In the Summer of 2011 at 18 years old, I set out on my first solo trip. For three months I backpacked around Europe through 20 countries. I traveled by train, bus, and boat. In this article, I review my first solo trip. I’ll talk about planning, packing, budgeting, my route, experiences, and more. I’ll discuss the mistakes I made and the things I did right. Hopefully, you can learn from my experience to help make your first solo trip a bit smoother and less stressful.
Why I Decided to Take this Trip
I knew I wanted to travel after high school but I didn’t know where to go or how to go about it. While studying Spain in Spanish class, my teacher taught us about Europe’s extensive rail network. She shared her experience traveling around the continent with a Eurail Pass. After some more research, I concluded that Europe sounded like an easy destination for a first-time solo traveler like myself.
Research and Preparation for My First Solo Trip
Because this was my first trip, I wanted to be as prepared as possible so I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed when I arrived in Europe. I researched every aspect of the trip extensively and planned for every possible scenario. I didn’t want any unexpected surprises. Topics of research included visas, transportation, safety, pricing, accommodation, and more.
At the same time, I wanted to keep my plans as open as possible so I didn’t pre-book much. I didn’t know how fast or far I’d want to travel because everything was new to me. I also wanted to be a bit spontaneous. This turned out to be a good idea as travel in Europe was much faster and easier than I expected.
Building my Itinerary
I started off by studying the world map that I had hanging in my room to familiarize myself with the geography of Europe. I created several potential itineraries that I thought were possible with the time I had. My plan was to fly in and out of the same airport so I created a loop itinerary.
Next, I researched each country in the region. I read travel blogs, articles, travel forums, and borrowed a Western Europe travel book from a family friend. While researching, I made a list of potential activities, museums, monuments, and points of interest that I may want to see.
A few top destinations included Stonehenge, the Louvre, the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, the Vatican, and the canals of Amsterdam. I’m also pretty interested in WWII history so I wanted to see Anne Frank’s house, Oskar Schindler’s factory, Anne Frank House, and Auschwitz, and a few more sites.
Transportation
The next step was researching transportation. I started by shopping for the cheapest flight from Los Angels to Europe. London seemed to be the cheapest city to fly into at the time.
I also researched the Eurail Pass extensively. I looked up the time tables for each leg of my itinerary to check whether or not the Eurail pass covered it and what time I would leave and arrive in each city. When it didn’t, I looked at bus tickets. I found that Europe is so well connected that almost every route is possible.
Visas
Before the trip, I applied for my first passport. While I was waiting for it to arrive, I researched visas. I learned that my US passport allowed me to travel pretty much anywhere I wanted without arranging any visas in advance. The only one I would need was for Turkey, which was available at the border on arrival.
Accommodation
I planned to stay in hostels most nights and camp once in a while. I looked for hostels on Hostelworld and Booking.com in each city that I planned to visit. While researching, I checked prices, the location in the city, whether or not they included breakfast, and how to get there from the train station.
I only booked my first three nights in London but I wrote down the names and prices of some hostels that I might stay in along the way. Because summer is so busy, I knew that I would need to book in advance most of the time so it helped to be prepared.
Packing
Next, I started thinking about what kind of clothing and gear I would need for the trip. I needed to buy a new backpack to carry my clothing and gear. I already had most of the clothing I needed. The only other gear I needed to buy was outlet converters, a money belt, and a few small items.
Budgeting
Finally, I needed to make a budget. As I researched, I wrote down the price of everything I could think of including my flight, Eurail pass, reservations, bus tickets, hostels, food, drinks, entry tickets, and more. I then added it up. I’ll talk more in-depth about budgeting later on.
Telling My Family About my Solo Travel Plans
One issue I ran into while planning my first solo trip that I didn’t consider beforehand was how difficult it was going to be to tell my friends and family about my plans. I got some pushback and questioning. Particularly from my grandparents. Some people just don’t get solo travel. My dad got it. My mom was unsure but accepting.
Common questions, comments, and concerns I heard include: ‘Why are you doing that?’ ‘Why don’t you go with a friend?’, ‘Isn’t that dangerous?’, ‘Why don’t you travel in your own country instead?’, ‘Why don’t you wait until you’re older?’, ‘How are you going to pay for that?’ ‘Why do you want to go there?’, ‘Why don’t you get a job instead?’, ‘you don’t want to do that’, ‘you’ll never make it’, etc.
