no earth shattering changes, no great big philosophical questions answered, no life changing friendships - I come back and im the same old me flaws and issues and all
That's because one can only find themselves by living like a hermit. Sorry for the cliché but it only happens by looking within.
Travelling to find oneself is a wild goose chase, especially if you are an introvert.
I've tried the hermit thing (again, no one to do activities with in over a decade), and it is not the answer.
That kind of loneliness gives you brain worms. I don't know what "crazy" truly means, but I went it.
I honestly don't know how I didn't kill myself.
Stop being a pussy and make itineraries of what you want to do. Simple as that. Yea, I feel like a complete fricking loser sometimes when I’m sitting alone at the patio seating of some bar while some loud homosexuals on vacation are BELLOWING AND SHOUTING nearby but you get used to it
Traveling alone is great. At 25 I went to Hong Kong by myself on a whim and ended up meeting my wife.
You're also gonna feel excruciating loneliness while you're travelling if you're socially moronic but as long as you go outside every day you will never regret going in the end at least versus sitting at home and doing the same thing during that time. It's also one of those things that are much easier than they seem, you'll have a hangup about how it seems impossible until you actually go and do it. The only thing you're really doing is getting on a plane in the end. On bad days you can always just get super wasted and pass out.
Also a protip from someone a bit older, crises aren't usually fixed by any pre-planned momentous occasions unless you fall off the deep end into some ideology or something like that. Even if you meet someone great you will be back to how you were before if they ever leave. If you wanna figure things out properly it's a long day by day process that is going to feel largely thankless, maybe even forever. Just keep moving and don't stagnate and that's the best you can really do.
Just do it. There's literally nothing to be worried about that doesn't apply to travelling with others, unless you always expect your fellow traveller to do everything for you.
It's much more liberating doing it your own way.
hmm I see I still have some questions
How do you know what to do day in and day out? like it only takes me about 15-20 minutes for a museum, do 2 of them and I probably didn't hit an hour. Shopping is dumb and boring unless it's anime merch I want, but then I know what is trash and not so I can get it done quick. Then what? just walk around aimlessly? Go back and play on my switch at my hotel?
What about eating? I know it's extremely rude to eat alone in public and something only Americans do so then what? Eat fast food everyday and become fat? no thank you.
When I travel I just go with my mum and dad or friends, if I am bored or don't know what to do I just follow them around and they also get the benefit of not looking like a loner loser in public.
Pubs and Bars abroad sell piss water from what I've heard so outside some local delicacies, I don't imagine anything will compare to what I could get back home or painfully deal with if I have some lads with me to get through westernized american beer piss.
Is there some guide or vlogger you all follow to understand what to do? I have holiday coming up since it's finally looking to go under 25C at some places I want to visit. Just don't know what to do when I get there lol.
I have a personality and some interests. Not many, some will do. The rest comes naturally. Say... architecture, and you're already set.
You can obviously recreate some vlogger's trip if you have no life.
>it's extremely rude to at alone in public?
Lol what? Nobody is getting offended because you're sat alone at a restaurant. They might think you're a loser or weird but that's their problem not yours.
Traveling becomes much more enjoyable if you actually have hobbies or interests that you can engage in while you're there to fill some of the time.
Take diving as an example. There are thousands of places around the world that divers can travel to and experience things that are unique to that specific area. Whether it be shipwrecks, caves, metal detecting, spearfishing, whatever
Can confirm tbh. I want to make a pilgrimage to Warhammer World in England and play some 40k games in the holy land someday. While I'm there I want to pay a visit to the studios that make some of the best British board games, assuming they let tourists come in to shake the devs' hands.
The first thing you should ask when you're thinking about travelling is "What is the pilgrimage that all [hobbyists] should make?"
>I'm trying to change that by traveling.
It won't change anything. 23 year old KHV here. In the last two years I've been to Budapest, Vienna, Jerusalem and Tokyo. Nothing changed. There is no fantastic experience or adventure waiting for you out there. You will see some cool buildings, eat some tasty food and maybe meet a few interesting people. That's it. You'll have to go home eventually and you'll have to go back to being "you", whoever that may be.
Travelling is just one expensive form of escapism. People who talk about their "experiences" are just full of shit. You ever notice how backpackers are almost always losers with minimum wage jobs and that they are always on a budget? It's because they are trying to run away from who they truly are. They can pretend like their time abroad has somehow made them more wise and cultural than everyone else back home. It's just pure cope.
You just happened to travel to all the meme destination cities, did the most boring, generic shit ever and you are surprised that you didn't experience anything life changing? lmao.
>get lost
that's part of the adventure. But if it still worries you, google maps has been a thing for how many years now?
>killed.
If I answered honestly, everyone would scream at me to go leave. You know my answer.
>bored
by putting in an effort to have fun. Doing new and exciting things. Y'know the things you use to do when you were a kid. Part of learning how to live well is recapturing the innocence of childhood.
