Merging Into Life: Solo Travel Guide

[00:00:26]
Amanda Greene: I mean, I guess I could bring a book and catch up on sleep a little bit. You’re sure it’s okay if I go by myself?

[00:00:34]
Amanda’s Husband: Of course. We’ll be fine. Have a good time.

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Amanda Greene: Welcome to Merging Into Life where we navigate life’s milestones one episode at a time, brought to you by AAA Northeast. I’m your host, Amanda Green. Today we’re going to talk about solo traveling.

Isn’t a change of scenery nice once in a while? Whether that means a once-in-a-lifetime voyage to a far-flung locale, or a quick trip to the next spot on the map, seeing new sights and meeting new people is one of life’s true joys. Traveling with family and friends can be wonderful, but similar to herding cats, it can also be a little frustrating. There’s something to be said for deciding to go and just going. Forget a consensus or comparing schedules, traveling alone means you can do what you want, when you want. Maybe that’s why more people are doing it. Searches on Pinterest for solo traveling increased by 145% in 2024.

We’re going to talk with Jillian Young about timing your trip to make it as smooth as possible. She’s a member of AAA Northeast’s public affairs team. But first, let’s talk to Kim Rodrigues. She’s an avid solo traveler who blogs about her adventures in hopes of inspiring others to take the leap and see the world on their own terms.

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Kim Rodrigues: I started solo traveling, 10, 11, maybe, almost 12 years ago, and I did it because I was tired of waiting on other people to see the world. I had this long bucket list and all these places that I wanted to see, and I was tired of waiting on friends and family, so I just took the leap and did it myself.

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Amanda Greene: I know what you mean about having to wait for other people when you’re trying to plan a trip with others. Two people are in, but they haven’t actually totally committed and everyone’s dragging their feet.

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Kim Rodrigues: Yes, exactly. And I think I saw a meme somewhere once that was saying something like, ‘The travel group chat is all good until it’s time for payment,’ or something like that, and then everyone just drops off.

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Amanda Greene: What was one of your favorite solo trips that you’ve done?

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Kim Rodrigues: I once took a solo trip to Granada, which is in the south of Spain, and that was so much fun. I had so many things that I wanted to see and I spent a lot of time walking and just had a really good time just taking in the sun and all of the amazing attractions. So that was a good one.

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Amanda Greene: Did you find yourself talking to the people around you more often than maybe you would’ve if you were traveling with friends?

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Kim Rodrigues: Yes. I feel like that happens for me. I’m also an extrovert as well, which is surprising because I feel like sometimes a lot of people think that it’s more for introverts, but I’m an extrovert and I solo travel. And for me, it’s almost like I feel like I am more open when I’m traveling by myself because I am looking to connect with other people. So I do find myself, especially when I go to restaurants and when I do tours and things like that, I tend to just start chatting with the people around me. And then you have a friend.

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Amanda Greene: Would you say that’s one of the things you love most about traveling by yourself?

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Kim Rodrigues: That is one thing I really like. I feel like I get to connect with people that I otherwise wouldn’t. I also love that I can do what I want. I love the freedom of it because I think that sometimes, especially when you have a location and a destination that’s really high on your list and you have a lot of attractions that you want to see within that, it can be a little challenging when you’re traveling with friends or you’re traveling in a group because you have to compromise to some extent. When you’re traveling on your own, you get to see everything. You get to do everything at your pace, and you get to cram in as much as you want or take it easy. But I think that probably one of my favorite things is the freedom.

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Amanda Greene: So you have named a lot of very positive things that glamorize solo traveling, but what are some of the challenges you might face traveling solo?

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Kim Rodrigues: Yeah. I think for me, one thing that is a challenge that might be a little surprising is loneliness. I think that there are times that I have been lonely on a trip or I go to an incredible attraction or an amazing destination or viewpoint, and sometimes I think, “Oh man, this would be so nice if there was someone else here to share this experience with me.” Or maybe sometimes you’ll try to relay the message with friends, but it’s almost like looking at a photo and sometimes a photo doesn’t do it justice and you’re like, “You just had to be there.”

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Amanda Greene: Absolutely.

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Kim Rodrigues: So much more beautiful in person.

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Amanda Greene: Do you keep a journal or anything?

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Kim Rodrigues: I definitely have a travel journal. I take a lot of pictures and videos. I have so many pictures and videos that haven’t even seen the light of day. I’m also a big notes person, you know the little notes app in the phone, and I just take notes. I write whatever city, what date, and then I’ll jot down what I did, my favorite parts, things I didn’t like. So I just am constantly taking notes and sometimes I’ll go back and read journals or in the moment I’ll carry it with me and I’ll just sit and have a moment and reflect.

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Amanda Greene: I imagine traveling solo, that feeling of wanting to share it with someone, journaling would be a nice way to channel all of that.

