Travel Tip 32
My top 5 safety tips for solo travel.
If you know me, you know I love taking off around the world alone. However, I don’t do it without preparation. These tips are about mindset rather than about things to take with you.
Every time I go on a solo hike I think of Aaron Ralston, even when I’m in clear sight of a town like Ushuaia, which is obviously close.
The day this pops in your inbox, I’ll be on my second solo trip to Colombia!
1. Tell somebody where you’re going.
I always send my mom the addresses of the places I’m going to be staying, even if I’ll be in Colombia and she’s in the US. If you have somebody local, that’s even better. When I was in Brazil, I took Ubers all over the city of Salvador and used the app to share my location with my friends who lived there. It’s not just for international travel! If Aaron Ralston had told somebody where he was going in April 2003, and when he should get home, he would probably still have two arms.
2. Know where you’re going.
Getting lost can be a lot of fun, but only if you have time for it and know how to get unlost when you want. Take screenshots of maps for where you’re going in case you lose cell service or wifi. If you can, get a paper map just in case your phone dies.
I do everything I can to not look lost when I’m walking around. Even if I’m pausing to take a lot of photos, I make sure I know where I’m going, or at least look like it. Wandering around looking lost makes me a target for pickpockets or worse – though it also attracts good Samaritans.
Last year on a solo trip to Huanchaco, I signed up for surf lessons and tried riding a caballito de totora. Read more about my Huanchaco trip on this blog.
3. Know when you need help.
There are always times when we need help. Traveling alone, I think it’s easier to admit to myself when I need help than if I’m with a group. I do my best to solve problems on my own, but I’d rather ask for help than dig myself deeper and deeper into whatever hole I’ve gotten into. (My mom always told me that the first rule of holes is stop digging).
Let the journey guide you sometimes
During my last solo trip to Chile I let a guy at a hostel convince me to join him photographing adventure athlete Antonio de la Rosa. Read how that turned out here.
4. Know who to ask for help.
This is the moment when you can turn a bad situation into a happy serendipity. Asking the right person for help could get you just the information you need, could make you a new friend or could put you in the hands of somebody who wants to lure you in a dark alley to steal your wallet. I like asking shopkeepers because they’re not going to follow me and because if anything goes wrong, I know exactly who it was that gave me the information.
5. Know how to ask for help.
I prefer to ask very specific questions when I need help. I’ll ask where the nearest bus station is or how late the subway is open. If I need directions, I ask in a way that gets me the directions I need. An endless, “go left two blocks, then right, then left, then left again” doesn’t help me. If I want to be shown on a map how to get somewhere, I tell the person that and give them the map. Think about the answer you need, and try to ask the most specific question you can to get that exact answer. Be direct and clear, especially if you’re working across different languages.
Flying solo around Patagonia
I’ve now taken 3 trips to Chilean Patagonia and 2 trips to Argentine Patagonia. All of them started out as solo trips and yet I made so many friends along the way that I was never alone.
Also, trust your gut.
All the safety advice and safety gadgets in the world can’t help if you haven’t learned how to trust your gut. Call it Spidey sense or intuition, whatever it is, you need to make sure you have it before you start traveling solo. More on developing Spidey sense is coming in a future newsletter!
I love packing light!
These solo travel tips won’t weigh down your backpack any more than my travel guide for Peru. If you’re considering a trip to Peru, download my travel app Peru’s Best. It has everything you need to plan a trip here. Download Peru’s Best in the App Store or in Google Play. Another thing you need, which doesn’t weigh anything, is travel insurance. I have Safety Wing insurance and love it! Sign up for Safety Wing on my link here.
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Travel Tips for Tierra del Fuego
My second trip to Chilean Tierra del Fuego I rented a car and did a solo road trip from the northern tip of the island to where the road ends in the south. My third trip I hitchhiked around the island. Notice, I didn’t do either of those on my first trip. There are some places where solo travel requires a lot of research and others where it requires multiple visits. Click on the link above to read my travel tips for the island after my third trip there.
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Three Great Alternatives to Machu Picchu
There have recently been more protests at Machu Picchu and for a few days tourists were diverted elsewhere. I don’t think you need protests or strikes to skip Mapi (as locals call it). There are so many other Inca ruins that are just as amazing but that haven’t benefited from the global marketing campaign that Mapi got. Click on the title above to read about my three favorites.
