Three years ago I booked a 21 day, six country, nine city European tour…solo.  (It would also be my first time to Europe!)  After that trip I had women reach out to me curious about how I did it and how it was.  Some were tired of waiting for boyfriends to travel with, others just thought it would be intriguing… so for those wondering about traveling by themselves, here were my thoughts:

If you find enjoyment out of doing things by yourself, I would 100% recommend traveling solo.  I absolutely loved it because what I did each day was dependent only on me… If I wanted to sleep in and have my morning coffee  at 9:30am I could.  If I wanted to stop on a park bench and read my book in a garden, I could. I never felt that I missed out on something I wanted to do, or that I was holding up someone else from doing something they wanted to do… that sounds small, but it’s an amazing reason, for me, to travel solo.

But! I would also 100% recommend taking a shorter solo trip, like a long weekend somewhere new, before embarking on a longer trip.  Through two short solo trips I found that I did enjoy and find fulfillment out of traveling alone.  There are folks that, like me will love it, and others who will hate it, which is why I recommend trying it out first.  I did not even go somewhere foreign for my first solo trips.  I added on a few days to an Anaheim work trip to go to Los Angeles/Santa Barbara for the first time and I had an accidental solo ski trip to Lake Tahoe when my friend got sick at the last minute, but both of those proved to myself that yes, I could navigate car rentals, hotels, restaurants, and activities… all. by. myself.

If you’re venturing out on your own, I wish you a fantastic trip! If you have questions, let me know in the comments.  Also stay tuned for my next blog post that covers eight areas of solo-traveling with advice from my own experiences!

Europe Trip

Also if you’re interested, I’m including my own 21 day itinerary (a trip of a lifetime):

Europe in 21 days — My Itinerary:

Fri, Nov 6 = Flight to London

Sat, Nov 7 = London (Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour: info link)

Sun, Nov 8 = London

Mon, Nov 9 = London to Paris (Train)

Tues, Nov 10 = Paris (Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour: info link)

Wed, Nov 11 = Paris to Brussels (Train)

Thu, Nov 12 = Brussels (Half Day Walking Tour: info link)

Fri, Nov 13 = Brussels (Charleroi) to Prague (RyanAir Flight)

Sat, Nov 14 = Prague (One Day Walking Tour: info link)

Sun, Nov 15 = Prague to Munich (Train)

Mon, Nov 16 = Munich (Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour: info link)

Tue, Nov 17 = Munich to Venice (Air Dolomiti Flight)

Wed, Nov 18 = Venice (Walking Tour & Gondola Ride: info link)

Thu, Nov 19 = Venice to Florence (Train)

Fri, Nov 20 = Florence

Sat, Nov 21 = Florence to Cinque Terre (Full Day Hiking Day Trip: info link)

Sun, Nov 22 = Florence to Tuscany (One Day Tour of Tuscany/vineyard: info link)

Mon, Nov 23 = Florence to Naples (Train)

Tue, Nov 24 = Naples (Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour: info link)

Wed, Nov 25 = Naples to Rome (Train)

Thu, Nov 26 = Rome

Fri, Nov 27 = Flight from Rome to home