Abduljabbar Ali Traveling alone can be intimidating sometimes even for those who have been doing it for a while, it gets worse for those who want to do it for the first time.
Deep down within your nerves, this fear is holding you back from making your first or second trip.
The fear of traveling alone can result from so many things, but the main one always has something to do with putting yourself in a vulnerable situation.
As human beings, we are wired to stick to situations that make us comfortable and safe.
Traveling alone for the first time can be harder because of the fear of what might happen when you get yourself out of the only comfortable and safe position.
The thought of you roaming around the world alone with no one to help you but yourself seems so scary.
There are the ‘ifs’ that are overwhelming your head and wondering how things will be when you are alone with no one to help you in the messy situations you will be in while traveling solo.
What I can tell you is that it’s possible to get over the fear of traveling alone because I am living proof of that.
I have been traveling solo like a pro though that wasn’t the case when I first started.
In this article, I will share with you the guidelines you should follow to get past the fear of traveling alone.
These are all practical tips that will help you change how you think and feel about solo traveling.
This is how to get over the fear of traveling alone;
1. Get rid of the negative attitude.
The first way to get over the fear of traveling alone is by first changing your mindset — what you think about traveling has a huge influence on how you perceive it.
In my case, the first thing that intensified my fears when it came to traveling alone was the dark and negative thoughts in my head.
We are all taught by society that the world is a dangerous place, people are out to get us and take advantage of us.
Society taught us that we have to keep close only to the people we know and trust and be in locations where we will be protected and feel safe.
This stuck with us as long as we grew up. And we all ended up believing that a place that is not home will never be safe for us.
So, the moment you think of going to a strange destination your mind can’t align with that.
The protective mechanism kicks in and it fills your brain with fear and anxiety.
This is because your mind believes that you are about to put yourself in danger.
You are no longer in your comfort zone — this makes you feel disturbed and cornered thus the fears cover the whole of you.
To get over the fear of traveling solo you first have to change your mindset and unlearn the things you obtained from society and family.
You need to change how you look at the world and that is when you will have the power to conquer the fear of exploring the world alone.
Affirm to yourself that the world is a beautiful place, the earth is here for you to see it and nothing worse can happen since people are nice and kind.
People will always protect you, they will welcome you and accept you in their communities.
The world is not filled with the dangers that everyone talks about.
Not everyone who is out there wants to hurt you and take advantage of you.
Traveling alone is not putting yourself in danger but a way of exposing yourself to different realities of life and learning more about yourself.
You need to look at solo traveling as a key to changing the current version of you to a better one.
The moment you set in your mind that traveling alone is more beneficial than the harm you can get from it, you will get past the first step of fear.
Once you get rid of the negative attitude when it comes to traveling solo that is when you will find it easier to get yourself out there.
The rest are things that can be handled practically and with no time you will be ready to explore the world like a pro.
When a mindset is rigged to positivity anything that one wants to attain becomes possible.
2. Work on your confidence.
You have changed your mindset about traveling solo — you feel super thrilled to get on a plane and leave your hometown.
Another thing bugs you, you still feel like you can’t do it because you lack the courage.
Your mind wants you to do it because it made peace with the fact that the world is a beautiful place for you to be in it and the people will always welcome you in their community.
The energy of getting yourself out there to move from one location to another keeps fading because you think you are not good enough to do it.
You lack the confidence to get started because it feels beyond your capability.
It’s okay to feel that way because it’s something you haven’t been doing.
When you learn to ride a bicycle, after the first lesson you won’t just ride it like the pro do it.
You can’t immediately start riding it like the person who taught you how to do it.
When you look at your teacher riding it, it seems pretty easy but when you get on it, it’s another different story.
What you don’t understand is that your teacher has been riding that bicycle longer than you have.
He or she has been practicing longer to gain the experience to ride it even without holding the handle.
The same case applies to solo traveling, you don’t have the confidence to travel alone because you haven’t been doing it, and you still don’t have the experience and exposure you need to feel capable of doing it like a pro.
For you to be confident you have to put more work into what you want to do.
If you need to work on your body to make yourself feel good when you are out there, just do it.
Work on what you need to do for you to feel confident enough to carry your backpack and suitcase across the globe.
The part of you moving alone from one location to another and interacting with people you have never met like you know them, you need confidence for that.
When it comes to getting yourself out of a tricky situation when you are alone in the middle of a chaotic market in India, requires you to be courageous.
The moment you believe in yourself that you can handle yourself in any situation you will find yourself in while traveling solo, that’s when you will be confident enough to travel alone without issues.
There is more you can learn when it comes to developing your confidence when it comes to solo traveling.
Read also; 8 Ways To Build Confidence While Travelling Alone
What you should understand is that the confidence you are seeking won’t immediately get instilled in you.
It will take time — just like how it’s when you are learning to ride a bicycle for the first time. Be patient with yourself.
3. Know your whys.
We all have our reasons when it comes to traveling the world. There is a reason why you want to travel solo.