At times, I began to doubt myself. I wondered if I was biting off more than I could chew. If I was capable and competent enough to complete the trip. Luckily, I was strong enough to push through the criticism and go through with my plans. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have second thoughts though.
I’m not the only solo traveler who has run into this issue. Telling friends and family about solo travel plans is a common concern. It comes up frequently on the subreddit r/solotravel. I’ve read some horror stories there about people’s families forbidding them to travel or even threatening to disown them if they go through with their travel plans. Luckily my family wasn’t that extreme.
If you face this problem when planning your trip, my best advice is to answer their valid questions about safety, transportation, budgeting, accommodation, etc. to put their mind at ease. Try to avoid talking about the trip as much as possible. If you let them dwell on it and bash your plans, you’ll just start to doubt yourself. No good can come of it. You may even feel tempted to cancel your trip.
For some more tips, check out this great guide to dealing with unsupportive friends and family.
Money and Budgeting for My First Solo Trip
My first major obstacle in planning my trip was making sure I had enough money. I saved up around $5000 for the trip from working at McDonald’s, 18 years worth of birthday money, and some painting work I did for my friend’s parents. This had to cover all of my expenses including airfare, the Eurail Pass, other transportation, accommodation, food, drinks, entertainment, activities, souvenirs, travel gear, etc. My goal was to make it last 3 months.
I made a rough budget to find out what this whole thing would cost me. I spent a significant amount of time researching the pricing of everything I could think of and adding it all up. To make my budget, I priced out the following:
- Travel gear- I needed to purchase a backpack, outlet converters, a tent, some clothes, new shoes, travel-sized toiletries, and a few more small items.
- Plane ticket- I shopped around to find which city was the cheapest to fly into from Los Angeles. It turned out to be London.
- Eurail pass- I considered which pass I would require based on the duration of my trip and the number of trains I planned to take. I found that the Eurail pass was economical for my particular trip. I went with the 3 month global pass.
- Hostels- I went on Hostelworld and Booking.com and researched the price of dorm beds in most of the cities that I planned to visit in order to get a rough idea of the price of hostels. I found an average price for each city, multiplied it by the number of nights I planned to stay, then added up all of the hostel costs to get a rough accommodation budget idea.
- Entry fees, tours, and activities- I looked into the prices for various things that I wanted to do while traveling including entry to museums, parks, tours, etc. I’m not really into organized activities so this cost was pretty low.
- Food- I considered the cost of restaurant meals and cooking my own food in hostel kitchens. This one is difficult to estimate. I planned to cook for myself most of the time.
- Alcohol- This one was tough to price as well. I couldn’t legally drink in my home country at the time but I knew I’d be drinking on my trip.
- Miscellaneous- I budgeted a bit extra for various unexpected expenses just to be on the safe side. I think I ended up buying a couple of new shirts and a new pair of shorts when mine wore out.
- Souvenirs- I don’t buy souvenirs but if you plan to, you’ll want to budget for them.
- Travel Insurance- I did not have travel insurance on this trip but I probably should have.
After adding everything up, my total costs came out above my $5000 budget for my three-month trip. To cut costs, I made some changes to my itinerary. I cut out a few expensive Western European cities and added a few more affordable Eastern European cities. I also eliminated a couple of destinations that my Eurail Pass wouldn’t cover. Eventually, I was able to get my budget to around $5000.
First Solo Travel Tip: Make sure you have some emergency money in case a problem arises. You don’t want to spend every penny you have on your trip. You need some backup in case an emergency arises. That way, you’re covered if your phone gets stolen or if you need to buy a ticket home in an emergency. You also need some money to re-establish yourself when you return home. For example, maybe you need to rent an apartment.
Exactly how much you need depends on your age, budget, financial situation, etc. I like to carry at least $300 in cash plus have a couple thousand extra in my checking account. I didn’t have any emergencies on this trip but it brought me peace of mind knowing I had some extra cash just in case.
For more info on travel budgeting, check out my guides:
- How to Make an Accurate Budget for Long Term Travel.
- Guide to Ultra Low Budget Travel on $10 Per Day.
Tickets and Reservations I Booked in Advance
About a month and a half before my trip, I bought the following tickets and made the following reservations:
- Plane ticket- I bought a round trip ticket between Los Angeles and London with Air Canada. It cost around $1200.
