How to travel alone? 1.

Traveling alone is dangerous, boring, scary…etc. We heard all this opinions. But the reality is not even close, and please, let me prove you!

There are situations in life, when it comes that we don’t have anyone to travel with. You’re not in a relationship, you’re friends are busy or they have no money for vacation, but you just have the feeling to take off, go somewhere, therefore you need to go! This post wants to help you how to start to plan this trip, because it can be the hardest part.

How you should start?

You need to find a cheap plain ticket. Believe or not, you can find lot of good one nowadays, you just need to know where to search for it. You should know, that the best to travel in weekdays, especially on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, because these are the days that the less people is traveling. The weekends are significantly more expensive to choose, but sometimes there are some expections.

Here are some websites i suggest you to try:

• Student Universe: not just for students, they have super deals for adults, and young adults until age of 25. Be aware to put your real status, and then accordingly you can find cheap fares. They have also a pretty nice app to download to your phone.
• Skyscranner: also a really good website, they compare lot of flight company.
• Google Flights: you should search on this too, i really like the feature that you can see the prices for the whole month not just the date that you were searching for, so it saves you some time.

Sometimes you spend a bit more time for the search, but it’s really worth it, as you can save serious money, especially when you go far. It’s also useful to search for different locations, and local flights. For example, it’s cheaper to go first to Malaysia, and then take the Air Asia, instead of go directly to some of the location of Asia, or Australia.

When you already have the ticket, it’s time to find some cheap accommodation! During my travels, i always tried to stay in a low budget, of course if you have a bit more to spend, go for a bit more expensive solution. In this post we gonna go through the cheap options :).

Accommodation: 

When you already have the ticket, it’s time to find some cheap accommodation! During my travels, i always tried to stay in a low budget, of course if you have a bit more to spend, go for a bit more expensive solution. In this post we gonna go through the cheap options :).

CouchSurfing

With this website, basically you can find free acommodations around the world. If you’re not familiar with CS: this is a site where you can search for hosts all over the globe, who gives you free stay. It can be a couch, a space for your sleeping bag, or even a decent bed, or room just for you. You can read their profile, check their pictures, friends, and not last references about them.

I have a lot of experience with CS already, from Belgiu, Israel, Mexico, and also I hosted some fellas.

I collected some handy tips for you to have a good experience:

1. Always check the references! Lot of positive ones are a good sign! (For girls! Make sure that a guy doesn’t have just refs from girls, because that’s a bit suspicious:)) )
2. Take a look where the place is located. You might search something in the center or in an area, where you can find easy transport. Avoid the ones that are far from the city, because in the end you’ll spend lot of money just for the busses, taxis.
3. Never ever go to someone who has NO 1. Reference 2. No photos 3. Or doesn’t say anything about himself/herself. It’s easy to make fake profile, never forget that! Security is first!
4. Last minute requests: If you have lack of time, i suggest you to find some groups specialized for your destination, then post a request to host you. I did it more times, and I got lot of messages from hosts, and then i found a place to sleep.
5. Always have a B plan in case the person is not sympathetic, or they cannot make it!
6. The CS is not a hotel! You should adapt to your host. If he needs to go to work at 6 AM in the morning, sometimes you should leave as well. I had many times, that I received a key to the flat, so I stayed at some really super flexible people’s place. One of my really good friend, that I met via CS left the key in the mailbox for me before he went to New York, and then we met in person after 4 days. Miracle happens!
7. Usually you can stay in one place for 1-2 nights, they do you a favor, so don’t expect a one week free accommodation, in this case find more hosts.

Why I like CS?

• It’s free (Tip: get some small gift to your host, it’s a nice thing to do)
• You meet new people
• Sometimes you find friends for a lifetime, as I did
• It’s a new kind of travel experience
• Local suggestions: where to go, avoiding the tourist traps
• Interesting stories: as many host, as many cool stories, lot of times they are well traveled people, it always comes handy
• You can also find people to meet up for a short time, like 1-2 hours guide around the city, one beer, or coffee… It helps you too not feel alone. Be prepared that you’ll meet some really interesting people!

AirBnb

I know this site for a year now, and it made my life much more easier. You can rent a room or a whole house/flat from people, and for a good price. That’s how I lived in Mexico in a small studio for 35 dollars for a night. Sometimes even they give you breakfast.

Why I like AirBnb?

• Cheap (There are lot of expensive ones too if you want to be fancy, it’s not that bad to have your own pool)
• The host are usually really helpful, if you need any additional thing
• Feels like home
• You can rent amazing places: cool design, nice apartments. Sometimes i like to just discover some places, it’s a nice inspiration.
• Now there is a new feature, you can search for superhosts. These are the people who did a good job on AirBnb, they give a bit more than you would expect. Constant answers, champagne in the fridge…etc. It depends.

If you’re new to AirBnb, use my link to sign up on their site! You’ll get some discount and I’ll receive a small credit as well.

Other cheap options: 

• Hostels: I need to tell honestly, I never tried this option, so I cannot say too many things, but lot of my friends were satisfied with it. You can download the app Hostelworld to find one for you.
• Booking.com, Hotels.com: you can find cheap hotel rooms (of course also expensive ones), and you solve the problem where to sleep that night.

For first part this is it. I’m more than happy to read your comments, questions, tips about this topic!