Travel Anxiety?
When thinking about solo travel, one of the issues that most people tend to worry about is safety. How do you stay safe while traveling solo?
It’s understandable to have anxiety about traveling on your own. I had those same feelings of anxiety and excitement during my first experience with solo travel.
Just thinking about solo travel filled me with so much excitement, but I was also worried about my personal safety and told myself that I needed to keep myself in check and understand what was realistic and what was just wishful thinking.
I wanted to have the mindset of staying true to my excitement for travel while also keeping my expectations grounded about what I would experience.
So what should you do to live out your dreams of travel while also being realistic about your own personal safety?
Keep Your Fears In Check
Most people tend to let fear stop them from traveling on their own.
I’m not saying that you should throw it all to the wind and be reckless with your decisions.
It’s good to have fear; fear protects us, but a lot of times people let their fears not only stop them from making the decisions they truly want, they also let it show through their actions.
What do I mean by that?
What I mean is that many solo travelers out there show their fears through their body language, their facial expressions, or even through the things they say.
The worst part about this is that many of these travelers do this without even realizing it.
And I understand it’s hard not to show fear or hesitation when it comes to experiencing something new for the first time.
But showing your true feelings of fear is a good way for people who don’t have the best intentions to take advantage of you.
When you let your fears show, your probability of becoming a target goes up, and that’s definitely something you want to avoid when it comes to solo travel.
It’s a bit hard to describe, but you have to walk with a sort of subtle confidence.
You don’t want to walk with too much confidence, as this may also attract unwanted attention. You want to carry yourself in a way that doesn’t hint at your feelings of fear or apprehensiveness.
For most people, it would likely take some practice, but if you’re able to master this, you would be able to avoid a lot of “less than ideal” situations.
Be Knowledgeable and Accept Spontaneity
This might seem like a given, but it’s alarming how many travelers decide to solo travel without doing any type of research about the destination.
Many travelers either don’t do any research at all or they don’t do enough.
And yes, you can’t be prepared for everything, but if safety is a big concern for you, then doing your own research about a destination can be crucial in that regard.
To be fair, there is a certain appeal to experiencing a destination without any preconceived notions of what the destination might offer.
It feels refreshing to discover something you enjoy when you weren’t expecting it at all.
This is actually one of the best things about solo travel—the discovery of it all.
The only negative about taking this approach is that you’re pretty much taking a chance.
Where the payout would range from “wow! This is great!” to downright dangerous, and if you’re traveling alone, you wouldn’t want to end up on the wrong end of that spectrum.
Which leads me into the next tip.
Understand Recklessness vs. Calculated Risks
When it comes to solo travel, you have to accept the fact that your taking a chance and that taking these chances is just part of the solo travel experience.
Even if you decide to take a “calculated” risk, things can still go in the opposite direction of what you intended.
You also don’t want to be too reckless with your decisions, as this would also increase your chances of landing in a negative situation.
The goal is basically to:
- Minimize negative outcomes by taking a more thoughtful approach to your decisions.
- Understand that even though you’ve put thought into your decisions, luck is still a factor, and it might work against even the most thought-out plans.
- Accept the fact that solo travel itself is about taking risks and that being too fearful of a possible negative outcome will only work against you and increase your chances of another negative outcome.
Be confident in your decisions, even if there’s a slight chance that they won’t work out.
Being less than confident will only serve to make your situation worse, and you wouldn’t want to do this as someone traveling on their own.
Be Part of a Community
Usually when we think about finding community, it’s usually to feel a sense of belonging and being part of a group that shares the same interests.
Which is all true, but another reason to be part of a community is the safety aspect that comes with being connected to a group of people.
It’s best to be part of the local community, as they can share information that can help you stay safe while also potentially lending you a hand if you ever find yourself in a bad situation.
You can also find community with other solo travelers or find community through shared interests like hobbies or even through career-related interests like work or other ways that people make a living.
However you decide to find community, just remember that doing this is a good way to “stay in the know,” while also potentially having someone who might have your back just in case you find yourself in a not-so-great situation.
Which is an important thing to consider when it comes to staying safe while traveling alone.