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Kim Rodrigues: Exactly. I know that it happens to me where we’re so wrapped up in our day-to-day life, and we’re so wrapped up in the next trip and the next adventure that sometimes I take these really amazing trips and I forget elements of it, but then when I go back and read my journal. I’m like, ‘Oh, I forgot about that lookout point in Vancouver and the old man that I was talking to and the glass of wine that I had.’ It’s almost like you get to relive the experience and all the memories at the same time.

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Amanda Greene: In a way that photos really don’t give you.

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Kim Rodrigues: Yes, exactly.

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Amanda Greene: Those little details.

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Kim Rodrigues: Exactly. Yeah.

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Amanda Greene: Sounds very glamorous, honestly.

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Kim Rodrigues: It’s nice.

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Amanda Greene: Let’s talk logistics. How do you like to plan your solo trips?

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Kim Rodrigues: I’m very type A, so I like to have a lot of things planned out. I think one of the first things I take into consideration is safety. So I try to look at the things that are going to keep me safe. So, for example, I think about if I’m flying to a destination, how am I going to get from the airport to my hotel or to the city center? And then I think about how I’m going to stay in touch with family and friends. I like to use different apps and things like that. I like to share my location with certain people. I think about those things first. I try to plan those things out, and then after that I do an extensive deep dive on attractions for a solo female traveler and food, restaurants, things to do and see. And I will have all of those things mapped out, like a light itinerary. And then when I get to my destination, then I say, ‘Okay, I have this list and I can do all these things, but if I just want to walk around the city for four hours and soak it in, I can do that too.’

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Amanda Greene: Okay. So you’re planning your solo travel. Do you stay in hotels or somewhere else?

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Kim Rodrigues: I stay in hotels. I mean, I will switch it up depending on where I’m going. For example, if I have a really good friend in a destination, I might stay with them for a little while if they’re inviting me or sometimes I’ll do a vacation rental or something like that. But for the most part, I like to stay in hotels.

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Amanda Greene: Do you have any hotel booking tips?

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Kim Rodrigues: I would say book it as far in advance as you can because you can get really good deals and rates that way. Also, I find with hotels too, you never know until you ask. I have gotten a lot of things like free room upgrades, early check-in, free breakfast – all of these things simply because I asked. I didn’t do anything special, I just said, ‘Hey, can I check in early? I know it’s 11 o’clock and check-in is at three, but if my room is available, is it okay if I go ahead and check in?’ And a lot of the time they say yes. I have had a few no’s, but sometimes they’re like, ‘Yeah, sure, why not?’ AAA is actually a really great way for solo travelers to get deals and discounts on hotels and rental cars.

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Amanda Greene: What about getting around a new place?

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Kim Rodrigues: Look into public transportation, if it’s reliable and if people use it. In certain cities they have train maps and things that you can use to help you navigate. It depends because a city like London has really easy public transportation, but then where I’m from in Atlanta, it’s really hard to get around with our public transportation if you aren’t already familiar with it. And then you want to look into ride-share programs, if they have them, because there are some cities that ban them. How walkable is it as well? Is it safe to walk, especially as a solo female? And then sometimes I’ll also look into renting a car if it’s an option for you because I know sometimes they can be a little pricey, but that’s always a good option too because I think you have a lot more freedom when you have a car.

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Amanda Greene: You have mentioned staying safe quite a few times and I want to dive a little deeper into that. What are some mistakes people might make that make them more vulnerable than they may realize?

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Kim Rodrigues: I know there’s so many of us on social media and we love sharing our trips on Instagram and other platforms, but I would resist the urge to post in real time or geo-tag anything in real time. So, I would wait until you moved on to a new city or you’re back home and then you can start sharing because you just never know who’s watching. Another thing is sharing everything with friends and family. If I’m going on a trip, I will share my whole itinerary with them and I’ll say, ‘Okay, here’s the hotel I’m staying at. Here’s my flight, here are my flight numbers. This is what time I’m expected to be at the hotel. I’m doing this city for three days and then this city for another three days,’ so they have an idea of what I’m doing and I check in with them as well. So I will send them photos, I’ll send them text videos to be like, ‘Hey, look, I just did this today,’ and so I know they know that if they don’t hear from me, then they can look at my itinerary and see what’s going on. And another thing is don’t tell people that you’re traveling alone. I’m waiting for friends, I’m meeting my husband. I will make up all sorts of different things before I tell someone I’m traveling alone.

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Amanda Greene: Do you have anything that you like to bring on trips to help make it safer?

