Travelling alone for the first time or even your 10th time can be scary, you never know, what might happen, a lot of people actually put off travelling because they are scared to travel alone, but in fact; you never truly travel alone, if you have the basic social skills needed to talk to people, then you should definitely think about travelling alone.
But travelling can be scary, specially if you never done it before, you always think of the worst things to happen such as airplanes crashing, boats sinking, being nervous is just part of our nature, but don’t be scared, its an adventure that you never forget, travelling alone.
Travelling alone will not only develop you as a person but also make some great friends for a life time.
Here are some tips to meeting people while you travel alone
Social media is now taking over and travelling is using it to its full potential, many social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, twitter and GapYear have a community where you can network with other people who are travelling, alone just like you might be and you can even plan to meet them up in different locations as you travelling.
meeting places where you can meet other travelers and create bonds together; creating travel plans and activities together.
Apps are also useful for when you are on the move and have nothing planned,Apps such as: back tracker, backpackr, tripr and tripwire. there are plenty of other apps out there to help you.
Best and easiest ways in meeting people while travelling is Hostels, they might not be fancy five star hotel but Hostels is full of people who love travelling and are on a budget, just like you might be. Hostels and dorm rooms, have you stay in a room full of random strange people, some might be with another partner travelling and other might be by them self, you can have lovely chats and hangout with them, go adventuring together.
You might not get along with every single person, after all we all different but you will always meet someone who you might get a long with and ask for help.
Social places like bars have a lot of backpackers, they are a great place to meet people, the’r a social hub for most backpackers and good place to get to know people, for example playing drinking games with strangers is always fun.
If you heading some where new, its always best to book yourself a day trip/intro tour, other travelers will usually be on this Tours, and a lot of travelers are probably doing the same thing as you, so you can always meet other people.
You can book full day tours, people travelers will be on this tour with you but you might feel like its a waste to a day and you have your own plans.
Travelling alone, doesn’t actually mean you will be alone, at some points of your travel such as flights and transports, you might be alone however if you talk to people and ask for help, you will always have someone that’s in the same positioning as you are, so don’t be scared to talk to people, backpackers or even locals.
“Remember you are never really alone. Although it may feel like it for very long stretches of time.” – Steven L. Peck