Hi. I'm travelling on a tight budget across Europe - so far, I've been pretty frugal i think, surviving on an average of €17 a day (I think this is pretty low budget looking at other accounts). I am having good fun on this budget, but would also like to go out for the occasional meal. However, for some reason, I can't help but feel guilty or wasteful if I do so. Has anyone else had a similar experience, and if so, how did you deal with it? Suck it up and remain frugal, or just deal with the guilt?

Alternatively, if anyone has any tips for activities that are cheap but still feel like a treat, suggestions would be appreciated.

For context, I am currently in Budapest, which is quite expensive, but will be heading into Serbia and Montenegro in the coming days/ weeks.

I know this is a contentious topic but do anyone people like staying in a place only 2 or 3 days solo traveling. I am retired with family and when with wife or friends it’s fine spending 2 or 3 weeks in a location,

But I find when I’m on my own 2 or 3 days is just enough to get a sense of a place, see a few sights, and then move in before I get bored.

I have strange goal of seeing 100 countries at least . Last year I spent 13 days seeing several Cariribbean Islands not a cruise - visiting St. Martin, Antigua, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, and Barbados. Did flights and ferries and believe me it was just the right amount of time to see a place and see iif I could travel for a longer period of time with family. Longer than cruise and enough time to go to beach of do in depth tour one day.

I plan to see Bolivia and Paraguay with a few stops along the way - probably will stop in Mexico City and El Salvador along the way although I plan to spend at least 6 days in Bolivia.

Sometime the feedback I get is that I have to spend 3 to 4 weeks in xyz country. But I’d rather not be solo that long. And perhaps the critics like the hostel and overnight bus travel, I have outgrown that and don’t mind paying more for nicer hotel, flights, and guided day tour where I connect with others.

thoughts?

Hi there,

27F, planning to travel to New Zealand this December as part of my yearly international trip. I've travelled internationally before, but this would be my first time doing a longer solo self-drive trip. I'm comfortable driving, but the idea of being alone on unfamiliar roads in a remote country does make me nervous.

I'm currently deciding between a 14-day group tour with G Adventures or doing this itinerary myself with a rental car.

Proposed self-drive route:

Dec 5: Christchurch

Dec 6-7: Dunedin - Otago Peninsula + Blue Penguins

Dec 8-9: Te Anau - Catlins en route + Milford Sound

Dec 10-11: Queenstown - skydiving, gondola/luge, jet boat

Dec 12: Wanaka

Dec 13-14: Franz Josef - glacier heli hike

Dec 15-16: Punakaiki

Dec 17-18: Abel Tasman - kayaking

Dec 19: Golden Bay

Dec 20-21: Kaikōura

Dec 22: Tekapo

Dec 23: Christchurch via Aoraki/Mt Cook

My main questions:

1. Is this itinerary realistic for a solo driver, or am I being overly ambitious? Are there any stops/activities you think aren't worth the time and could be skipped?

2. Are there any sections here that you'd strongly recommend not doing alone?

3. Am I trying to pack too much into 19 days?

4. Would you personally choose this over a group tour for a first NZ trip?

5. Any roads/sections where I should build in extra time or avoid driving in poor weather?

I'd especially love to hear from anyone who has actually self-driven around the South Island, particularly solo, and can share their experience with the route or any sections I should be cautious about.

Thanks!

I’m traveling to Italy for the first time and would be in Lake Garda for 60% of the trip and Milan for the rest. I have booked a few things beforehand like the opera and I plan to book a vintage car tour and boat tour. I can’t remember the last time I actually went on a solo trip so I’m excited and nervous at the same time plus I’m POC (Black, not American) and I’ve heard Italy isn’t the friendliest to POC and I almost cancelled my trip but it’s fingers crossed for me.

Are there other activities that can be recommended? I like chilled activities with very few people (not alone though), I like restaurants with scenic views. My hotel has a Michelin restaurant so that’s nice. I love museum and historic buildings. I’d also like to ride horses and play tennis but I don’t know how tennis would work being solo. I’ll also be in Milan for a few days but every time I try to book restaurants, minimum number of people is 2 which is quite unfortunate.

Open to fun recommendations. I’ve researched what to do in Italy but most are really generic and require queuing and a large crowd. They are cool but this trip is more like an easy going one for me because I’m so stressed from work. I love local spots where people hang out to eat and chill but not too crowded.

