Travelling Alone?

Denerick

Has anyone here done it before? I'm pretty certain that I'm going to teach english abroad, by myself, and hopefully meet people along the way. I am a little nervous though about doing it all by myself. Nervous in a good way I suppose. Firstly, is it something people do? I've heard about people who travel alone, but have never actually met one. Everybody I know seems to be settling into their lives and don't really have any notions of foreign travel. I'm in my mid 20s and male. Any comments or advice is welcome.

Louche Lad

I've done a large amount of travelling alone where I'm simply going from home to a specific place in another country, such as visiting a predetermined place for work or other purposes. Is that what you mean?

Or do you mean something more nomadic, where you stay places for a couple of days, continually moving on?

Anyway, for me, the biggest challenge in travelling alone is the lack of moral support you can get from travelling companions. I find I can easily get very quickly depressed if something goes wrong (losing your ticket, finding your credit card's blocked, cutting your finger etc.).

Do you ever send significant amounts of time on your own at home? If so, if you find that difficult, travelling in unfamiliar places might be difficult.

Louche Lad

Another thing I found in the past when travelling alone is I got targeted a whole lot more by beggars/thieves/scammers/people who ask if you want to talk about Jesus/etc.

They can sense if you don't 'belong', but I seem to have learned to blend in or walk more confidently or something.

stop animal cruelty

met a guy in Edinburgh one time & told me he was going travelling in Sept by himself. A friend was gonna go but pulled out due to money, but your man is still going on his own cause he didnt wana look back in years to come & regret not going! inspired me a bit l must say! hes 21, going to austrila, asia & america on his own! very brave.

Sunny.Days

Are you teaching English on a TEFL style course? I went to Vietnam with a friend a few months back and I met another friend over there who was starting to teach English on his own in Ho Chi Minh. Because of the amount of westerners emigrating to teach English locals have organised plenty of nights out for everyone that works/lives ther to get to know each other. I was considering staying as I loved the way of life there and found everyone so friendly.
I also travelled around Australia on my own for a year and surprised myself at how outgoing I became when I was on my own, and by how many other people travel alone. You'll be grand! Happy travels

Fox_In_Socks

Sunny.Days wrote: »

Are you teaching English on a TEFL style course? I went to Vietnam with a friend a few months back and I met another friend over there who was starting to teach English on his own in Ho Chi Minh. Because of the amount of westerners emigrating to teach English locals have organised plenty of nights out for everyone that works/lives ther to get to know each other. I was considering staying as I loved the way of life there and found everyone so friendly.
I also travelled around Australia on my own for a year and surprised myself at how outgoing I became when I was on my own, and by how many other people travel alone. You'll be grand! Happy travels

Like Sunny D, it can force you to be more outgoing. I haven't travelled for long periods of time, but have always gone on my own when I have travelled.

Relying on yourself totally can be liberating.

Denerick

Well the plan is to live in one city for a while, teach English for a term, then maybe move on somewhere else. I know European cities have expat communities and was just hoping people have some experience of how they gel and get on together. (As in, is it usual for people to travel by themselves)

To answer one of the respondents, I consider myself a self reliant person and could easily spend time by myself. But that isn't the idea of course, the idea is to meet new people and get out of Ireland for a while...

La_Gordy

Denerick wrote: »

But that isn't the idea of course, the idea is to meet new people and get out of Ireland for a while...

Do it. I know it's intimidating to think of extended periods alone in places that you don't know, but realistically, that won't be the case. You want to meet new people and see new things, and I'm sure your travels will certainly allow that toh happen. I moved to Russia on my own for a year and visited many spots in South East Asia alone and sites like couchsurfing.com really helped meet people. You'll be grand

halkar

Just do it.
There are no strangers in the world, only friends who haven`t met.

Strumms

i went to live abroad and have done some travelling alone. I would recommend it. Your decisions are your own you walk to the beat of your own drum with responsibility for nobody else but yourself.

As others have said it forces you to be more outgoing and assertive and you WILL meet people as a result and make friends. you will find lots of people probably out there in the same boat. Nothing wrong with feeling aprehensive and asking advise however it will be a great adventure and you will feel very liberated if thats the right word. It's a great adventure and any potential negatives can easily come upon you in your present day life so go and enjoy it.

Civilian_Target

Travelling alone is like travelling with everybody. You can easily make friends you'll keep for the rest of your life, and the solitary perspective can really change you. Do it!

Lucifer-0

Doing something similar myself at the moment, as everyone said here you'll be grand, and it will definitely improve your social skills.

If you're worried about not meeting people then best avoiding places that only have guesthouses and not hostels. I.E. India.

Oh and join http://www.travbuddy.com/

lisasimpson

the website getyourguide is v. handy when travelling alone