All About Solo Travel: General Guidelines

Written on February 28, 2016 about Solo Travel Planning Guidelines

Are you passionate about traveling around the world and you invite your friends to travel with you but are too busy or simply don’t want to go with you? Is your room has full of travel photos hanging out there? Or you visited the library to browse some travel guides and share with your friends at the campus? If so, you love to travel around the world, and I am going to write travel tips how to plan your solo trip successfully.

What did “Solo” refer to?

• In broad term, solo refer to:
  • Being able to conduct responsible on your own without assistance on certain criteria.

Solo Travel: What to consider:

• Taking a day off to explore new places on your own.
• Taking your advantage of planning your own activities.
• Learn new responsibilities/experience independently.

Examples:

• Request family/friends to explore on your own or to try out for a day.
• Spend a day at the particular places on your own.
• Try out new experiences in a city you live.

Keep in mind when you are going out alone:

• Solo travel doesn’t mean taking a trip on their own without letting your friends and families where you plan to visit. 
  • This includes day trips to NYC, Washington, DC, Scranton, PA, etc. 
• Solo travel doesn’t mean that you are on your own for the duration of the trip. 
  • Meet your travel buddies at appropriate places (such as coffee shop, hostels, fancy restaurant). 
  • You don’t have to be friends with them; have an informal small talk.
    • Dos: Weather, environment, travel experiences, so on.
    • Don’ts: Any religious, political, personal, family problems at all.
• Solo travel doesn’t mean all countries and cities are appropriate to visit. 
  • Research for crime rate is required for some locations. 
• Attractions in the dangerous neighborhoods should be avoided. 
  • Consider choosing other attractions or going with a group/someone.

Keep in mind that some countries are restricted to travel (either solo or with a group):

• Limited to certain citizens of nationality (religion and/or nationality segregation)
• Political and/or religious riots
• Travel Warnings had issued a particular country
• Oncoming wars
• Terrorism incidents 
• Embassies are very limited and are not readily available to get help

Remember: Travel Alerts ≠ Travel Warnings

Travel Alerts:

• To advise travelers to be aware of hidden dangers (extreme weather, natural disasters, terrorism incidents, etc.) during particular period of time
• Are mostly temporary and is not as severe than warnings do, mainly last from weeks to months, sometimes years

Travel Warnings:

• To warn travelers to either avoid or to minimize traveling to a particular country (severe violence toward citizens, mass murder, terrorist attacks frequently, etc.) 
• Are mostly permanent and is much perilous and may be infinite, mostly years or longer

Top US Cities that are dangerous to travel solo (unless you plan to visit only to tourist area):

• Detroit, Michigan
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Oakland, California 
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Stockton, California
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Camden, New Jersey
• Wilmington, Delaware
• Alexandria, Louisiana
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Newark, New Jersey

Top countries that are dangerous/uneasy to travel solo:

Top countries that are safe/easy to travel solo:

Color Coded Countries:

• Black – Avoid all travel plans under any circumstances
• Red – Avoid non-essential travel unless there are significant reasons to travel
• Orange – Avoid solo trips (generally required to go with someone/as a group), but there are few exceptions
• Yellow – Some areas and/or cities are dangerous/uneasy to travel solo and don’t travel at night
• Green – Take extreme precautions when traveling solo and avoid travel at night if possible
• Blue – Take usual precautions

Keep in mind that:

• A safe country does not mean you can travel anywhere.
  • Know your plan to visit and follow a planned activities if possible.
  • Know the instincts and be aware of your surroundings.
  • Some neighborhoods are not as safe as others.
    • Research the community safety index when planning to travel there.
    • Please, refer the travel cycle if you are going on a dream trip.

Remember:

• Dangerous cities and countries are uncorrelated to the state’s safety index, so it is imperative to research which places you plan to visit.
• Don’t travel to any countries highlighted in Red or Black. You will be more likely to be killed on either side and to detained at any time.
• Safe countries don’t mean you can travel everywhere without fully planning to visit. It is important to brainstorm which places you want to visit and put your travel itinerary together.

Know the common scene when you plan any trips (solo, family, friends, honeymoon, etc.) and follow my I-POWERS solo travel tips here.