Why I tried solo travel

I have experienced solo travel 4 times so far. 3 times were to Jeju island and the other is to New Zealand. I had no choice but to do because at that time there was no close friend who can go with me. And I got 2 weeks to a month of free time after finishing internship or getting hired, I really wanted to use that time to travel. Additionally, as I thought it will be difficult to travel more than 2 weeks after I start to work especially in Korea, I had to spend my time meaningfully. So I wanna share a lot of solo travel tips for traveller who want to explore the world on their own.

Good Solo Travel Tips

Finding travel mates

While traveling alone, there may be moments when you want someone to talk to. If you meet nice people during the trip, your experience will more shine. So here are some tips that really worked for me!

1. Community

If you need travel mates to share food and take each other’s photos, it will be helpful to use community like Facebook group and Meetup. For my case, I used Naver Cafe which is Korean online community platform where people with similar interests gather to share information and find friends. When I planned to travel New Zealand, I wanted to find friends who can drive because I didn’t have a driver license at that time. And luckily I could meet good friends who are in a similar age to me and we shared our instagram accounts for knowing each other better. Thanks to them, I could enjoy New Zealand better and save my money a lot.

2. Shared house

If you’re planning to travel in a same area for more than 2 weeks, I’d like to recommend shared house. When I decided to travel Jeju Island, I planned to stay for 1 month to truly experience real vibe of it. So I chose shared house to save my money and get useful information from host. Although I didn’t expect to meet travel mates there, I could make a good connection with nice people and we travelled together a lot. If I hadn’t met them, I would have visited only famous tourists spots. Thanks to them, I was able to discover lots of hidden places. And It was so interesting to meet people from different regions and with various professions. Also, they gave me a lot of energy and inspiration for life. Since then, we still keep in touch with each other these days.

3. Hostel

Another one of solo travel tips is making travel mates by staying in hostels. When I travelled to New Zealand, I met another Korean group at Haka House Lake Tekapo, a cozy hostel located near lake Tekapo. We did some small talks while eating dinner in the shared kitchen. And at that night, we saw beautiful stars and galaxy together near our hostel. And at Haka House Aoraki Mt Cook, I could meet people from various countries like Vietnam, England, and so on. We together shared each other’s hometown dishes and stories. When I share Kimchi which is Korean famous side dish, they really liked it. Although I can’t guarantee if you will meet great people, the experience will be worth it!

Taking Photos on Your Own

I think the most difficult part of solo travel is you can’t take pictures of yourself easily. So I’ll share solo travel tips fortaking great photos by yourself.

1. Tripod

I think using tripod is good for capturing your full body shot. First you need to find a peaceful spot without many people. And if you set your camera to burst mode and walk slowly, you can get more natural shot. If you feel pressured about it, find a bench to sit on and try posing as if you’re reading a book or gently brushing your hair back.

2. Mirror selfie

When you find a mirror and good lightning near it, don’t miss to try mirror selfie. It’s a great way to capture your outfit and the vibe of the place at once. This is the photo that took in Royal Palace of Madrid.

3. Photo shooting included tour

I booked a tour when I planned to visit Montserrat in Spain. Although I missed the tour included photo shooting, it was such a nice experience that I could get high quality photos. My tour guide used DSLR camera and took amazing shots of me in great spots. So if you’re into taking good travel photos, looking for this kind of tour will be helpful.

What I really liked about solo travel

It was so nice to enjoy my own time and plan travel just the way I like. As I was alone, I could try to meet new people and got lots of nice friends. If you haven’t tried solo travel, I really recommend and hope my solo travel tips will help you on your journey.