I have been solo traveling for about 10 years now, and I have made my fair share of solo travel mistakes. So, if you’re new to solo traveling, you’re about to take your first solo trip. Or if you’re interested in traveling alone, keep watching, because in this video, I’m going to talk about eight solo travel mistakes not to make. The first mistake is geotagging your location and posting on social media in real time. We all want to get those beautiful travel pics and update our family and friends on where we’re going through photos and videos, which is all good. And fine, but you don’t want to do this in real time. You never know who’s watching, and you don’t want people to know where you are.
Even if you don’t have a large following and your account is private, if at any point in your trip… you’re using an open wifi. So a wifi that doesn’t need a password, for example, like if you’re at the airport or a hotel and you’re jumping on a wifi that isn’t password-protected. Your stuff is free and open. Anyone can gather your information, your account information, and even your location. And I know this might seem far-fetched, and the chances of this happening are pretty low, but when you’re traveling alone, safety is your top priority, and you really don’t want just to put where you are and where you’re located—just out there for anyone to see.
You want to make sure that, if you are posting on social media and tagging your location, you do it a couple of days after you’ve been to that place, or even after your trip is over, or you’ve moved on to a new city. entirely. The next solo travel mistake is not keeping track of your stuff. I had to learn this one the hard way, and I was this close to losing my Mac laptop. Top, so I’ll tell you what happened. I was in London at London Heathrow Airport. I was leaving the city and had a lot of stuff in my hands. I was in a rush, which is no excuse for not keeping track of your belongings. I had so many things. I had duty-free bags.
I had my laptop and my luggage. I had a heavy coat in my hand because it was winter. But I remember being in a rush. I was so incredibly hungry, and I didn’t have any snacks with me. And I stopped at one of those kiosks to get something to eat. It just left. Security, and when I was at the kiosk paying for my sandwich or snack or whatever, I must have put my laptop down. Then once I paid, I just walked away. I was, you know, over by my gate, sitting there, and then that’s when I was making sure I had all of my stuff and realized I didn’t have my laptop. I ran back to…
the kiosk, fully out of breath, and thank God, I know it hadn’t been that much time since I noticed. The sweet, sweet girl who was working behind the kiosk just picked up my laptop and was like, ‘Forgetting something.’ I was so close to losing my laptop, which had everything on it. You definitely want to make sure that, no matter how many things you have, how hungry you are, or whether you’re in a rush, you’re keeping track of all your belongings. Because again, you’re by yourself. There’s no one there to watch your stuff. There’s no one there to make sure you’ve done a checklist, and you’ve got your phone, your keys, your wallet, all that stuff.
You want to make sure you’re doing that for yourself, and you want to make sure. That you’re keeping track of all your belongings—the next mistake is making yourself a target. But when you’re traveling solo, and even when you’re traveling with other people, you want to make sure you stop your obs. You’re seeing what people who live in that city, who are locals to that city or that country or wherever you are, look at how they dress and look at how they behave and try to… blend in. Try to avoid wearing flashy jewelry, clothing, or really big logos. And you also want to try not to make a scene. All of these things will draw more attention to you.
And make you a target for crime. Another thing you don’t want to do is be distracted. I know that I have been so guilty of this in the past. When you’re walking down the street during the day, try not to wear headphones or use your cell phone. That’s gonna make you a target, and it’s gonna make you stand out to the locals around you. That you’re not from there. Again, if you don’t see the locals doing it, don’t do it. The next travel mistake is not trusting your gut. Women and men, but women—we have that female intuition. We know what’s up, and we know when we get that feeling that something isn’t right. You gotta go with that.
You know, sometimes, as women, we can be socialized to be overly polite, overly accommodating, to stuff that feels down. And go with whatever is around us. If you have that feeling inside that something isn’t right, get out of there. No matter where you are, no matter who you’re with, try to get out of there as fast as you can. You don’t have to apologize. You don’t have to be polite. You don’t even have to explain yourself. And this isn’t just for when you’re traveling. This is also for when you’re planning accommodation. And I’ll give you an example. I am going on a solo trip in a couple of months, and I am planning everything, including where I will stay.
