Some fear that solo travel could be lonely. But, if you plan and travel right, solo travel can be as social as you want. I have met, been hosted, and shared time with truly amazing people as I've traveled solo.
Making this happen begins with the choices made when planning your trip and carries through to your time on the road.
When traveling with companions, you are typically focused on them rather than the opportunities to meet people around you. Hence, you don't meet many people and you don't think it will be any different when traveling solo. But that is not necessarily the case.
With a little effort, I have developed skills that make meeting people and having conversations happen easily. While we are often raised not to talk to strangers, learning how to do so safely while traveling results in some of the most interesting travel moments. These moments deliver cultural insights, political understanding, and, typically, some great practical advice.
The 1,2,3 of Planning Your Trip to Meet People
The choices you make when planning your trip really affect the number of people you will meet. When traveling independently, this includes the accommodation, the mode of transportation you take, and the activities you choose.
1. Accommodation
Book yourself into a small inn, B&B, or hostel to put yourself into a community of travelers. Use the lounges or common areas to have a cup of tea, meet people, and share your experiences of your destination. Stay for a few nights and you may develop relationships and even gain a traveling companion for the next day. While an Airbnb or VRBO may be tempting, unless you're staying for a week or more, I don't recommend it. It does not have a social aspect built in.
2. Transportation
Use local, public transportation to connect with more people than taxis or Ubers offer. On a local bus, you can strike up a conversation with someone who will help you find your next stop. If the ride is long enough, you will learn more about your destination as well. When traveling longer distances, a train is a great way to go. With many hours or days, there will be great opportunities to meet people. Observation and bar cars are great spots for this.
3. Activities
Plan to take a cooking, art, or language class on your trip. Each will connect you with people of shared interests. Plan for day trips or walking tours or book yourself into dinner events or cruises where they will naturally place you at a table with other people.
Plan your trip so that you will meet people while traveling solo.
7 Tested Ways to Meet People While Traveling Solo
Everyone has their own ways of meeting people while traveling solo. Here are some tips that might work for you.
1. Go to restaurants with communal tables.
Communal tables are becoming popular in restaurants. They solve the problem of one person taking up a table for two. For the solo traveler, it's an opportunity to sit down with locals, strike up a conversation, have a laugh, or learn more about the destination.
2. Take a free walking tour on GuruWalks.
A walking tour is the first thing I do when I get to a destination. It gives me the lay of the land and the basics behind its history. On walking tours you meet others. On a free walking tour in Paris, I met a woman from the Netherlands and discovered we had a mutual friend in Toronto. It was raining so we tipped our guide and cut out to have lunch together.
3. Spend time at coffee shops where local freelancers are likely hanging out.
As a writer, I often go to coffee shops to work. When the freelancers take a break, that's when the social scene happens. It's an opportunity to meet people. Many coffee shops also have evening entertainment making it a place to go at night.
4. Go onto Meetup.com to see what events are happening that you could join.
Meetup.com is a wealth of meeting opportunities. Drop into the one for your destination, put the dates you'll be there in the calendar, and see what comes up. There will often be many to choose from.
5. Find a language exchange drop-in.
In countries where English is not the main language, English speakers are usually very welcome to language exchange drop-ins. Go to BlaBla Language Exchange to see if there's a drop-in at your destination.
6. Join other travelers and eat with a local.
This is such fun. Search eatwith and you will find a number of opportunities in cities around the world where you can see who is offering what kind of meal and social experience. The hosts are vetted. There are also more and more communal dining events you can access, such as the supper clubs hosted by Toronto's Depanneur which are designed to connect people over food.
7. Sit still and watch for opportunities to talk to people.
We all have different ways we meet people while traveling solo. Tracey once plunked herself down on a bench in a park in Bermuda and had fascinating encounters with two very different people (and one dog) who stopped to chat. Read this story for one fascinating, uplifting person I met: Positive Thinking and Solo Travel.
Stay Safe As You Meet People Traveling Solo
Letting people know that you are traveling alone is fine. But by sharing this information, you also reveal that you are somewhat vulnerable. There are two keys to safety here:
- Choose who you speak with carefully. Most people are safe, but look for clues that tell you they are.
- Stay in public. When you don't know the people you're talking to it's always safer to stay in a public space–a coffee shop or pub, for instance–rather than a private one.
