Flying Solo

When I tell people I'm traveling alone, I get a number of reactions. Some people are curious, others baffled. Some give me a look of admiration ("Wow, I could never do that.") Others give me a look of pity ("Alone? Poor girl"). In many cultures, it's a rite of passage to take a solo backpacking trip somewhere new and exotic. I've encountered dozens of Aussie and Brit girls who travel for upwards of six months on their own. They put my little five-week adventure to shame.

That said, traveling alone can get, well, lonely. To make my trips more action-packed and meaningful, I try to travel using the following guiding principles:

Treat your trip as a learning experience
To prepare for my trip to Cambodia, I practically memorized Lonely Planet's Southeast Asia on a Shoestring and immersed myself in literature about the Khmer Rouge, the cruel Communist dictatorship that ruled the country in the late 1970s. I'm reading When Broken Glass Floats, a memoir by a woman who spent her childhood under the Khmer Rouge, and I just watched The Killing Fields, a famous film from the 1980s about an American journalist and his Cambodian interpreter during the war. Learning about the history and culture of this country has really enriched my experience here, and I plan on doing the same before traveling to Vietnam in the next few days.

Leave room for flexibility
Once upon a time, I was a type-A planner. Whenever my family would take a trip, I'd do extensive research and have every minute planned. Now, I'm learning to be more flexible. For this Asia trip, I have a general idea of the direction I want to go and the places I want to visit, but I'm also not fixed to a set itinerary. Liberating!

Be open to meeting new people
Growing up, you're constantly instructed not to talk to strangers. But when you're traveling, it's unavoidable! You meet other travelers in hostels, on buses, in restaurants, on tours. It's a little tough to break out of your shell at first, but you get rewarded with really insightful conversations with interesting people from all over the world.

Be safe!
I can't stress this enough! Because I'm a young girl traveling on my own, personal safety is always my number one priority. Thankfully, I've never been in any dangerous or compromising situations, and I've always found that people are more than willing to lend a helping hand to a female traveler in need.

Have you ever traveled on your own? I want to hear your tips for staying busy and staying safe!

Until next time (in Vietnam!),
Jess
CosmoGirl Travel Blogger

P.S. That's a photo of me scaling the ruins of one of the Angkor temples in Cambodia. Look familiar? Tomb Raider was filmed there!