How To Determine How Long My First Solo Trip Should Be

Thinking about going on your first solo trip? Feeling unsure of where to begin? Don’t worry, I’ve got you! When I was first contemplating going on my first solo trip back in 2017, I remembering thinking how long should my first solo trip be? I had never done a solo trip before and admittedly I was feeling quite nervous and afraid.

I wasn’t sure in my capabilities of navigating a foreign country, with a different language and different customs. I was certainly afraid for my safety and the fear of being alone. These are all common thoughts people have when they first start out, so don’t worry if you’re feeling these. It’s completely normal.

These beginner tips will help you figure out exactly how long you should go on your first solo trip.

Why Solo Travel Can Be a Life-Changing Experience

Solo Travel Unveils The Real You

Traveling solo is such a liberating feeling that I truly think everyone should experience once in their life. If not for the opportunity to see new places, but for the self growth that occurs. That chance to break outside of your comfort zone and truly realize how capable you really are.

It’s one of the singular moments in your life where you actually get to find out who YOU are outside of all the noise at home. Whether that’s your partner, your friends, your family, your job, or your community, all of these outside factors influence your thoughts, habits, and interests.

Forced To Face Your Fears And Grow In Solo Travel

Going on a solo trip strips back all of those layers and what you’re left with is just:

You.

I can’t explain it to you, the only way you’ll truly be able to understand is to take the leap and try it out for yourself!

The #1 thing I always tell people who are afraid to try it:

you can always go home. It’s that simple.

If you get to your destination and find that you truly, honestly hate it, then you can just book your flight home early. No one will judge you. At least you can say you tried it.

What would be worse is to never have tried it, wondering “what if?” And I can promise you the most amazing things happen on the other side of the “what if”s in life.

Factors To Consider When Choosing How Long My First Solo Trip Should Be

There are several factors that will ultimately impact how long you decide to go for your first solo trip. These are the main 4 factors that you should consider when making your decision. Note that many of them are interdependent on one another.

First: How Far Away Is Your Destination For Your First Solo Trip?

Traveling to different countries will most likely put you in a new time zone or require a long distance to travel.  This will mean you’ll most likely experience jet lag, on top of potentially having a long travel time. They say that jet lag takes about 1 day per 1 hour of difference to overcome. I wouldn’t let that deter you though from going somewhere and trying to make the most out of it though.

Your excitement for traveling will usually give you enough energy to overcome it. There are also ways you can reduce your chances of being affected by jet lag. Such as eating, sleeping, and staying awake during your flight in accordance with the timezone of where you’re going.

A long travel time means that you may be using a significant amount of time actually getting to and from the destination. So that needs to be factored into the concerns regarding the amount of time you can get off work.

My rough guidelines for distance and time for deciding how long my first solo trip should be:

If I’m going somewhere within my country, a long weekend at minimum. If I’m going to a neighboring country like Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean, I would say 1 week minimum. If I’m going somewhere further like South America, Europe, Or Africa, I would want a minimum of 2 weeks. If I’m heading even further to Asia, Australia, etc, then I woud want 3-4 weeks at minimum.

These rough guidelines to take into consideration for the distance traveled, how long you’ll actually be traveling for, and the jet lag. For example, it takes about 2 travel days to get to and from Asia. If you only go for 1 week, that leaves you just 3 days to explore. Plus those 3 days you’ll really be battling the time difference and may end up going to sleep super early, or waking up in the middle of the night. That’s hardly a trip, is it?

Second: Are You Ready To Dive In Head First Or Do You Want To Test The Waters?

Going all in on your first solo trip:

Diving in head first means you’re ready. You’ve mentally prepared, did your research, and are just like f*ck it, I’m going to go all out. If this is you, then you may want to do a longer trip, say like a month right out the gate.

That’s what I did. I figured if I was going to go somewhere on the other side of the world and really find out if it’s something I like or even something that I can do, I’m going to go all in. If you’d like to see how my first solo trip experience went, you can read that here.

So if you’re someone who doesn’t like to overthink things, is ready for a challenge, and has been sitting around feeling READY to finally take the leap – then I think diving in head first for a long trip might be just for you. After all I think this is the only way you’re really going to experience what it’s like to truly solo travel and reap all of the benefits that come with it.

Let’s be real, going somewhere for a long weekend within your own country is hardly being exposed to a completely different environment. That can really only be achieved by being in a different culture, with another language (usually this is the case but not always in places like the UK, Australia & NZ), and different customs.

Testing the waters for your first solo trip:

However, if you are someone who is unsure if this is something you’d like and you’re wanting to approach it slowly, then perhaps a short, local solo trip is for you. You may want to go for a long weekend to somewhere within the country or go for up to a week in a nearby country.

