Traveling with friends and family is great, but have you ever gone on a trip by yourself?
For the last decade or so, hitting the road (or skies or sea) alone has become a growing trend in travel. According to the Association of British Travel Agents, the number of people who travel solo nearly tripled between 2011 and 2024. While the trend tends to be more popular with millennials and Gen Z, people of all ages are getting out and seeing the country and even the world on their own, whether it's a solitary road trip, an international getaway, or something more organized, like a cruise or specific excursion. It's also more common with women, though there's been a recent uptick in men who travel alone.
Earlier this year, it was reported that about 34% of people planned to take a solo trip in 2025.
The Economist recently published an article called "Travel buddies are out; solo trips are in," and it talks about the reasons why someone might choose to travel alone. Some call it "me-mooning," apparently, sort of like honeymooning or baby-mooning. I think that sounds a little self-indulgent, but I'm not here to judge.
Some do it to "find themselves." Others do it for adventure. Some do it to meet new people. As someone who has embraced this way of traveling in recent years myself, I'd argue that no matter why you try it, you may find yourself becoming addicted for reasons you never saw coming.
For years, when I was younger, I wanted to travel, but finding someone to accompany me was often more trouble than it was worth. For one thing, I haven't had a 9-to-5 job since I was in my mid-twenties, while most of my friends did. Scheduling and/or money were an issue. As we got older, friends got married, had children, and began taking family trips. Neither of those things has happened for me yet. My parents never really liked to travel, so bringing them along was out, and eventually, my mom got so sick that I found myself having to cancel travel plans with friends to take care of her. There's also the issue that several friends and I have found that we just weren't compatible when it comes to travel. I'm not into super touristy things and having every second of the day planned out months in advance, while they never want to get off the beaten path and do something on the spur of the moment.
After a while, you get tired of putting your life off and waiting for other people.
A little more than two years ago, a friend and I went to Costa Rica for the first time. It was an awesome trip, but I came home feeling unsettled. I had to go back on my own terms, and I did just that about five months later. Long story short, I've been back many times on my own and consider it a second home. Everything The Economist listed happened. I do feel like I "found myself," which is a term I hate to use because it sounds so hippie-dippy and cliché. I often joke to people that I'm a lot more fun in Costa Rica, a totally different person — but after years of giving up everything to take care of my mom, I felt like I barely existed by the time she died. Costa Rica is such a forgiving, nonjudgmental place that it's almost impossible not kind of rediscover yourself.
I definitely had my share of adventures, too — I did things that most of my friends would never do. I hiked through jungles, swam miles across the Caribbean sea, visited little hole-in-the-wall restaurants and tasted new foods, had drinks with strangers, drove through rivers, etc. I took a lot of risks, and most of them paid off. And that usually led to meeting new people, ranging from locals to other people from the U.S. and Canada who were living there or visiting the country. As a matter of fact, I say I was on these solo trips, but after a while, I ended up not actually spending them alone.
Even so, I found that there was something freeing in traveling by yourself. There's no worrying if the other person is having a good time, no debating where to eat or what to do that day. No one turns their nose up when you come up with a plan. During one of my trips, I think it was last September, I found myself sitting in the tiniest of airports in a random town in the middle of the country having a margarita with an 89-year-old Costa Rican bartender. He had some great stories — we were the only two people in the place who spoke English — and all I could think about was that most of my friends would never allow themselves to even end up in this situation. That's not to say I threw all caution to the wind — you really have to watch out for your own safety when you travel alone — but I found that it's also okay to step outside the typical tourist traps.
As a matter of fact, Travelocity says that the fact that traveling alone heightens your awareness and can actually make you safer because you're less likely to throw all caution to the wind.
Fear of loneliness is another reason why many people don't travel alone, and I totally get that. I'm a bit of a loner in general anyway, but I still find myself feeling lonely or homesick (mostly missing my dog before she died in December) from time to time. I've also found that if you get out there and try something new, you'll meet people. Going back to my Costa Rica trips, I signed up for a random rum and chocolate tasting just to do something different — plus, I love me some rum and chocolate — and I ended up befriending this couple who'd moved there from Canada the year before. While I was out on the beach one day, I forced myself out of my shell to approach some guys who ran kayaking tours and befriended them. I've even met up with people from online travel groups I belong to.
But Costa Rica is an easy place to make friends, I'll admit. It's also filled with solo travelers from the U.S. and elsewhere. For the most part, I feel safer there than I do, say, walking down the streets of many places in Atlanta. And there are some places in the world I'd never go alone.
If you're thinking about planning your first solo trip and don't know where to go, there are numerous lists online of the safest countries, especially for women. However, before you follow any list, I'd check with the State Department's travel advisories, and keep in mind that they're often changing. For example, once upon a time, most people wouldn't want to set foot in El Salvador, but right now, it's considered safer than many countries in Europe that make these "safest places" lists, like Spain and Italy.
I also recommend starting with travel groups, such as those on Facebook. I've learned so much that way and have even made friends in various places, but they also come with their fair share of drama. They can also be overwhelming because some people want to paint other cities and countries as something they're not for various reasons, and you often have to wade through all of that to find the facts. Plus, everyone has different experiences, and one person who had a bad one will shout it to the moon, even if it's not the norm. Look for the ones that are well-managed.
A lot of the lists I've read do recommend Costa Rica as a great place for a first-time solo traveler. If you prefer Europe, you might want to give Portugal a try. U.S. News and World Report ranks it as one of the friendliest and most approachable countries in the world. I have a friend who, for her fortieth birthday last year, visited a new country every month on her own, and she told me Portugal was, without a doubt, one of her favorites. I'm considering it for myself for the future.
If you don't want to leave the country, maybe a new state or city is on your solo travel agenda. It's a great way to dip your toes into this so-called trend. Time Out has a top "21 best solo trips in the U.S." list. I'll share the top ten here:
1. Charleston, S.C.
2. Honolulu
3. Savannah, Ga.
4. Nashville, Tenn.
5. Marfa, Texas
6. New York City
7. Boulder, Colo.
8. Portland, Ore.
9. Asheville, N.C.
10. Boston
I can only vouch for about half the cities on the list personally, but your mileage may vary.
Anyway, if you're a solo traveler, I'd love to hear your stories in the comments section. Is it something you've done for a long time or something new to you, too? Where have you been? What advice would you give others? Let me know! I'll try to check back in through the weekend to see what you have to say.
