Tension can start building up from the planning stage, right up to the time you are leaving. You are anxious about everything going smoothly, and exactly as you planned, and on top of it all your excitement is bubbling over.
However, stress does not have to ruin your solo travel vacation, whether you are going it alone, or with a travel partner. These 6 simple tips are guaranteed to help you get rid of that travel stress bug, and look forward to the upcoming trip you have planned.
1. Plan ahead taking care of every detail
There is no replacing good solid travel planning. To ensure that your solo travel adventure will be stress-free, you need make sure that your flights, transportation, and your chosen accommodations, are booked and confirmed.
Confirming bookings with travel accommodations, flights, tour guides, and planned activities, gives you peace of mind that you have taken care of all the details properly.
Read About Using Travel & and Tour Planners: Click Here.
If you can arrange all the necessary transportation for the duration of your travel, even if you are planning different destinations for your trip, all the better.
Research the destination options there are for getting around whether trains, busses, taxis or rental cars and choose the option that suits your budget and preferences. For taxis, always use a licensed, registered, reputable taxi company.
Should you want to rent a car for road trips then make sure everything for this is booked and confirmed as well.
2. You should be prepared to get lost while abroad
Remember that you are on a foreign land, and unless you have already travelled there a couple of times before, you will not be familiar with getting around. Thus becoming lost is probably the biggest nightmare for any travellers, and it does happen more often for solo travelling.
To prevent this from happening, before embarking on your trip, buy a suitable destination travel book with maps and a language guide that has some useful phrases that you can use with the locals.
You will also need to carefully work out your travel budget and besides paying for all the necessities have some extra money besides. You can take along a VISA credit card, and some local currency. Keep copies of all your identity documents, passports, and visa travel papers somewhere safe. Leave a copy of these back home with someone too, so if yours go completely missing they can courier them over to you.
There is a great article in our forum about useful applications you can install on your Smart phone for travelling: Click Here. At some time or another everyone gets lost while travelling; its par for the course in a new country, at a completely unfamiliar destination.
3. Keep the lines of communication open
Nothing can be a better stress-buster than staying connected with your family when traveling, especially when travelling independently. With smartphone, laptops and tablets technology, communication no matter where in the world you are travelling, is now simple.
People who travel can now keep in touch through smart phones, emails and text messages. Rates in international phone calls are also cheaper now than they were in the past.
4. Reward yourself during your travels
Do not procrastinate, and do your best to stick to your travel itinerary all the way. After all you did everything possible while planning, and sticking to your travel plans is paramount. As mentioned in past articles on this forum, while travelling, a few days for ‘Me Time’ is always important to kick back and relax and be spontaneous.
If your travel plans are spread out, at different points within the destination, make sure that you have ample time to go to each stop, and enjoy what you planned in activities, and sightseeing. It will also help to make out an itinerary of places to see, and for this it is useful to ask the hotel, hostel or your chosen accommodations to help you with that.
5. Eat Well, Eat Safe, Well-cooked Healthy Foods
Eating good food can minimize travel stress, or any sort of stress for that matter! So, treat yourself to local and healthy well cooked foods and stay away from your usual staple of burger, spaghetti and cola or other fast foods.
You can be adventurous and have fun eating in local restaurants, or even preparing your own food in hostel kitchens. Before leaving, you can ask people who already travelled in the country if they can recommend any restaurants. Locals and accommodations personnel can also help you immensely with these tips. Dont be shy to contact other solo travellers in this forum too.
6. Keep a travel journal or diary for your travel memories
Travelling creates beautiful memories you will love sharing with others so record all those special experiences, for times when you are going to reminisce and share your stories in the future. Use available technology to take pictures and record beautiful memorable sights.
Take some time to describe the sights that you have seen, the places that you have visited, ansd even the people you have met whether locals or other travellers. Get small souvenirs from each destination you visit, whether it is something as small as a napkin from the restaurant where you dined, your flight tickets, or something you picked up while at a tour.
All of these items contribute to making special travel memories you will cherish in the future. The above tips should make for a smooth memorable and stress free travel adventure. Happy Travels!