How To Overcome The Fears of Traveling Solo

People ask me all the time, “how can you stand traveling alone? Doesn’t that make you nervous? Aren’t you lonely?”

My response is always the same no matter how they phrase these types of questions.

No, I am not nervous to travel alone (caveat: as long as I am not stuck in China). And I’m rarely lonely traveling solo, which sounds strange, but it’s true.

Yet, if you have never traveled solo before, it’s easy to see why traveling alone can be as scary as four more years of Trump as president. I get it, but the difference is you can overcome your fears of traveling alone.

You’re probably still wondering how do you rise above your fears of traveling solo? By facing them head on!

James Baldwin once said:

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced

So, let’s learn how to face your fears of traveling solo:

Step One: Write a list of the things that frighten you about solo travel.

To really understand why you fear traveling solo, you need to first know what are your fears around solo travel or traveling in general?

Step Two: Create a game plan to combat each of the fears you listed in step one

Once you’ve identified your fears, it is time to face them. Think about what is the source of your fears? Is there something that occurred in your past that you have yet to overcome? Or is it the fear of the unknown?

Step Three: Talk to avid solo travelers to see how they overcame their fears of traveling solo

Join travel groups like Black Girl Fly, Travel Noire, Girls Love Travel or Nomadness Travel Tribe and start asking questions. People who take part in these travel groups are generally eager to help others overcome their traveling fears.

Step Four: Jump on faith

At one point you will need to rip the Band-Aid of fear off and book your first solo trip.

overcoming fears of traveling solo in puerto rico

kayaking adventure in Puerto Rico taught me patience and prayer

Know that not everything will go as planned. Life doesn’t so why should any trip? But that’s the part of travel that pushes us to grow. Being able to handle the obstacles that arise while traveling and then using those skills in our daily life.

The reality is, anything we do for the first time can be scary. You were probably frightened the first time you got on a bike but eventually got your confidence. The same goes for solo travel.

Jump! I promise you’ll learn so much about yourself on this journey.