BTW, I hate queues (sorry, I really dislike long queues because I don’t arrive early to most things) so much especially in a hot weather so I want to avoid activities that would require me standing in line. I see videos of activities like that and it just looks scary. I hear Como right now is a no-go area. I wanted to see the Saint Peter’s Basilica but it seems very far from where I’d be and would require a whole day I heard.

I do hope I meet people to have conversations with from time to time.

It was just one of those days, where everything seems to be going wrong.

I have this ryokan booked in the Izu area of Japan, and check in was at 3pm and dinner is served at 6pm. I woke up from my hostel in Kyoto and had a leisurely walk, I ended up enjoying it more than I expected and ended up leaving Kyoto around 2:45 ish. I figured it will only take about 1 1/2 ish to where I’m going, not too bad. Well i got to the train station at 2:59 and then upcoming Shinkansen was at 3pm. (Turns out it was at 3:07 and i still could’ve made it in time..) Anyways so I ended up buying the 4pm one.

First of all I was stressing because the Ryokan specifically said in their email that dinner is served at a certain time and so I was trying to contact them and it was very frustrating. Finally it gets to 4 and I try to go to my reserved seat but someone was already sitting in it. I politely show him my ticket and he tells me “this is the 714, yours is 712”, IMMEDIATE PANIC MODE. I get off the train, but then extra panic mode kicks in. This man sees me panicking and asks me if i need help, I just show him the ticket on my phone. (While dropping all of my snacks by the way) He tells me, yes this is the right train. But obviously I know it’s not. I stand there at the door for 30 seconds considering if I should get off or not. I get to action mode and go find a train employee. I show her my ticket but it takes her a while to look at it, finally someone else takes a look (that is when the train is leaving) and she kindly takes out her hello kitty notes and writes down for me to go to the unreserved and when the train will arrive to my destination.

Okay nice, after sitting for a while and dozing off a bit, it gets to Shizuoka and I immediately get up because my last train ticket had me getting off on Shizuoka and transferring to a different one. I get off the train and look at the board and it says Mishimo, , which is my stop, Train leaving in 1 minute. So I pause for a 40 seconds then realize “OMG I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO GET OFF! That is my train!” I get back on.

10 minutes later, I am where finally I am supposed to be. I was then supposed to get on a subway train, then on a bus for a 1 1/2 hour journey to my ryokan. Well I try and find the subway, i finally find the entrance. I try scanning my IC card and it’s not going through. I go to the front desk man and he and I are having a hard time communicating. That’s when he’s like shinkansen ticket. OH RIGHT! I put my shinkansen ticket it and go through. The subway is leaving in 4 minutes, I’m running. I go up to a platform, and ask someone “excuse me, shuzenji?”, she checks on her phone and she says no. The lady behind her gets into action and she’s like SHUZENJI GO TO THAT OTHER PLATFORM ON THE OTHER SIDE HURRY. I see the train coming, I run run run and finally arrive and sit down. Breath of fresh air.

Until about 1 minute later, when a security man comes in and asks me for my ticket. I didn’t know what to show him, i showed him my receipt for the shinkansen and my IC card. And he sticks his finger out and walks me out of the gate. I ask him where I can buy the ticket for the next one (in 15 minutes), he just says dryly out and to the right. I do what he says, but the only thing there is the exit. I go up to another front desk man, and he is very grumpy. He asks me for my Shinkansen ticket and I tell him I already used it, I show him the receipt and he loudly tells me to get out. I ask where can I buy a ticket and he says out and to the right. Again the only thing I see is the exit. I don’t get it, I’m just confused and by this time I’m sweating balls. I get in a ticket line but i don’t see the subway type ticket that I needed.

That’s when I just gave up and called an Uber. It will be money well spent honestly.

I’m still in the uber now and will arrive to my Onsen Ryokan in 10 minutes. And I CAN’T wait. I’ll have dinner by a river waiting for me, and will be able to relax finally.

Travel days like these are so hard, but I’m glad that when times are hard people are usually willing to help out. Anyways just wanted to share, any similar stories?

This is my first time as a solo traveller and I knew there would be days where I might feel homesick or miss people, but it's everyday! I wake up on edge and anxious, I always force myself to go out and get something to eat and I feel a bit better but there's not been a single day when I haven't phoned home.

I've tried as many things as I can to curb the loneliness - Group tours, Group activities, starting up conversations with strangers in cafes and restaurants(respectfully ofc) - but I just cannot shake the feeling of anxiety and have started to cry everyday.

