General Tips & Things to Keep in Mind

• Be open to meeting others – when you want to.

• Pack your brain. Keep your wits about you, pay attention to what's going on and to the people around you, at all times.

• Pack light: it's easier to keep more of an eye on fewer things. Plus it's easier and less fatiguing to get around when you've had 3 hours of sleep, you just got off a 10-hour train ride, and you're trying to schlep your stuff to a hostel in an unfamiliar town. (We recommend backpacks for luggage, by the way.)

• If you get lonely, or feel a need to be around other people, remember that you aren't alone. You can always meet up with other travelers and locals. Remember that other solo'ers will feel the same way you do sometimes, so can be natural travel companions.

• Pack securely: remember to keep safe – preferably in a money belt worn around your waist at all times – what Nick calls the "crown jewels of travel": passport, all tickets and passes, and all money, credit cards, traveler's cheques, etc., except for what you're using that day.

• Being solo makes you easier to approach, and that goes for friendly locals and travelers, as well as for potential thieves and other tossers. Again, keep your wits about you. Leave situations that feel unsafe, and don't be afraid to make a scene (especially women). Sometimes the extra attention is just what you need.

• Don't let people – friends, family, the latest scare headline – scare you into thinking you can't do it. The world is a far safer place than any headline would ever dare let on, and thousands of travelers, both men and women of all ages and backgrounds, travel the world on their own every year. You can do it too.

Article added on March 02, 2005

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