And I don't think traveling will solve your quarter life crisis btw. That's not to say you shouldn't do it, because you should, and it can help shake things up if you're stuck in a rut. But feeling fulfilled primarily comes from senses of power after accomplishing GOALS. Wandering around aimlessly won't change that. Well unless your goals are to become more cosmopolitan or something.
>travels abroad
>doesn't speak to a soul
>"wtf guys why am I still a socially inept KHV?"
>"traveling sucks!"
Yeah dummy, you're actually suppose to talk with people when traveling - that's part of the exploratory process. Of course skirmishing around touristy shrines and castles withy your eyes glued to the floor didn't fix your 'tism. Try again, but making an effort to socialize with people at your hostel or local clubs and bars.
it's not even that anything is wrong with those destinations. Anon just doesn't know that to save yourself from being KHV you have to, lo and behold, actually talk to women.
But I hate women. I just wish one would like me even for a bit.
you dont need to travel to make a new start. just start seeing new people through uni or work and dont sperg out. also dont compare yourself to other people, only to a former version of yourself
>new people through uni or work
I'm 24. Uni is over for me and I work from home
any suggestions regarding shoes? ill be walking no-stop. So I assume i'll need something other than the CAT boots that I use on my daily job.
A little early for a mid-life crisis, but it's best you realize this sooner than later. Traveling doesn't fix it. Instead, find a purpose to work towards, or a routine you can stick to. Most people will degenerate to a daily routine for the rest of their lives.
Take it easy. Make an experience: travel one week alone to a place you have never been to see if you like it. If you don't, a bad week won't kill you.
I'm just about 24. Been working full time for almost 3 years now and got a bunch of cash saved up. I'm doing some major travelling next year, just because I like travelling. Going to go solo for the first time, but I prefer the freedom of it anyway. Going to do some group tours of some more dangerous places which I'm hoping will be a fun way to meet people. I'm pretty autistic but gotten a lot better at talking to people, even if I do come off weird I can usually find one or two people who enjoy my company. Dont think I'll be able to go back to an office job after, Id love to travel and work on my creative side projects, doing remote work or short term contracts to make some cash. I wish I had non-technical skills I could use to make money, alas I also wasted my teenage years.
Spoiler: Travel does not make you an interesting person. All your problems will be waiting for you when you get back. You should travel because you want to, not for any other reason.
just do it. when I was your age I packed up my car and spent 3 weeks on the road. drove from TN through TX to El Paso, into Mexico, immediately back into US (Mexico sucks) then drove to LA, up to San Fran, down to Vegas and took i40 all the way back to TN. Slept in my car the whole time and saw a bunch of places I had never been.
How do you not get killed in your own country? How do the tourists who go to your country not get killed? Just do that and avoid places where they kill tourists.
>pick a month you will go
when you narrow it down to a month it kinda puts a time frame on it so its not an ethereal concept
>pick a place and stick to it
the hardest part is figuring out where to go. so pick a location and don't change your mind.
>map a route with Google maps
visualizing the trip with hard data makes it seem more real and possible.
>just start planning stuff without much thought with no commitment
looking at campsites and trails and picking favorites "for fun" and making a loose list is actually planning the trip.
at this point you have a time of year, place, way to get there, and things to do. all you need now is to decide how long you want to go for. after that its just packing some gear and you're ready to go.
oh and as far as not being bored? i do like a day long hike each day. if not that a few smaller ones and ill just drive around looking at scenery and going down neat roads.
lonely? you won't be if you have things to do and see. you'll be too happy and excited to feel lonely.
killed? cmon.... don't go to shitty areas and don't takes risks.
Where are you starting from? I've been alone on the road for a while, ocean to ocean, and am still moving. Mainly because I haven't found a way to settle down. I'll ask you how you would keep your belongings in order while you travel.
Pic related it's me
>How do you not get lost, or bored, or killed when traveling solo
You think traveling with a gf or some party bros that are always drunk or hangover will prevent any of that ?
Travelled solo to a dozen countries. Got drunk, got bored, got lost. Still alive though. And never got in any fight (though I did have a problem with drunken brits [they do seem to like to pick fights when drunk]).
For me it is easy as I spend most of my time alone anyway. I do pretty much everything alone in my daily life so travelling is pretty much doing the same but abroad.
Don't want to get lost? Just plan a route, take your phone/some maps. Bored? You have more reasons to be bored at home due the routine than abroad. Unless you're one of those persons who need someone by your side 24/7. Just do whatever you do at home when you're bored (plus explore the place you are, visit the sights...). Getting killed while travelling is pretty much like winning the lottery, unless you're travelling through active war zones or in very dangerous places and have no streetsmarts at all. But you would have to be really unlucky or at least plain stupid.
Tbh the obstacles you talk about are non existant. My advice to you due to your apparent personality is to research a lot about the place you're planning to go and to create a tight schedule so you keep yourself busy. I do like to do the opposite and just have a general sense of what I want to see/do. But it seems the former will fit you more.
travelling alone is very fun, join an active hostel like Yellow Square, UCPA for sports (mainly known for ski/sb) or gadventures for casual site seeing
>UCPA
Googling this came up with french results. Is there any hope for anglos?