Adapt and Learn to Improvise
If you decide to become a solo traveler, you’ll constantly find yourself in all sorts of different situations.
To be safe, you’ll have to learn how to improvise on the spot to keep yourself out of trouble and to make your travels a lot easier to handle.
It’s important to think about how you can use what’s around you to your advantage, whether that be improvising with whatever items you have to solve a problem.
Improvising when communicating with others or improvising when thinking about planning your next move.
Solo travel is actually a good way to learn this skill. It’s just better to be prepared by keeping this in mind before leaving on your solo trip.
By being mentally prepared, you’ll be able to put yourself in the right state of mind to learn how to do this more effectively.
Always Think About Back-up Plans
Since solo travel constantly puts you in different environments with different situations, you’ll have to think and re-think your backup plan for every decision that doesn’t go as planned.
Whatever decision you make, because of the nature of solo travel, you’ll have to think about what you should do in the event your latest decision doesn’t work out.
And you’ll have to do this with every decision you make since solo travel can be so spontaneous and unpredictable.
When traveling solo, I constantly think and re-think my backup plans just to make sure I keep myself out of trouble and to make travel an easier experience.
When In Doubt, Use Common Sense
Many first-time travelers tend to think staying safe would be this big challenge when it comes to traveling alone.
Yes, traveling alone carries more risk, but many times people who find themselves in bad situations are the type of travelers who make reckless decisions that land themselves in these bad situations in the first place.
Doing things like going to places where there aren’t as many foreign travelers, exploring questionable neighborhoods at night, walking down dark alleys, not doing enough research about the culture, staying in cheap areas, being too trusting, etc.
You don’t need to be a genius to see why these types of things would increase your chances of landing in a dangerous situation.
Of course some travelers will have no problem taking these risks, but if you’re really concerned about your safety, then just using common sense will most likely keep you out of a lot of trouble.
Try Not to Bring Too Much Attention to Yourself
When traveling on your own, it’s always best to try and be as lowkey as possible.
Although some things, like physical features, will be out of your control, it’s best to dress down or dress in a way that doesn’t bring too much attention to yourself.
Things like wearing fancy brand name clothes or walking around with expensive-looking backpacks or luggage.
I understand the feeling of wanting to dress well and show off nice clothing and accessories, but when it comes to solo travel, it’s important to really understand that old saying, “There’s a time and place for everything.”
You wouldn’t want to wear your best outfit in a developing country where the majority of people just don’t have access to those same items.
Although the same is true if the situation were reversed, dressing badly in a destination where everyone is dressed a bit more “put together” may make others avoid you or treat you badly.
You have to learn how to read your environment and act accordingly if you’re really concerned about your personal safety.
Being Overconfident and Overly Excited
Another thing I notice is with the more outgoing travelers who tend to be a little too loud or carry themselves in a way that makes them seem a little too aggressive or too eager.
If you think of yourself as this type of traveler, you might want to tone it down a little just to prevent yourself from becoming a target.
The more attention you bring to yourself, the more people will know that you’re traveling alone, which you could imagine wouldn’t be the best idea.
It’s best to try and be as self-aware as possible when traveling on your own. You can wear nice clothing and be outgoing, but only in certain situations or specific destinations.
Other times it’s better to be more in the back and be more of an observer and only act when absolutely necessary.
As a solo traveler, you have to be able to balance these different ways of presenting yourself to make your travel experiences that much safer.
General Thoughts on How to Stay Safe While Traveling
To get what you really want from travel, whether that be for personal development or for personal enjoyment, you have to understand that taking chances is just part of the solo travel experience.
Many first-time solo travelers out there tend to feel nervous and let anxiety ruin their experience.
But if you’re really that scared to take a chance on solo travel, just your fears alone might end up making solo travel that much more dangerous.
Your fears and anxiety may end up coming to surface, which would only make your travels more risky as opposed to heading into your travels with a more confident demeanor.
If you were to follow most of these tips, I won’t say it would keep you 100% safe, but it would definitely decrease your chances of running into some sort of dangerous situation.
Learn more about tips and other helpful advice on solo travel by visiting the blog at Traks&Paks.com.
