International solo travel can be intimidating, and whether or not you’ve been to some of them before, proper preparation is always necessary. How well you prepare will determine how well your trip will be.
Since you’re going on an overseas adventure, where you probably don’t know anyone and with the possibility of a lot going wrong, you want to be on top of every situation so nothing catches you off guard along the way.
If you plan for you greatly first international triphere are some things you should do for a successful trip-:
Be wise with your goals
If you are going on your first solo trip, your choice of destination is one of the most important considerations you will have to make. An internet search for “top destinations for solo travelers” will return many results, but not all of these places are ideal for first-time travelers on solo trips.
Since it’s your first time, you should go to places with conditions that you can easily handle, such as food, weather conditions, culture, and language.
You don’t want to come from a place with warm weather and go somewhere very cold or go somewhere where the language spoken is completely foreign to you, making it very difficult for you to communicate and move around.
Remember, you are after experience, so don’t play blonde smart by heading to a destination that will have an obvious challenge for you.
Pack it the right way
Packing is a challenge for most travelers, including those who may consider themselves seasoned travellers. As this is your first time traveling solo internationally, it is very important to know what you need to bring as this will have a direct impact on your comfort and convenience.
The first factor to consider is prevailing weather conditions at your destination.
Then depending on your gender, you should know better what people in your host country consider appropriate and inappropriate as far as clothing is concerned. Also, remember not to take very obvious items that you can easily find in hotels that you can buy cheaply during your trip.
You shouldn’t go on strenuous trips as this can slow you down, especially if you are backpacking.
Book accommodation at the right time
Being the first trip you’re taking, you’ll need to be a bit careful and arrange your accommodations before you leave. You may not know what to expect and depending on the season, you may not want to suffer at the last minute looking for accommodation.
The best way to avoid the hassle is to book at the right time so that when you arrive at your destination, everything is set up and you don’t have to worry about where to sleep when you should be having fun.
Have a plan for your communications
You can stop worrying family members and friends who care about what might happen to you when you take a solo trip in a faraway land. With the current state of technology and the internet, you can always stay in touch with your loved ones and update them on where you are and the experiences you are having.
However, a mistake you shouldn’t make is cutting off communication completely from your friends and family members. People care about you and it’s unfair to worry them when you can always call them to let them know you’re okay so they worry less about you.
Take care of your personal safety
When you travel solo, you are alone take responsibility for your safety and for everything that may or may not happen to you. You have to make sure that all your stuff is very secure and that you don’t expose it unnecessarily and make yourself a target for no reason.
There are certain things that you should provide maximum security for and if possible, those things should be with you at all times. This includes your travel documents, your money and your phone. Losing any of these three items is a sure way to ruin your first international solo trip.
Know the travel requirements
Different destinations will come with different travel requirements and the last thing you want is to be turned down by immigration officials because you don’t meet all the requirements. When this happens, you will waste a lot of time and money.
Therefore, check and make sure that you have the requirements to access the country you are going to visit. Some will be hard to come across, but others like Canada will be pretty simple.
For example, if you are heading to Canada and you are from a country that is exempt from the need to have a visa, all you will need is a Canadian ETA, which takes only a few minutes to get, and you will be ready to enter the country. . You can find out more about EAT using these links.
Make copies and backups of important documents
You never know what you might run into and you don’t want to be stranded for hours just because you’ve lost all your important documents. This is why it’s important that you make copies of all the important documents you have, and also back them up in the cloud or in your email so that when things get really bad, you’ll have a place to start.
Another tip is that you should store both the original and the copy securely, but not in the same place. For example, you can keep the original in your bag or in a bag that you frequently have, and a copy can be stored in a secure component of your backpack where no one can easily access it.