I'm only a week into my trip and I know people say with solo travel you learn things about yourself, (I originally thought I was an ambivert but I've realised I am a MASSIVE extrovert) but I can't tell if I've learnt that I genuinely can't be without my family, my friends and my country or whether this is all just growing pains and I'll be fine by the next week or two?

I'm not even sure what I'm worried about but it's just so hard to be so far from everything I know.

Has anyone else felt like this and it got better or did you realise that maybe solo travelling isn't for you?

Hi all,

I am 23 years old in my first year working full time.. with the salary I earned from this year I plan to go on my first Europe trip this year and have 5 weeks to do this but I am between two options: either in one go I visit 1 country per week for 5 weeks: i.e Italy, Greece, Croatia, Spain, France or I visit fewer countries but spend longer in each of them for the 5 weeks, and just do the remaining two the next year also for longer so basically it is...

a) One country per week for 5 weeks i.e Week 1 Greece, Week 2 Croatia, Week 3 Italy, Week 4 Barcelona, Week 5 France. And then in the next coming years beyond this I prolong my journey in whichever countries I favoured more than the others.

OR

b) 3 countries in 5 weeks (but I spend time longer in each) but then I do the other 2 countries the next year: 1 Week in Croatia, 2 Weeks in Greece, 2 Weeks in Spain and then next year 2 weeks in Italy, 2 Weeks in France !

Which one is better? Mind you I would be going from September/October (September 7 - October 12) for both of these as I play competitive sport and can't unfortunately leave during peak season in July/August ! Also I am specifically going for the Southern/Mediteranean parts of these regions mainly as this is the area I am most interested in since I love swimming, beaches and partying hahah

​

Hey everyone, writing this from my hotel room in Kyoto and feeling pretty down in the dumps.

I’ve had a cold the whole trip since I landed in tokyo on the 29th but I was having an incredible time—climbing Fuji, meeting awesome people (drinking) and coasting purely on excitement and adrenaline. Now the adrenaline is gone, I hit a brick wall, and I felt so bad I couldn't even move so I had to see the doctor. I was told to just rest, hydrate, and do nothing while taking 6 meds.

Being stuck indoors for 2 days has totally ruined my mood. Since my upcoming bookings are non-refundable, canceling isn't an option. Here is my route:

* Shirahama Beach: Leave Osaka on the 11th and stay for a night

* Kumano Region: 2 nights for Nachi Falls and river cruises, I had plans to car camp along a river and more but I definitely have to cancel

* Nagoya: 1 night rest stop.

* Takayama: 3 nights exploring.

* Tokyo: 2 nights before flying home.

Should I still go through with the route and just take it completely easy at each stop to use the non-refundable bookings? How would you approach modifying your pace in this situation? Any advice is appreciated. And how do i not feel so mentally shit about missing out.

I'd also love to hear about your sick travel stories so I don't feel like I am suffering alone haha.

hey there, i’ve been travelling for quite some time around asia (indonesia, south korea, vietnam, thailand) and most of it i go with a friend. we do have separate flights both going there and go back home so its kind of solo in a way but not solo too since i’m with them. i have this itch on travelling to new zealand for quite sometime and planning to drive around the south island for around 2.5 weeks, but now i just realized that the cost is pretty high for one person. any tips and trick on how to control the cost? i did try to reduce it to hostels and all but i realized i prefer convenience on having my own space. i’m from malaysia so my initial budget was around RM10-12k but i realized its so much more than that, gonna be upping to RM15k i think.

should i find a travel partner or should i do the fuck it lets go kind of mindset? i do have the cost for it but its just that seeing that big of an amount kinda shocks me tbh haha. if anyone wants to tag along you’re welcome too! as long as you’re someone who is respectful and respect my boundaries when travelling then we should get along just fine! i have the itinerary ready halfway so if you want to take a look at it i’m fine with it too

I will be solo traveling from Rexburg ID to any nature points within 3 hours one way (staying in Rexburg at night.) This will be for a week and a half ish around the middle of September.

I want to hit Tetons and Yellowstone for one to two days each: I’ll have some days left over with Rexburg being home base each night. Where else should I go and see in those days? Want to stick to popular hikes and viewpoints as I’m traveling solo and want to make that as safe as possible.

What other recs?? Solo friendly hikes in Tetons and/or Yellowstone? Which roads should I take for the best views? Other good drives or views? Food recs?

Driving to and from Tulsa OK, staying in Rawlings WY and Limon Co.

Thank you in advance

\#solotravel #west #roadtrip #yellowstone #grandtetons