Are your whys strong enough to pull you out of your comfort zone?
If you have been working so hard for this kind of lifestyle, that’s enough for you to stand up and take control of your fears.
Let me say you have worked all kinds of jobs just to save enough money to travel the world.
You have spent sleepless nights just thinking of how you are going to make your dream of solo traveling come to reality.
That’s not enough, you have dropped other things to just focus on getting the resources to travel the world.
You stopped buying yourself designer clothes, you stopped partying and drinking, and you let go of your relationship just to focus on your dreams.
Now it’s time for you to start traveling, do you want to let the fear take control of everything you have worked on?
Do you want to let fear ruin all your plans you had all along to travel the world?
The fear within you is just an emotion and an obstacle preventing you from reaching your limits.
If you let your whys take control of what you want to do, the fear won’t be strong enough to stop you from taking that flight to Mexico.
Let your purpose guide you to get through everything you want to do and fear will never occupy a space in your life.
The moment you know that your entire life depends on this decision you are about to make (traveling the world alone) fear will be the last thing that will hold you back.
I always dreamt of traveling the world because I wanted to see it, meet new people, gain experiences, and create memories.
When I let that be the forefront of everything I was working on, I immediately took my first trip to Nairobi Kenya.
Read also; My Experience Traveling To Nairobi From Mombasa Via SGR
Traveling was the only thing that made sense and no matter how things turned out to be, I felt I had to travel.
So, sit down and think about why you want to travel and let your whys be your drive.
When it clicks within your head that you have a lot to lose when you fail to make your first solo trip, that is when fear won’t mean anything to you.
Let your purpose and passion drive you and the fear of traveling solo will be a thing of the past.
4. Stop overthinking.
You are overthinking about everything and that is why you are afraid of traveling alone.
It’s always great to think about how you can get yourself past tough situations when traveling solo.
Thinking about every possible situation prepares you for what is coming next.
But when you let your mind be overwhelmed by countless questions about how you are going to handle yourself in new destinations, that is when the fear will creep in.
At the moment you are thinking about all the issues you might come across and how you can solve them, you might fail to find a solution to them.
You aren’t in that situation right now so you aren’t motivated to solve it.
The truth is that you can’t have all the answers to your future. You have no idea what variables will be there when working out certain problems.
The way you perceive certain challenges right now before you hit the road, might not be the same way when you start traveling.
So, stop overthinking about everything and trying to find answers to problems that you haven’t faced.
Stop asking yourself questions that you can’t find answers to because you are not in that situation now.
When you can’t find the answers the fear will cover you up because no one likes to feel helpless when he or she needs himself or herself the most.
Instead of overthinking about everything before you start traveling, let your confidence cover you.
Believe in yourself that you can handle anything that you will face on the road, and whatever comes up, you will be ready to tackle it too.
So, stop asking yourself so many questions that deep down you know you can’t find answers to.
You can’t solve a problem you haven’t encountered yet. And you can’t know if you can manage a situation unless you put yourself into it.
That’s how you will get past the fear of traveling alone.
5. Start traveling solo.
You can’t get over the fear of traveling alone if you don’t travel.
Let me continue using the bike learning experience — you can’t ride a bicycle confidently if you don’t keep practicing after your first few lessons.
For you to be able to ride the bike like a pro you need to keep doing it as many times as you can.
The same case applies to solo traveling, you can’t get past the fear of traveling alone if you won’t be traveling often.
Don’t just sit down and think of ways you are going to get over the fear of traveling alone if you don’t do it.
You can’t get past the fear of traveling if you are still in your comfort zone planning about it.
You can sit down and make a perfect solo traveling plan, but it won’t make any difference if you don’t put it into action.
Read also; Solo Travel 101: Why Planning Is Essential for New Adventurers
If you want to get past the gear of traveling alone you need to start using the plans and the tips you have learned in articles and videos you have been watching.
All the skills you have learned when it comes to traveling solo, you have to put them into action if you want to get over the fear.
Even after you have done everything I have shared above you won’t be able to get over the fear without commencing your trips.
So, get yourself ready to travel the world solo, keep doing it, and push yourself to do it as long as you can.
If you are not comfortable enough yet, what you can do is take short trips first.
Travel within your country — go to places you have never been before for a few days and then return home.
Keep doing that for a few months and once you feel that you have control of your fears that is when you should start international solo traveling.
The more you travel alone the easier it will get for you. You will begin to be more comfortable with your company and you won’t be bothered by anything when you think about exploring the world solo.
This trip was my breakthrough when it came to the fear of traveling alone — the moment I pushed myself to start traveling solo, that is when I got the courage to keep doing it.
When I was in my hostel thinking about how I could make a successful trip to Nairobi and then back to Mombasa, the fear kept me believing that I couldn’t manage it.
But once I took my suitcase and backpack and booked a bus to Nairobi and did it, that is when I realized it was easier.
