“I could never travel solo. I wouldn’t know what to do.”
I’ve heard this or something similar countless times now. My response?
The hardest part of traveling alone is having the courage to start.
But why are so many people afraid of solo travel? And what can be done to alleviate some of those concerns you may have?
How about trying a tour?!
When I first started traveling, I had some trepidations of my own.
Solo travel for the first time can sound intimidating.
Could I manage solo travel? How would I communicate with people? Would it be difficult to get around? I won’t be able to read any signs! Would I meet any others like me? I’m always hearing other countries don’t like Americans, will that be a problem?
Then there’s the always popular among females, “I can’t travel solo because I’m a girl.” Hey, 100% NOT my words! And I completely disagree. I think females can and should experience solo travel. I just happen to hear this quite often.
What can be done to alleviate some of these concerns?
Well, when I finally ventured into solo travel my head was spinning with questions during the planning stage.
I knew I wanted to go to Europe, but I didn’t know exactly where.
Would it be more difficult if I wanted to see multiple cities? What about multiple countries? At this point, I didn’t yet know I would get bored by staying in the same location for too long, but I had a very strong inkling.
So I hit the internet and began researching. Eventually, I came across the idea of taking a tour. It was the perfect way to dip my toe into the pool of solo travel without fully being solo.
But tours are so stilted, aren’t they? Can you even take a tour alone? After a little more research, I stumbled across the website TourRadar. It was exactly what I was looking for.
What is TourRadar?
For starters, just let me make it known that this is NOT a sponsored post.
And now that that’s out of the way… TourRadar.com is a website that catalogs and lists tours from independent operators all around the world. It’s there that you can find a tour that caters to your travel speed and style.
You’ll be able to search through a myriad of tours that will give you the feel and experience of solo travel without truly being solo.
Want people around your age? They’ve got you covered.
Fully guided? Check.
Partially guided? Check as well.
High intensity? Low intensity?
Specific cities?
The options are all there at your fingertips.
I decided on a tour that was partially guided and with age restrictions. I wanted to be comfortable on my first solo trip so I knew that by booking this, I would be with people around my age.
All the plus, none of the fuss!
You’ll have your whole tour planned out and you’ll be enjoying the freedom of solo travel without the risks or concerns of actually being solo.
Hopefully, you’ll come to the same realization that I did.
It was my first solo travel trip and as we were being bussed through Budapest, I looked out the window, smiled, and said, “Oh, I can easily do this myself.”
And then I eventually did. Taking this group tour showed me there was nothing to be concerned about.
It’s almost like a support network for traveling!
You’ll essentially be alone but only in name. There will be others on the tour for you to meet and interact with. Then of course there will be the guides who do all of the heavy lifting for you.
They are with you along the set itinerary while also handling everything from transportation to lodging and meals.
That’s another thing you can use as a filter, the type of accommodations. Hotel? Hostel? Campsite?
This was one of the main reasons why I decided to book through a tour company for my trip along the Trans-Siberian Railway.
That train schedule remains the most confusing thing I’ve ever looked at. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get all of the trains to work out while still being able to make extended stops along the way.
In the end, it became too much of a hassle so I turned to a tour company who arranged everything for me in short order.
How many people?
The amount of people on all tours will vary. Some will be deemed full with very few people while others, like my Europe tour, had around twenty-five. It all depends on which one you choose.
TourRadar also lets you see the capacity more often than not. And if it doesn’t, a quick message to the operator will clear that right up.
Twenty-five people may sound like a lot to you but I assure you that it never felt like it. For that tour, we would spend some time together as a group at every new destination, but after that, we would split up into smaller groups to explore independently.
This was considered to be a partially guided tour. 1-2 days in a location with the group, and then 1-2 “free days” for people to explore independently.
Make some friends!
Tours in general are a great opportunity for making new friends. It’s not like approaching people in a hostel or at a bar.
You’re going to be with these specific people for an extended amount of time, further eliminating the anxiety of solo travel.
I have met and befriended people on every tour that I’ve taken. Many of whom I am still in contact with to this day.
Don’t want to make any new friends? That’s fine too!
Nobody is going to force you into anything. You are, after all, solo. On my partially guided tour of twenty-five, we had a few people who always set off alone. They were able to do this while still sharing the benefits of being on the tour.
Perfect example, there was one guy who disappeared for the sunset almost every day. He’d then reappear later as if he never left.
Does taking a solo tour sound like something you could get on board with? I hope so because it’s the ultimate solo travel icebreaker!
Let me know what you think about taking tours down below!
DID YOU ENJOY THIS ARTICLE? PIN IT!
