Good Morning my Beautiful Travelers!
Normally my blog posts are more list formatted and tips for the places I go. This blog post I’m going to change the pace and tell the story of how I backpacked Europe SOLO at just 18 years old!
After switching from a traditional university to online I began to travel throughout the US whenever I had time. I had been bit by the travel bug long before this so there was no question that I had a passion for seeing the world. I then decided I was going to go visit some friends in France, Germany, and Switzerland for about a month during August. As I was planning this I was going through my emails and saw one for a two-week cooking and culture class in Italy through the school I was attending. Of course, I jumped on that because it cost the same to do this as to take the same amount of credits stateside. Who would pass this up? The only problem was it was the last week of May and the first week of June.
That meant I would fly to Europe come home for two months and fly back. That didn’t make any sense, so naturally, I started doing a bit of research. I had then decided well I’m just going to stay in Europe and travel around for those two months by myself then meet up with my friends as originally planned. Little did I know that this trip was going to be one of the best things I had ever done for myself!
I decided since this was my first solo trip to plan every detail of it. (I was also a bit excited) I booked all my hostels and flights to and from the 8 countries that I was going to see myself. If I were to do it again I would plan a rough route and then play it by ear because there were plenty of times I would make a friend who wanted to do a day or two trips to another neighboring country but that wasn’t possible since I had everything planned. Although it would have been nice to do that, if you are considering traveling alone for the first time and are a bit nervous I recommend planning like I did because it was nice to have everything paid for and planned. (huge stress is taken off by planning)
Italy was a dream but when it was over the jitters rushed in. I was more nervous than I expected to be. After spending so much time in France I wasn’t nervous about the subway or Europe in general but I was nervous about doing it all alone. When I arrived in my first country I knew this was going to be an amazing trip.
Before I left I got a lot of criticism on how dangerous it was to be a young female traveling alone in a foreign country. But, there was not one time on my trip where I felt unsafe. I was very smart throughout the trip and didn’t go out late by myself or go down back allys myself. I think that traveling solo as a female is frowned upon but do not let it discourage you. As long as you are smart and aware of your surroundings you will be just fine. Yes, things happen unexpectedly and can at any place or time, but don’t let fear take over.
Through my travels, I was able to see so much of Europe and had an absolute blast every day! I saw all the things that I wanted to see in each city that I visited and much much more.
The trip helped me grow in so many ways. I made a ton of friends and learned so much about myself. I became more outgoing and open. I became more confident in so many ways and I would do it over a billion times if I could. Traveling alone wasn’t lonely it was so much fun. It allowed me to put myself out there and travel with new people as well as allowed me to live on my own schedule.
This was one of the best experiences of my life and I recommend everyone to do a solo trip before they are 30 because it is more than worth it.
See You Soon
xoxo Gina