So, if you haven’t started traveling because you are dealing with the fear, you will get over it when you start doing it.
6. Get inspiration from other solo travelers.
Another thing that will help you get over the fear of traveling alone is getting inspiration from other solo travelers.
You are not the first person to think of traveling solo. People have been traveling the world solo for a long time.
There are other people out there who aren’t lucky enough as you are but they are traveling the world by themselves.
You have people who inspired you to want to start traveling solo — these are the people you should listen to when it comes to this topic of traveling.
Watch their videos, read their blogs, and listen to their stories about how they managed to start traveling solo.
Everything you will hear from these people is enough to pump you to want to travel solo.
When you are motivated to travel solo because of the inspiration you get from other solo travelers, the fear won’t hold you back anymore.
These people who travel around the world alone, all started at the point where you are right now.
They were all afraid at first but they never let that control their lives.
I never let fear take control of what I wanted to achieve in life and that is why I started traveling alone.
Look at how other people handle solo traveling online and get some inspiration from them, that will give you the drive to start doing it like a pro.
If you can get in touch with any solo travelers, talk to them and get some tips from them.
Everyone has a different way of coping with the fear of traveling alone, the way I handle mine may not be the same way as others do.
7. Do a thorough research about your destination.
The fear of traveling solo you are trying to get past may also be a result of you being in the dark about what to expect in the destination you want to explore.
The things that we aren’t aware of are what scares us a lot. When you don’t know what to expect from the destination you are going you are likely to get cold feet.
So, if you want to get control of the fear, you need to do thorough research about the country you want to visit.
The more you know about the destination you want to visit the less scary it gets for you.
You will know what to expect thus you won’t feel like you are completely in the dark.
When you know what you are going to encounter you are going to be psychologically prepared to tackle the issues.
This will get rid of the fear of the unknown and give you the confidence to explore your destination like a local.
On the other hand, learning about the destination before visiting it, will help you know which areas to avoid.
When traveling there you won’t be in the fear of crossing dangerous territories.
You will know where to explore and where to stay away from. This knowledge is enough to help you get past the fear of the unknown.
So, before you plan your trip, you need to spend hours researching the locations you are going to explore.
It’s also one way of keeping yourself safe when traveling. Once you feel safe while traveling solo, you won’t have a reason to be afraid of anything.
Read also; How To Be Safe When Travelling Alone [10 Tips]
Don’t travel to a destination without learning about it if you want to get past the fear of traveling alone.
8. Start with less challenging destinations.
Some destinations are so challenging even for solo pro travelers.
The location you choose to travel solo also plays a huge role when it comes to dealing with fear.
It’s scary to travel to El Salvador solo compared to Indonesia.
The dangerous locations are going to increase your fear of traveling there alone.
But for the destinations that are solo-friendly, it’s going to be easier for you to explore them because they aren’t super dangerous and chaotic.
Choose destinations that you can easily navigate, and that are safe and calm.
Especially if it’s your first time, don’t start with chaotic destinations that you know will be hard for you to explore.
First, you need to travel to the less challenging destinations to gain confidence and experience before traveling to the tricky ones.
Read also; Traveling Alone For The First Time? [Your Ultimate Guide]
You will only know about the destinations by doing the research I talked about in the above section of this article.
Look at the locations that other starting solo travelers like the most, start with those countries, and later on advance to the ones you would like to visit.
9. It’s okay to be afraid.
You are afraid to travel alone — that is completely normal because you are about to venture into something new.
You are getting yourself out of your comfort zone and it’s not going to be easier for you.
It’s in our nature to be afraid of changes since they indulge us in situations we have never experienced before.
You just have to accept that you are afraid and think of ways to deal with it.
When you admit that you are scared to travel alone that is when you will be ready to confront them.
But if you keep hiding from your fears, you will find it hard to get past them and you will always be stuck.
You feel afraid because you are about to do something new, it’s okay to feel that way but don’t let it stop you from doing what you love.
Don’t let your fear take control of your life, you have much more to lose when you let it dominate you.
Everything amazing we want in our lives involves us taking risks. You won’t get anything magnificent in life unless you are willing to risk it all.
Don’t let fear hold you back from traveling the world, seeing the places, doing things, and meeting new people.
Read also; 12 Ways To Make Friends While Solo Traveling
Your life is out there, don’t allow fear to keep you stagnant.
Lastly…
If you want to travel the world solo don’t let fear dominate you.
Think of what you are missing out on by not taking yourself on that first trip.
You may be afraid right now because you haven’t started yet, but once you take yourself out of your comfort zone and put yourself in situations that require you to survive, fear will be the last thing to hold you back.
Stop overthinking about what will happen when you travel alone, think of what you are going to miss by not doing it.
It’s okay to be afraid, this means you are about to make an incredible change in your life.
You need to feel that way because it’s what will push you to make the situation that seems scary great for you.
The tips I have shared in this article will greatly help you get past the fear of traveling solo when you put them to good use.
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