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Kim Rodrigues: I have a personal alarm that I always carry with me. I also like to carry crossbody bags, so things are close to my body when I’m traveling, especially in cities that have really high pickpockets. I also have a door stop that I like to use at the hotel that has an alarm on it. So if someone comes into my room, it’s immediately stopped by the door stopper and I can hear the alarm so I know what’s going on and it might scare them away. And I also try to be aware of my surroundings because there are a lot of cities where you’re walking down one street and it’s totally fine, you cross one street parallel and it’s a different world. So just try to be aware of your surroundings. Don’t walk with headphones in, stay alert because a lot of the times when people are looking to do harm, they’re looking for people that are vulnerable and they’re looking for people that are not paying attention, that are really distracted. So you want to get rid of distractions and make sure you’re staying focused, you’re aware. That’s a huge one.

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Amanda Greene: How important is it to read reviews when you’re doing your research and you’re checking out the places you want to visit? How important is it to read all the reviews online?

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Kim Rodrigues: I think the more research you do, the better prepared you’re going to be. So reading reviews is also a big part of it, even if it’s just reading reviews for hotels to figure out what area it’s in, reading reviews for different tours, reading reviews for restaurants. I mean, reviews can really give you an insight into what’s going on because they’re written by the people, so it’s a good indicator.

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Amanda Greene: Researching the trip is half the fun. I find that’s where all the dreaming comes in and you get to decide what you really want to do. Kim’s coming back soon, but I want to bring Jillian Young in to talk about timing your trip. She’s with AAA and knows who’s going where, when. So let’s get the insider info on the best times to travel. Jillian, what kind of travel trends are we seeing right now?

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Jillian Young: When you look at what has happened this summer, we’ve seen travel trends exceed the numbers we saw last year. So the anticipation is that we will see those numbers be higher this year-end, which means you’re going to have a lot of company if you’re traveling this fall for Thanksgiving or as we look to the end of the year for holiday, New Year’s, getaway travel.

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Amanda Greene: What do all of the stats that you have at AAA tell us about when the best time to fly is?

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Jillian Young: Great question. We actually analyzed some data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and what we found was that morning flights, early morning specifically, are significantly less likely to be delayed or canceled than flights later in the day. Once something starts to get delayed, it impacts everything else later in the day. We actually looked at the busy summer travel season when we do see just so many flights between June, July and August in particular and at the 30 largest US airports, the percentage of on-time flights peaked during the 6:00 a.m. hour, and then it dropped every hour until 7:00 p.m., which had the worst percentage of on-time flight departures. So the numbers are right there for you. If you can get out in the morning, do it.

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Amanda Greene: What about if you’re traveling by car? What are the stats saying about the best and worst time to hit the road if you’re driving?

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Jillian Young: Yeah, so what you want to do when you’re taking a road trip is make sure that you’re not mixing with typical commute times. When we look at a lot of holidays, whether it’s a long weekend like a Memorial Day or a Labor Day or a Thanksgiving where that Wednesday before Thanksgiving is a notoriously tough traffic day, what you see is people who were doing their vacation drive or their holiday drive are mixed with people who are doing their regular commute, and that is when things start to get really congested on the roads. And so if you can, avoid those commute times, that’s really going to help you out. And looking at a travel forecast like ours, you’ll be able to see, ‘Oh, this is when the roads are going to be the worst time, and if I early in the morning or late at night or just before this peak window of travel is going to start.’ It’s just going to get you there hopefully a little bit faster and keep you out of some of that worst traffic.

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Amanda Greene: Totally guilty of what you just described, because we drive that Wednesday before Thanksgiving to Rhode Island, we get stuck in Hartford at 5:30 p.m. and it’s like we don’t learn. We do it every single year.

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Jillian Young: That is one of the toughest days. I mean, I remember when I was in college, that Wednesday afternoon, it’s like there aren’t any classes then and it’s just a mass exodus and we’re talking cars, but trains are also really, really packed that day as well. So I mean, that’s something also to consider when it comes to buying tickets in advance for any train or bus you might need for some peak travel times, but again, if you can go off- peak, it’s going to help you out.

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Amanda Greene: So what can we do to help get ahead of any of those unplanned snags?

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Jillian Young: Having a backup plan is really your best bet, knowing what some of those other options are. I like to have the app for not just the airline I’m flying, but for another airline that flies into that destination on my phone ready to go. If there’s a delay or cancellation, that’s going to be a really easy way to see what your other options are and rebook if you need to. And just knowing are there driving possibilities? Are there train possibilities? Just having some of those things in the back of your mind make it much less stressful to really start from square one if you do need to adjust your plans.

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Amanda Greene: We’ve talked too about really getting to know the map of where you’re going to even know about public transportation and have those backup plans, maybe not planned, but a general idea of how might I get around if plan A doesn’t work out?

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Jillian Young: 100%. Less about having a fully baked plan B and more just a general awareness of what your options are if you need to start crafting that other plan.

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Amanda Greene: How about when it comes to solo travel? What are some of the pros and cons of being by yourself when things come up?