The only downside is I don’t know that you would get the full experience of what it’s like to do a solo trip in it’s entirety by going for such a short amount of time. Especially if you are going somewhere within the same country.

Your experience may be limited in the sense that you might end up somewhere or in a location where you aren’t surrounded by the right people that end up making the trip magical.

The secret sauce to an epic solo trip are the other travelers you meet and end up hanging out with. Going for a long weekend to Chicago might be limited in the travelers you meet vs. going for a 2 week trip to Spain.

I get it though, some people just need to try things slowly. So if this is you, no worries. Take that shorter trip. Find out if it’s something you think you can handle and would like, and I urge to to make the leap to a longer trip next time.

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Third: What’s Your Budget For Your First Solo Trip?

Budget isn’t everything, because I promise you travel does not have to be expensive. However it will be a determining factor because honey if you have $500 to spend vs. $5000 to spend, it’s going to be two different trips.

What to factor into your budget when deciding how long my first solo trip should be:

When budgeting for your trip, you want to consider the price of getting there, your accommodation, eating, tours, shopping, insurance, things going wrong, visas, etc. The costs can add up.

So I recommend you putting aside savings each week or month to put towards this solo trip fund. Figure out how much you will have to spend. Then work backwards from there for budgeting.

Analyze the average costs of the destination:

Budget also matters because if you go somewhere that has a cheaper cost of living you’ll be able to travel there for longer on the same amount than if you were to go somewhere more expensive.

For example, $1500 may get you 4 weeks in Thailand where it might only get you 2 weeks in Spain. So again, decide on that destination, figure out your budget, and then you can determine how long you can go for based on how far your dollar can stretch.

My rough guidelines for budgeting to decide how long my first solo trip should be:

These are just estimates and will vary based on your interests, comfort level, and ability to budget. I like to say that you can get away with $1200-$1500 per month in Southeast Asia, about $2000+ per month in Europe & Northeast Asia. I haven’t done South America yet but I would imagine it might be in the middle of a Southeast Asia and Europe budget.

For additional context I did 5 weeks in South Africa and spent $1000 . I spent $2000 for 4 weeks in South Korea. I’ve spent $1200 for a month in Bali. I’ve spent $500 for a month in India.

Last: How Much Time Can You Get Off Work?

If you live in the USA, you know then, our PTO sucks. There’s not a set limit of time that we get off every year like in Europe or Australia. It also varies from employer to employer. Some companies allow 1 week, others 2 weeks, and if you’re lucky you get 4. I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone getting more than that. And on top of that, I know that it’s looked down upon to take all of it off at once.

Did you know that 46% of Americans don’t use all of their PTO according to Pew Research Center?

 

That is insane!! I’m over here willing to take UNPAID time off just to travel and people are over here not using their PAID time. That’s wild.

Use your PTO to determine how long my first solo trip should be:

If you’re reading this, please don’t be this person. You deserve to travel. You deserve to see the world and tick off your bucket list. You do not exist just to work or to serve your employer. The world is big and beautiful and there’s more to life than working. Use your GD PTO please, I’m begging you.

So your trip length might very well be dictated by how long you can get off work. If you can get off work for the full month, go for it. If you can only get 1 week, go for it. If you can still only get a long weekend by planning your trip over a 3 day holiday weekend and taking an extra day off to get 4 days, by all means, still go for it.

If You Work Remotely:

Now if you’re someone who works remotely, you have a unique advantage that you can probably take your work with you. If your work allows people to travel, then go. If you’re unsure, then ask them if you’d be able to work from X country, so long as you still work your normal hours. If they approve, then freaking go for it!

However because you’d be working your 9-5 M-F, you would be limited in how much you can travel. In this instance, I’d recommend definitely going somewhere for longer so you can properly explore before or after work and on the weekends.

If you don’t work remotely and are looking for ways to break into a remote role or become a digital nomad, head over to this page. This is where I reveal 1 digital nomad job a week so you can learn from others who share what it is they do that allows them to work and travel.

In the end, only you will be able to determine what that ideal length will be. You can’t get it wrong so no matter what you choose will be a great answer.

Once you’ve locked that first solo trip under your belt, you’ll know exactly what to expect and will know if it’s something for you. I highly recommend going on a longer trip after that first one. Whether that’s upping it from 1 week to 1 month, or 1 month to 3 or 6 months, just go for it.

I promise you it’ll be one of the most life-changing things you’ll ever do. I mean look at me, I went on 1 solo trip and then turned it into my entire life and it’s been 6 years and I’ve never looked back.

xx, Christine

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