Solo Travel As A Man: 7 Ways To Do It Right

Solo travel is one of those things that people talk about as the best way to discover who you are, but it’s also an amazing way for you to experience the world up close and personal. For example, if you go to a place like China where you can get lost amongst the crowd, it becomes more about the experiences that you cultivate in a faraway land. Solo travel is about making sure you can do it safely, while also ensuring you get the most out of the experience. For men who decide to travel by themselves, it’s worth bearing some of the following in mind. 

Do Not Just Go To The Hot Spots

The best thing we can do is to conduct a bit more research upfront to ensure that we get the most out of our experience. Solo travel, for so many people, involves going to the major landmarks, but if you’ve planned a 6-month excursion across the world, this is an amazing opportunity for you to have a few dozen locations that expose you to the sights and sounds that every traveler should experience, but it also allows you to find quieter parts of the world. 

A place like Hawaii is an amazing location because it provides a haven away from the noise of built-up city areas. You may like the idea of somewhere like New York, where you can get lost in the noise, but there is something more personal about going to Hawaii where you get to walk along the beach, experience a unique part of nature, and let yourself relax. Hawaii is a small place, but there are fantastic locations like Maui. If you really want to get involved and delve deeper beyond the tourist attractions, there are plenty of rental cars in Maui, Hawaii so you can get around rather than venturing on foot so you will cover a lot more ground. The right location should feel like a home away from home, and this is why it’s worth mixing the popular destinations with the quieter ones. 

Remember To Not Be Intimidating

Men traveling around can easily showcase unconscious bravado without thinking about it. Western men are much larger than men in other parts of the world, so if you’re a big person, you need to do your best to be gentle. This means that you’ve got to think about those soft skills that may not come so easily to you. Smiling is such a simple thing that communicates a lot, especially across language barriers. Speaking softly and calmly will also ensure that people will be more receptive to you. 

You should also remember that eye contact is critical, especially if you are going to places that may have unique customs that don’t necessarily warrant a handshake. You’ve got to be conscious of other cultures’ customs, and when you are a 6-foot-tall guy lumbering into this environment, you are going to stick out like a sore thumb, and this means you’ve got to overcompensate in other ways, for example, by being as gentle as humanly possible. 

Don’t Be A Hero

We can go to places with high levels of crime, and we can think that just because we are a man, and we may have had a few martial arts lessons under our belts we can deal with this and be the hero. The fact is that you are traveling by yourself, so you should not do anything stupid. If you are held at knifepoint, just give them the wallet and your phone, make slow movements, and be calm. 

It’s important to take risks when you are traveling by yourself, but you need to be conscious of the environment. So be careful and always have traveler’s insurance. This one little thing will ensure that, even if you end up experiencing something traumatic, you can get back home. You need to go in with a plan, for example, ensuring you have a backup phone, and emergency cash reserves, but also know how to freeze your credit or debit cards. 

Take The Opportunities To Observe

Solo travel has a lot to do with understanding how you react to the world. It helps everyone to gain a deeper insight into who they are, what is important, and how they can be better versions of themselves. As men, we can rush into things without thinking about the consequences. Going on a solo experience across the world allows you to take things at a slower pace. You might be someone who likes to have a strict itinerary, but when it comes to any form of vacation, the best thing you can do is to plan one thing per day and no more. 

Lots of people like to go away and have something ready for the morning, afternoon, and evening. Instead, use this opportunity to observe and see how a culture will function, and this can give you a variety of opportunities that you may not have considered. It’s important that we have an itinerary of sorts, but we should also not be afraid to venture off the beaten track. Letting experiences happen is a very critical part of solo traveling and ensuring that you develop this skill that can inform other parts of your life after you return will make a significant difference. 

Keep Your Vices In Check

The toughest part of traveling for many people is about remaining in control. That’s not to say you should not have a beer when you are venturing out, but you’ve got to think about the overall experience. You are going to be traveling, which means you will be feeling more tired, and you will need to have your wits about you, so it’s best to stick to alcoholic beverages when you are in the hotel room safe and sound. 

Alcohol can make you very tired, which means that you can respond to situations with fewer inhibitions, which could mean you end up getting into a fight, resulting in a whole heap of trouble. The best thing you can do is to ensure you stay focused. 

What Happens When You Find Love?

Sometimes, we can fixate upon someone that we see from afar, perhaps we’re in the same accommodation as them, or we instantly fall in love over the course of a day. But the fact is that it is difficult to interpret someone’s love or response to you. You may find someone like a fellow traveler and if it gets serious, you may not know if the love is going to survive everyday life. 

Any new relationship, especially when you are in another country, can be exciting and exotic, but it can be incredibly complicated as well. If you plan on consummating a relationship, you need to have protection on hand, especially as male travelers are more likely to contract STIs at a higher rate than women! 

Think About The Bigger Picture

Solo travel is the perfect opportunity for you to learn about yourself and the world. Go in with a plan and make sure that you are doing everything safely but use this opportunity as a way to get to grips with who you really are. Sometimes we have to go halfway around the world to realize what we actually have at home. 

Solo travel is one of those rare parts of life that allows us to experience all different types of cultures and attitudes that helps us to learn about who we are. Be open, be receptive, but be safe.