Rachel’s Interrail Adventures

Before my interrail trip, I had done many short trips alone, a number of international ones semi-alone (on my own but joining a group tour) and many trips with my children as the lone adult.

But I had never done a month long trip by myself and I anticipated that there was potential to be lonely and perhaps just be fed up of doing everything by myself.

So before I left on my month long interrail trip, I did a number of things to help myself be successful:

• Started this blog as a way of sharing my day and keeping in touch (brilliant move)
• Booked to stay in hostels – even though I had never done so before (another good move)
• Told my friends that I was a little afraid of being lonely and they kept in closer touch with me
• Was conservative in booking hostels and making plans so that I wouldn’t be caught out
• Was mindful of security and made contingency plans in the event of my phone being stolen/lost
• Decided to join walking tours
• Decided to really make an effort to talk to people around me as I travelled
• Decided to be courageous and be prepared to sometimes go out of my comfort zone
• Thought about and appreciated the positives of solo traveling

The positives of solo traveling:

• You can please yourself
• In every way possible you can please yourself and do whatever you want (same as the first one I know but it’s a massive one)
• Plans can easily be adapted to follow opportunities and interest. Eg one day in Vienna I had planned to go to Museumsquartier. However on the way there I saw the place to book the Bratislava boat so I got off the tram. Then I saw an interesting medieval building behind the main road so I went to take a look. Then I fancied a beer and ended up finding a restaurant that was the haunt of Mozart and Beethoven back in the day.
• Food is easier – you can have a yellow sticker supermarket meal (reduced priced sandwiches/salads from the shop) or upscale restaurant as you please

There are also challenges:

• No one to talk to and share observations and thoughts with. That’s a biggie.
• The onus of planning is all on you. No one to chip in with other ideas.
• AirBnB/hotels can be more expensive for one person (although I have travelled with hostels and they would be same price)
• There is no framework at all for your days – no one saying ‘see you in an hour/at 4pm/breakfast at 8 etc etc. This is liberating but also you depend on yourself to make any structure you need.
• If something goes wrong, you rely on yourself to sort things out. This is particularly pertinent with having things stolen. If my wallet/phone had been stolen, I would have had no one to borrow money/phone from.

I think traveling alone presents some opportunities that are not exclusive to solo travelers but solo travelers are perhaps more likely to take them:

• Talk to others and learn about places from people who live there – when we travel in a pair or more, a lot of talk is between the group.
• Learn more about yourself, what do you really like, dislike and need. Focus inwards sometimes.
• Join together with others for meals or trips. You never know what might happen.

What would you add to these lists?

In summary – be brave and do it. Be smart and put things in place to help yourself be safe and successful. Not every day will be sweet smelling roses – accept that and take it for what it is.