I wanted to stay in a hotel, but I was having trouble finding one I could afford because they were all very expensive. I wasn’t expecting the hotel prices to be that high. And so I… looked into Airbnb, which I use a lot when I travel. I ended up picking this Airbnb simply because it was cheaper. And I booked it, but as the days passed, I kept thinking, and even as I was looking at that Airbnb, I kept thinking, something doesn’t feel right. I don’t, I can’t pinpoint what it is, but something about this Airbnb doesn’t feel right. And so after a few days, I ended up canceling.
It was just booking with a hotel, even though it was more expensive, so sometimes, especially when you’re frugal, you know I’m a frugal person, so we want to try to be mindful of your money. I totally get that, because I’m the same way. But you don’t want to cut corners and go for something cheaper, just because it’s cheaper. When you have that intuition and that feeling that something isn’t right, then go with the more expensive option. Because that’s going to make you feel better, help you sleep at night, and keep you very safe. Now, I have no idea why I felt that way about that Airbnb, and it could have been totally fine. And I’ll never know, because I canceled that.
That booking, I had to go with my intuition. If you’re loving this video so far and find it helpful, like it and subscribe to this channel. The next mistake is not planning your arrival and departure during the day. So when you’re traveling with friends, it’s probably okay to take that red-eye flight or a night train into a city, but when you’re traveling by yourself, I would suggest planning your arrival flight, plane, or bus, and your departing flight, plane, or bus in the daytime. So you’re arriving in… Your destination in the daytime and you’re leaving your destination in the daytime again when you’re traveling by yourself. Safety is the top priority, and anything can happen during the daytime. Crime happens during the daytime, all the time.
But when you’re coming in, especially at night, you’re increasing the chances of something happening. You also want to take getting lost into account, because if you’re coming to a new city, no matter how much you prepare, there’s still a chance you might get lost if you have to take public transport or walkor walk. You want to be doing all of this in the middle of the day so that, if you get lost, if something goes wrong, you have the sunlight in the daytime to help you navigate where you’re going. You can read street signs clearly, ask for help if you need to, and not feel like your safety is at risk. In some cities, one wrong turn, one wrong street can be dangerous.
And also, during the day, these are open at tourist boards and information centers in cities. Theake is not doing your research. This is particularly true for international travel. Now I know there are some of you out there who are free spirits and who don’t want to plan as much as I do, or don’t want to go to the lengths I do, and that’s fine. Do you? But there are a few things you should make sure to research. For example, you want to know what the common scams are in that country. What are the norms in that country, especially for women? Do they have views that could be different from those in your home country?
Are there some things that I do in my home country that are considered normal that might be habitual for me? But in other countries, are they considered rude or disrespectful? There are many scams centered on airports, money exchange, and cell phones. Ubers. You want to research these things and know them in advance before you arrive at your destination. The next solo travel mistake is telling people that you’re traveling alone. You’re traveling solo, you’d be surprised at how many people you meet and how many friends you make. I have made so many friends traveling alone. But again, going back to what I said before, trust your intuition and trust your gut. No one needs to know that you’re traveling alone. It’s none of their business.
And it’s not because you want to be rude, or because you’re hiding something, or because you’re ashamed, or because you’re lying. It’s not that, but it’s just— it’s nobody’s business. Don’t want to make yourself a target. And sometimes telling people that you’re traveling alone. puts it on the radar and the map, and some people are looking out for that. Some people are gonna target you because they know you’re traveling alone, especially as a solo female traveler, not pushing past fear and enjoying your trip. At the end of the day, yes, you want to be safe, yes, you want to be aware, yes, you want to do research and make sure you know what you’re getting into. But at the end of the day, it’s your trip. This is your time.
You can do whatever you want and make this trip your own. Don’t have so much fear or don’t feel so guarded that you can’t enjoy yourself, that you don’t go on adventures and do wonderful things with wonderful people just because you’re afraid. Use your intuition and step out of that box. Enjoy yourself. Once you’re prepared, once you’ve planned, and once you’ve got everything in place. The next thing to do is go. Go and enjoy yourself. I’ll see you in the next one. Bye.
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