- Eurail Pass- I bought the 3 month global unlimited pass. It cost around $700.
- Hostel- I booked 2 nights in a hostel in London. I wasn’t sure how many days I’d want to stay or where exactly I’d go next so I just booked the first two nights.
- Tour- I booked myself on a tour from London to Stonehenge for the day after I arrived.
First Solo Travel Tip: Book your first few days of accommodation in advance. Having a hotel or hostel bed already reserved brings peace of mind because you know where you’re going when you arrive. It also helps when passing through immigration.
To make things even easier, consider booking your airport transportation in advance as well. Many hotels and hostels offer a shuttle service. If you plan to take public transport from the airport to your accommodation, make sure you know which bus or train lines you need to take. Also, have the hotel’s phone number and address handy in case you need to ask for directions or tell your driver where you need to go.
Gear and Packing for My First Solo Trip
Travel doesn’t really require much specialty gear. Before I left, I bought a few items including:
- Travel Backpack- I needed something lightweight and voluminous enough to accommodate all of my clothes and gear. I wanted a backpack that was small enough to carry on an airplane and large enough to accommodate 3 months worth of gear. I bought the Osprey Talon 44. This is a great bag. After 10 years of rough use on 6 continents, it’s still in excellent condition. Read my full review of the backpack here.
- Outlet converters- For charging my camera. I didn’t pack a laptop or cell phone on this trip.
- First aid kit- I bought a small first aid kit with bandages, antibiotic ointment, anti-diarrhea medicine, etc.
- Tent- I bought a cheap one person non-freestanding tent. I wasn’t sure whether or not to travel with a tent. I figured I could at least save some money by camping.
- Sleeping bag- I bought a lightweight synthetic travel sleeping bag. This turned out to be pretty useful. These days, I always travel with some type of blanket, quilt, or sleeping bag. It comes in handy surprisingly often.
- Money belt- Instead of using a wallet, I used a money belt to carry my passport, cash, and cards. This helps to protect valuables from muggers and pickpockets. I bought the Eagle Creek Silk Undercover money belt on Amazon. I’m really happy with it. I actually still use the same one to this day. It’s one of the only pieces of original travel gear that I still use. Read my full review of the money belt here.
Pretty much everything else I needed I already had. I packed:
- 1 pair of shoes
- 1 pair of sandals
- 3 pairs of socks
- 1 pair of jeans
- 1 pair of shorts
- 3 t-shirts
- 1 pair of swim shorts
- Glasses, contacts, and sunglasses
- A toiletries kit
The Trip
The following two sections cover the first week or so of my trip. Things started out a bit rough. There is definitely a learning curve to solo travel. In this section, I’ll outline a couple of mistakes I made and the lessons I learned. I’ll also describe a few unexpected hiccups I experienced along the way. Hopefully, my stories can help you avoid experiencing similar problems.
My First Day of Solo Travel
My dad drove me to LAX and dropped me off. I don’t remember being particularly nervous which is surprising because I’m generally a pretty anxious guy. I felt confident and prepared.
The flight itself went smooth. I checked in and checked my backpack then boarded my flight without any issues. I had a brief stopover in Toronto before catching my first intercontinental flight to London.
After landing in Heathrow, the first problem immediately arose. While standing around the baggage claim, the crowd slowly thinned out until I was the last guy standing next to the belt. My bag didn’t arrive. Air Canada lost my backpack full of all my travel gear that I had so carefully packed. Stupidly, I packed everything in my backpack, including my contact lenses and camera.
I walked over to the baggage counter and told the agent that my bag didn’t show up. The guy was incredibly unsympathetic. He just handed me a form. All I could do was fill it out and hope that Air Canada found my backpack. I was offered no compensation.
Luckily, I did have my debit cards so getting cash wasn’t a problem. After clearing customs and immigration, I navigated the tube into central London.
I had a bit of trouble finding my hostel. I ended up wandering around Borough High Street for around an hour before I managed to find the entrance. Once I found the place, I checked in and went to sleep. This was my first day of solo travel. So far I hated it.
Over the next couple of days, I walked down to the nearest payphone to call Air Canada a couple of times per day. I tried my best to get some type of compensation out of them but they offered nothing. They just expected me to wait in the city for my bag to arrive.
