Nervous About Solo Travel? Here’s How to Overcome Pre-Trip Anxiety
Maybe hearing those words makes your heart race – not out of excitement, but because you’re thinking about everything you still have to do before you’re actually ready to leave. Maybe you need to wrap things up at work, save a bit more money, or finalize a travel plan that still feels like a blurry dream. It’s totally normal to feel anxious – there’s a lot that comes with preparing for a big trip.
I get it. I’ve been there too. Part of me wants to be spontaneous and adventurous, but there’s also this anxious voice in my head going, “But what if you forgot something? What if you’re not ready?”
So here’s my advice: meet both versions of yourself – the anxious you and the brave, adventurous you -somewhere in the middle. Start by asking yourself: What exactly is making me anxious? Identifying your worries is the first step toward managing them. Once you know what’s bothering you, you can take small steps to ease those concerns and travel with more peace of mind.
Alternatives to hostels 🛌
Are you worried about staying together with strangers together in a room? Maybe you don’t feel comfortable to sleep in the same room with people you don’t know, or because of your sensory issues it needs to be entirely quiet for you to be able to sleep. You can have your own reasons why you don’t want to sleep with multiple people in the same room – any reason you have, is valid. Some people have the idea that if you are traveling solo, you need to stay at a hostel. But the truth is, that you don’t have to if you don’t want to. This trip is yours and you decide how to experience it, that’s the best thing about solo-traveling anyway. So don’t let someone else’s opinion influence what decisions you make. It’s called a solo-trip for a reason.
Alternatives to a hostel are an Airbnb or a hotel. It is also possible to stay in a homestay. A homestay is when you stay in someone’s actual home instead of a hotel or hostel. You live with a local family, get your own room (usually), and experience daily life like a local. It’s more personal, sometimes includes meals, and is a great way to learn about the culture, language, and local way of living. These options might be a bit more expensive, but I encourage you to choose one of these options if it makes you more comfortable. The last thing you wish for when you are traveling is feeling uncomfortable and therefore not being able to enjoy your trip to the fullest.
Meet both the anxious you and the secure, adventurous you halfway by eliminating your worries beforehand.
How to meet people while traveling 👫
If in general, you are worried about not meeting any people while traveling, you can choose to stay in a hostel instead of an Airbnb or hotel. A hostel is a budget-friendly place to stay, usually geared toward travelers, backpackers, or students. Instead of private hotel rooms, you often sleep in shared dorm rooms with bunk beds and meet people from all over the world. There’s usually a common kitchen, lounges, and sometimes even fun stuff like game nights or city tours. It’s cheap, social, and a great way to make new friends while traveling.
If the hostel life is not for you, or you feel extra social, you can choose to go to some cafés to meet people or you can join certain meetups – I know that people organize a lot of fun meetups on the app Meetup. However, I have never attended one of these meetups, so I cannot give you any relevant review on meeting people via this app.
It is also always possible to join communities of people who are traveling in the same area on social media. For example, if you still have Facebook in 2025, you can join some backpackers Facebook group and ask if someone’s plans overlap with yours. Also I know there are some Whatsapp groups that serve the same purpose as well. I have listed some below to give you some guidance.
Overwhelmed? Let’s find your travel path! 👣
What can also make you anxious, is that there are so many new places and things to discover – that you just don’t know where to start. Think back to when you decided to go on this trip. Why did you choose to go to this country, or even these specific cities that you may have already chosen? What sparked your initial interest? This might give you a good head start to look for places or activities that align with your initial interest.
It might also help to think about the goal of your trip – because different goals lead to different kind of trips. What do you wish to gain out of this trip? Do you want to become more zen and focus on yourself or do you simply wish to indulge yourself in a new culture? For example, if you wish to focus more on self-discovery or healing, you might look for more activities in line with that goal – for example, think of yoga classes on the beach. If you are looking to indulge yourself in a new culture, you can drift off to the more rural places instead of staying in big cities and have more local experiences such as an izakaya experience if you’re in Japan. It all depends on what you’re looking to get out of your trip.
My worries about my Japan trip 🇯🇵
I wanna share some of my worries with you. One thing that really stresses me out is not knowing where I’ll stay when I arrive in a new country. It just makes me super anxious. So, one of the main things I make sure of when I prep for a trip is having a place to stay lined up – it helps me feel more relaxed and less stressed. Just knowing I’ll have a bed somewhere (and not end up sleeping on the street, lol) gives me peace of mind. So I always book at least the first night at a hotel or hostel before I even leave. That way, all I have to figure out when I land is how to get there. I still get anxious, but at least that’s one less thing to worry about. The fewer things on my mind, the more I can actually enjoy the trip.
Before I started traveling, I had a lot of self-doubt too. I kept wondering if I could actually do it – travel on my own, handle unexpected stuff, figure things out by myself. I didn’t feel very confident. When I first landed at Haneda Airport, I was honestly freaking out. I felt super overwhelmed and thought I was gonna have a panic attack – it was packed with people, and I didn’t know what to do. But then I took a deep breath, told myself it was gonna be okay, and that I could do this. Affirmations really helped. As soon as I did that, I started to calm down and looked for how to get to my hostel. I’d planned my arrival for the morning, so I didn’t have to worry about late-night transportation issues. That bit of planning really saved me and made me feel more in control.
Feeling nervous before a trip is totally normal — I’ve been there! Good prep and the right mindset can make a huge difference. I’ve shared some of my own experiences, now I wanna hear yours! Got any tips, questions, or stories about solo travel? Drop them in the comments, let’s chat!