Is solo travel safe?
Solo travel is safer than its reputation, provided you exercise the same awareness you would in an unfamiliar part of your home city. The majority of incidents experienced by solo travellers involve petty theft — pick pocketing, bag snatching — rather than violent crime. The practical precautions: research your destination thoroughly before you go, be aware of your surroundings, keep valuables secure, and trust your instincts when something feels wrong.
The essential preparation
Travel insurance with adequate medical cover — including medical evacuation, which is extremely expensive without insurance in many countries — is non-negotiable. Store digital copies of your passport, insurance policy and any visas in a secure cloud location. Share your broad itinerary with someone at home. Register with the FCDO's TravelAware service if travelling to higher-risk destinations.
Meeting people as a solo traveller
The fear of loneliness puts more people off solo travel than safety concerns. The reality: staying in hostels (even for one night to get your bearings), booking small-group day tours, joining activities and using apps like Couchsurfing's meetup function reliably produce social encounters. Solo travel also forces you to be more open to conversations with locals than group travel tends to.
Making logistics work
Solo travel requires booking more in advance than group travel (no flexibility to share taxi costs or find accommodation on arrival as easily). Single supplements on tours and in some hotels are a genuine cost; many solo travellers mitigate this by booking hostel private rooms rather than hotel rooms.