Finally, on the third day, my backpack made it to London. Someone dropped it off at the hostel reception. Now my trip could begin.
A few important lessons I learned on my first day of solo travel:
- Only bring a carry-on bag- I overpacked. Probably because this was my first trip and I didn’t know exactly what I would need. Now I know that a carry-on-sized bag is sufficient to accommodate enough gear for almost any trip. These days, I never check a bag unless I’m packing camping gear. Check out my guide to checked vs carry-on luggage for more info.
- Never fly Air Canada- At this point, I have flown on dozens of airlines and Air Canada has the absolute worst customer service that I have ever experienced. I found this particularly shocking since Canadians are such nice people in general. I will never fly Air Canada again.
- Always have travel insurance- I probably could have gotten some type of compensation for the trip delay. Luckily my bag was found this time. If it wasn’t I would have been out several hundred dollars. Travel insurance would have come in handy.
My First Solo Trip Begins
From London, I decided to travel to Amsterdam. The Eurostar cost too much so I decided to take the bus then transfer to a train. I left London without knowing exactly how I was going to get to Amsterdam, where I would sleep, or when I would arrive. This turned out to be a mistake.
I caught an afternoon bus from London to Brussels. There, I activated my Eurail pass and caught my first European train. I ended up on an afternoon train to Antwerp then transferred onto a night train to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I didn’t arrive until midnight.
This was my mistake. I arrived in an unfamiliar city in the middle of the night without any accommodation booked. I had no way of accessing the internet to look for a hostel because I didn’t have a phone and all of the internet cafes were closed. At this point, my only options were to spend the night in the train station or go out wandering around the city looking for a place to sleep.
I walked out of the train station, not knowing that I couldn’t re-enter until the following morning. Essentially, I ended up spending a long, cold night wandering the streets of Amsterdam with my backpack. I didn’t know where to go so I just walked.
Over the course of the night, I ended up meeting a series of strange and interesting characters including a drunken cyclist, a homeless Welshman, and an odd bald guy. The whole night was just bizarre, like a fever dream. I didn’t sleep at all. Luckily I didn’t get robbed. You can read about my night in Amsterdam here.
The following day, I started my search for a place to sleep for that night. After visiting half a dozen hostels, I realized that everything was fully booked or out of my price range. I never considered that Amsterdam would be fully booked out and I couldn’t afford to pay $50 per night for a dorm bed. This is peak summer season travel in Amsterdam.
Eventually, I found an internet cafe and went online to look at my options. I knew that worst case, I could catch a train to another city. Of course, I really wanted to experience Amsterdam.
Hostelworld had nothing in my price range. I found a campground just outside the city that was accessible by tram. I ended up camping there for the next few nights. This turned out to be cheaper and more pleasant than a hostel anyway. Luckily, I was traveling with a tent.
From this ordeal I learned to:
- Avoid arriving in an unfamiliar city late at night or early in the morning without confirmed accommodation and transport plans- Everything becomes more difficult at night. For example, public transportation often stops running, hotels and hotels lock their doors for security reasons, and restaurants are all closed. Arriving at night is also slightly more dangerous because most crime happens at night. You don’t want to be out wandering around a foreign city in some random neighborhood at 2 am looking for a hotel with a vacancy. Nothing good can come of it. If you plan to arrive in a new city in the middle of the night, book ahead and arrange your transport in advance. Also, make sure your hotel reception expects you. Better yet, arrive during the day.
- Book ahead in popular destinations or during peak season- Some touristy cities, like Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Paris for example, fully book out during the busy season. Sometimes you need to book up to a couple of weeks in advance in order to get a bed in a decent hotel, hostel, or Airbnb.
- Carry a tent- You can almost always find a place to camp. Most campgrounds won’t turn you away, even if they’re packed. There is always a bit of space. If you have a tent, you can also wild camp. If you don’t want to carry a tent, consider packing a hammock. For more info on camping while traveling, check out my guide to traveling with a tent.
The Rest of the Trip
The trip started out pretty rough but I feel like I learned a few valuable travel lessons early on. From there on out, it was smooth sailing.
A few highlights from my first solo trip included:
- Stockholm- For whatever reason, I loved this city. I also met a great group of fellow travelers at the hostel.