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Jillian Young: One of the biggest advantages is that you can just be more flexible. You’re not relying on anyone else in terms of what time they might want to leave to get somewhere. It’s always tough when you are an early arriver to the airport and you’re traveling with someone who is a late arriver to the airport. That can make things tough if you need to adjust your plans. I was just talking about this with someone yesterday, actually. He was traveling with a group of eight people and their flight got canceled, and it’s not easy to make arrangements for a group of eight people when something like that happens. But I was traveling solo just a few weeks ago and my flight got delayed, and I immediately started looking at what are my other options? Are there other airports in my area that flights are still going into where I could snag just a single seat? And because it was just me, that was a really easy thing to start thinking about and to do it really quickly without even checking with anybody else, ‘Hey, does this sound good?’ I just started searching, and so that makes it a lot easier.

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Amanda Greene: So true. Thanks, Jillian. This year could be one for the books as far as the number of travelers go. So keep in mind what Jillian said. The earlier in the day you fly, the less likely you are to have your flight delayed. Book your train and bus tickets as early as possible, especially if you’re traveling near a holiday and if you’re driving at a peak travel time, don’t leave your house just in time to get caught in rush hour traffic in another city like Hartford. Let’s bring Kim back for the final word on solo travel.

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Kim Rodrigues: I think that what people may not recognize is that solo travel is for everyone. So you could be married, you could have kids, you can be single. It’s for everyone. There are just so many things in our daily life with work and responsibilities and family that sometimes it is nice to just have – even if it’s two days – to yourself to do whatever you want and just prioritize yourself. It’s so special. Just take the leap. I know it seems a lot scarier than it is. Just know that there’s so many hard things that we all do in life, and if you can do those hard things, you can solo travel. Just make sure you do your research and go have fun.

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Amanda Greene: It really does sound special. Before we let you go, let’s do some rapid fire questions. Are you ready?

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Kim Rodrigues: I am. These are fun. I’m ready.

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Amanda Greene: Where are you going next?

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Kim Rodrigues: I’m going to Dallas, Texas, in a couple of months. I also plan on going to Japan with my mom later this year, so that’s really exciting.

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Amanda Greene: And special to do it with your mother.

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Kim Rodrigues: Yeah, I do a lot of trips with my mom. She’s such an amazing travel partner.

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Amanda Greene: Amazing. What is the most spontaneous trip you’ve ever gone on?

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Kim Rodrigues: I would say the most spontaneous trip that I’ve ever gone on is to a tree house that I found on Instagram. I saw a couple of days open, I booked it and I just drove and stayed at this really beautiful tree house for a couple of days, just unplanned.

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Amanda Greene: Actually, a house up in a tree, like you had to climb a ladder?

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Kim Rodrigues: Yeah.

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Amanda Greene: Stop it.

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Kim Rodrigues: Yeah, it was amazing.

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Amanda Greene: That sounds literally magical.

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Kim Rodrigues: It was. It was. It was so nice.

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Amanda Greene: Okay, so when you’re flying, are you checking a bag or trying to squish everything into a carry on?

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Kim Rodrigues: I only check bags if I’m going to a place for a really long period of time, and I know I want to bring a lot of stuff back, but I am definitely team carry on. I try to squash everything into my bag as best as possible.

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Amanda Greene: What is the craziest food you’ve ever tried while traveling?

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Kim Rodrigues: Oh, I don’t know how crazy this one is, but I have tried alligator.

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Amanda Greene: Yes.

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Kim Rodrigues: In Florida. I don’t know.

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Amanda Greene: Same. That might be the most adventurous thing I’ve tried too.

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Kim Rodrigues: Yeah. I don’t know. Yeah, I’m like, I don’t know how out there that is, but it’s pretty good. I didn’t mind it.

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Amanda Greene: You are so interesting, and I can imagine that your trips are really memorable and fulfilling and adventurous, and we appreciate you coming on and sharing your experiences with us.

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Kim Rodrigues: Thank you so much.

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Amanda Greene: Safe travels.

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Kim Rodrigues: Thank you.

[00:21:04]
Amanda Greene: I don’t know about you, but I’m inspired. Kim has such great tips for traveling alone. Do lots of research, figure out where you want to go and when. Share your itinerary with friends and family, but save the social media posts for later. You only want the right people knowing exactly where you are. Stay alert, pay attention, keep your valuables safe and bring a personal alarm and a doorstop, but most importantly, have fun. There’s a whole world out there.

You’ve been listening to Merging Into Life where we navigate life’s milestones, one episode at a time, brought to you by AAA Northeast with assistance from JAR Audio. I’m your host, Amanda Greene. If you’re learning as much as I am, follow us wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. Email us at podcast@AAAnortheast.com. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily the views of AAA Northeast, AAA and or its affiliates.