Scared of travelling alone?

Today I am going to give some advice to those adventurers that want to throw themselves into the experience of travelling alone, so I'm using this blog to help you as much as I can.

The first bit of advice is don't be afraid to be afraid, in other words, it's normal that the first time you're travelling alone you may think: What made me come up with this idea? and the first thing that goes through your mind is to jump up and run off the plane. It's completely normal, it happened to me when I travelled to Turkey for the first time, and alone! I remember being in the plane in Bajaras airport just about to take off to Istanbul and thinking "why didn't I just stay at home in peace, with my friends, family... "

But, anyway, it's normal for us to feel scared the first time we leave what is called our "comfort zone", that zone in which we feel safe, comfortable, knowing everything that surrounds us. But outside of it is a world unknown.

This leads us to the second bit of advice and that is traveling alone forces us to completely leave our comfort zone. It's a thoroughly satisfying challenge for someone who is prepared to leave their comfort zone because they will get to know their own limits, explore new places and cultures and they will realise that this unknown world that at first scared them, is a world of wonder.

The third bit of advice that I want to give you is don't let the bad reputations that the media gives a country or city influence you too much. Let me explain. In my case I'll use Istanbul, Turkey as the example. Before travelling some friends said to me that I would be mad to go there, that it is a war-torn country, that a bomb was going to explode... etc. Currently, with the ISIS scumbags there is no safe city practically anywhere in the world. Yes, it's true that this applies to some more than others. In the case of Turkey, there are some areas where it is advisable not to go, like the border areas of Syria and Iraq since these are areas of conflict. Istanbul and the better areas of Turkey are on the other side of the country. Yes, it's true that there have been attacks there as well, but what about what happened in Paris? and Brussels? and the attacks that happened as well in London and Madrid? If we're going to be scared of everything we'd end up never leaving our houses for fear that we'd get run over in the street.

Yes it is true that there are countries where it is not recommendable to travel in any circumstance, like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and the other countries that are in constant war.

To get more information about the situation in a country, visit the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there they will give detailed information about all countries in the world and advice for tourists.

Currently there are a number of apps and blogs online that can inform you on the places that you want to visit.

The fourth piece of advice that I would give to all travellers regardless of their motivations is use hostels instead of luxury hotels. Unless you find a really good offer in the latter, of course. The main reason I say this is for the benefit of living with others. Hostels have common areas where you can have a great social life and meet people from different places in the same or similar situation as yourself.

From my point of view it's just as recommendable if you're travelling on holiday or if you're travelling with the purpose of living in that country. In this latter case, it's better to look for a flat when you're in the country rather than in your country of origin, given that you can book more viewings to visit flats, you can meet with the landlords... etc. The same can be said for a job, if you don't already have a job lined up in the target country it's much better if you start to look for one when you're there. Therefore, a hostel is the better option to spend those first weeks of searching.

As the fifth piece of advice I would say don't concentrate solely on looking at information about the country like what to see, what not to see, where to go partying... etc. Concentrate as well on the culture. Things that they would consider rude, things that they could interpret badly, whether it be through language or the gestures with which we articulate something... etc. The best thing to do is to try and behave like the locals to avoid uncomfortable situations.

Sixth piece of advice: buy travel insurance before leaving your country. You have to be sure that you will have medical coverage anywhere in the world, both nationally and internationally. It's not only useful for health-related issues but also for lost items like luggage, flight delays etc...

Now, in conclusion, if you're really planning to travel alone and you aren't doing so out of fear, think about all the positive experiences that you are going to get out of it. I know firsthand that travelling alone is daunting at first, but is something that you will never regret.

I always give the same example. Imagine that you are in your last few days of your life, that moment in which you are lying in bed not able to move or do hardly anything. Put yourself in that situation and think about all the things that you wished you had done but you didn't out of fear, because of what everyone would say... etc. You will realise that you could've easily done all of these things, but we cannot change the past. Luckily we are not in that situation, so seize the moment.