- The hostels- I’m probably in the minority here, but I love staying in hostels. This trip gave me my first hostel experience. I’ve stayed in hundreds since.
- The train rides- On this trip, I learned that I’m a train guy. While traveling, I ride them whenever possible. This trip gave me my first taste of train travel.
- Prague- This is probably my favorite European city. It’s cheap, beautiful, and the beer is great. I love it.
- Wandering around on foot- Most European cities are compact and walkable. For the most part, you don’t have to worry about wandering into a dangerous neighborhood. One of my favorite things to do while traveling is walking around. Europe is perfect for this.
- Krakow- Another historic and beautiful European city. It’s affordable too.
- The ferry ride from Greece to Italy– I slept on the deck in my sleeping bag. The weather that night was perfect.
- Istanbul- As an inexperienced traveler at the time, this city felt really exotic.
- Camping- Many European cities have campgrounds within the city or just outside. They’re usually accessible by public transport. My favorite places I camped were Munich and Amsterdam.
My First Solo Trip Route
I put my Eurail pass to good use and ended up visiting about 20 countries during my first solo trip. On average, I stayed in each city for 3-4 nights. That gave me enough time to see the main sites and go out one night. If I was really enjoying a city, I’d stay 4-5 nights. Travel time between cities was always less than a day.
I visited the following cities during my first solo trip:
London – Amsterdam – Copenhagen – Stockholm – Berlin – Munich – Prague – Krakow – Bratislava, Slovakia – Vienna – Budapest – Bucharest – Sofia – Istanbul – Thessaloniki, Greece – Rome – Zurich – Interlaken, Switzerland – Barcelona – Madrid – Paris – Bruges
My personal favorites were Amsterdam, Stockholm, Prague, Krakow, Istanbul, and Barcelona.
The Eurail pass covered every trip except London-Brussels, Sofia-Istanbul, Istanbul-Thessaloniki, and Bruges-London. I bought these tickets separately at the bus or train station.
Accommodation: A Note about European Hostels
Europe is the birthplace of youth hostels. The first one opened in Germany in 1912. That means that travelers have been hosteling in Europe for over 100 years. My dad backpacked Europe in the 60s and probably had a similar experience to me.
At this point, I have stayed in hostels on 6 continents. In my opinion, Europe offers the best hostels in terms of facilities and cleanliness. There are also a lot of them. Hostels are absolutely everywhere on the continent.
Unfortunately, European hostels are expensive and prices keep increasing. During my first solo trip, the most expensive hostels cost around $30 per night in Stockholm and Amsterdam. Average prices were around $7-$15.
These days, hostel prices are significantly higher. In most Western European capital cities, expect to pay $25-$35 per night for a dorm bed in a centrally located hostel during busy season. In the most expensive cities like Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich, Oslo, and Stockholm, you might pay $40-$50 during peak season. That’s getting a bit too pricey for most backpackers traveling long term.
Luckily, prices are still reasonable in Eastern Europe. For my next European trip, I plan to visit Ukraine, Moldova, the Balkans, and the Caucuses. Hostel prices still seem very reasonable in that part of the continent.
First Solo Trip Tip: Stay in Social Hostels
Solo travel gets lonely. Particularly at night. To help you meet people, stay in a social hostel. Hostels offer a common area, bar, walking tours, group meals, pub crawls, and a variety of other social events. These offer great opportunities to meet fellow travelers to go out with, sightsee with, and even travel with.
One thing to remember when booking is that hostel atmosphere varies greatly. Some are more oriented to partying while others are more chilled out. Some are designed to be social while others are geared pretty much only for sleeping. Be sure to check reviews before booking. Check out my guide to choosing a hostel for some helpful tips.
If you’re not comfortable sleeping in a dorm room with other people, most hostels offer private rooms. This way, you get to take advantage of the social aspects of hostels while still maintaining some privacy. Couchsurfing is another great social accommodation option.
Transportation: European Trains and the Eurail Pass, Budget Airlines, and Buses
Europe has maybe the best transportation infrastructure in the world. Between trains, buses, and budget airlines, you can travel pretty much anywhere on the continent quickly and usually affordably.
The European rail system, in particular, is world-class. Trains are reliable, comfortable, fast, and the system is extensive. You can travel almost anywhere by train. It’s impressive if you come from a place where train travel is less common.
