I’ve hitchhiked in the Middle East, slept in a hammock in Central America, and now camped solo in the US. Part of what I do is meet people and share their stories to help my friends, family, and readers see that for the most part, people are better than good. Even with these experiences, people still ask me how I stay safe while traveling solo.
I can think of exactly two close calls I’ve had in regards to my safety in all my years traveling. Here’s a couple of good stories, and a couple that will make my parents nervous to hear:
Hitchhiking in Cyprus
Hitchhiking:
A good friend and I hitched all the time when we studied abroad in Cyprus. We would hitchhike downtown, the beach, and more. To stay safe, we never did it alone, and always had a safe word. If one of us noticed that there was something off about the driver or other passengers, we’d say ‘watermelon’. Or maybe it was ‘blueberries’. We liked our fruit, I guess.
If the person had kids in the car, they were typically so fun! Multiple people were usually great too. We had folks invite us to their parent’s homes for dinner and a couple of drivers tried to teach us how the buses worked.
A story: There was one time that we were coming back from the beach and my friend went around to get in the back seat and I reached for the passenger seat door. I noticed a stack of nudie mags on the front seat and yelled, “WATERMELON!”. My friend immediately came back to my side of the car and we flipped the guy off and walked against the grain of traffic when he tried to stay there.
If we needed to say no or jump out, we didn’t care about hurting their feelings – our safety was more important.
Camping Solo:
My family camped often when I was a kid, and I’ve gone with my friends several times as an adult. my first solo camping trip I noticed my neighbor noticing me set up my tent. I waved and finished setting up before walking over to introduce myself. Within 30 seconds I had a dinner invite for the following evening, and we chatted the night away. Until 9, because time works differently when you’re camping.
The next afternoon I was getting back from my hike and his wife waved me over. “We have these seltzer drinks that our daughter likes. She’s about your age. Don’t bring any snacks or beer over, ya hear?” Loud and clear! We ate amazing homemade food, conversed, watched the sunset, and played with their dogs. The next morning when I went to leave, she gave me her extra hand cream (the mountain air was drying me out!) and made me a fresh cup of coffee.
Campfire with my neighbor pals!
Couch Surfing: Stay safe while traveling solo
I have couch surfed over 80 times since 2011. Couchsurfing.org is a website that connects travelers with locals, typically offering a night to stay in their home as a self-guided cultural exchange. One of my first experiences was in Paris, and reached out to a couple of people to host me. One person had a full bed instead of a couch as well as a weekday off work to show me around his favorite spots in the city.
When I arrived, the bed was a shared bed, and he gave me weird vibes even before arriving at his apartment. While he was in the bathroom, I grabbed my things and left. I never heard from him after that.
Sleeping Outside:
One of my favorite hostels in the world is in Nicaragua. To get there, you have to meet a pickup truck ‘taxi’ in the city square in Granada, then ride out to a mountain about 10km outside of the city. Then, you have to carry your bags up a mountain. There is no service out there, and the only establishment on the mountain is the hostel. The rooms are all open air, and the hostel is just hammocks in a treehouse. To get from room to room, you have to walk across rope bridges.
The meals there were all family-style, and the howler monkeys screamed all night. However, I slept like an angel, and am taking a group of girls there at the end of this year if all works out.
Sleeping in Hammocks in Nicaragua
So, travel smart, and expect people to love you as much as you love them. But also, don’t ever be afraid to walk away when your gut tells you to go.
Have you ever planned a trip with friends, and one by one, your friends back out? Same. Which left me wondering: does anyone know how to take yourself on a solo road trip?
In this article, I’m going to give you a tongue in cheek look into how to take yourself on a solo road trip. Buckle up, and I hope you giggle 🙂
My first night camping alone, my down the way neighbors invited me over for dinner. Afterward, we had a beer, made a fire, and watched the sunset. They even saw me off with coffee in the morning and let me play with their dogs!
So, here’s the dish. How to take yourself on a road trip, a tongue-in-cheek, slightly factual guide, by me.
How to take a solo road trip:
Decide you want to go on a road trip. Possibly be inspired by someone else’s trip and think, ‘I’ll add a solo road trip to the bucket list’.
Pick an elusive time parameter. For me, I had a girls weekend in Denver, and 10 days later a conference in Billings. A normal person would fly twice it, but hey. It’s me.
Add other stops to the trip that sound fun. For me coming from Dallas, it was parts of Texas and the National Parks that I’d always wanted to visit, plus visiting friends and family on the way back from Billings.
Realize a few days before you’re scheduled to leave that you need to pack for hot, cold, parties, work conferences, hiking, sleeping, and more. Wait until 40 minutes before you plan to leave to throw it all in the car, creating a ‘homeless-hoarder-chic’ aesthetic for the Semi-Truck drivers that look down into your car. Top it off with that super cute hat you probably won’t wear at all on the trip.
Run back in the house for the phone charger, but end up grabbing a lighter, bottle opener, and the last half of a loaf of bread. You know, just in case.
Go. Nobody gave you permission, so don’t wait for anyone to tell you not to go. Thank every person who tells you to be safe, knowing full well you did not buy that bear spray.
Pretend you’re not freaking out.
Listen to all the podcasts you’ve been meaning to listen to, see all the things you’ve always wanted to see and see all of the friends you told you’d come visit.
Make new, unexpected friends along the way. The weird dude at the campsite? He and his wife will end up offering you dinner. And then a beer. And then coffee on your way out in the morning. They’ll even let you pet their dog. And offer you their couch in case it rains at night. “Just holler, ya hear?”
Splurge on a hotel after several nights of not showering and days of hiking. Watch your skin turn from dark and dusty back to pale AF.
Learn to make ‘camping food’ better than your parents. A double-decker veggie burger with cheese on slightly stale whole wheat, and a layer of peanut butter just because? You won’t have felt this ‘college’ since college. Except in college, you had amenities and this is a really mediocre campfire.
Take time to stop and grow. Think, write, read, and do the things that make your brain light up. Be grateful, because not everyone makes the time to do this. You will be a more interesting person to have a beer with after this.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, right? Well, I barely planned at all for my first time solo camping. However, I’d say it went pretty darn well.
My family camped relatively often growing up. Always in state parks, often on road trips. After I quit my job, I decided that it was time to see more of the U.S. so I set off on a two-month road trip.
My main reservation wasn’t with the camping, sleeping alone
in a forest, or managing to make food. It was the idea of not having anyone
around if I needed them or just the sanity check of having someone to talk to.
My First Night of Solo Camping
One of the things I failed to plan was reserving a campsite. I pulled in to Vedauwoo Campground in Medicine Bow National Forest around 6:30pm after a 2h15 drive from Denver. The campground had two other cars in it, both with 5th wheel campers. Being the day after Labor Day, I figured there would have been more long-weekend stragglers. I drove around and chose a spot that was about 100m from the bathroom. I figured it’d be close enough to be comfortable, far enough to not smell it or hear the door slam.
Sunset brew on my ‘front porch’. Peep my blue pop up tent 🙂
The pop-up tent that I brought is so easy to put together. It took about two minutes to get ready! I staked it down and used my car air pump to pump up my queen size air mattress. Then, I put the fitted sheet on it (because nobody likes sleeping on plastic) and had the bed and tent ready to go within minutes. I cracked open a beer and watched the sunset.
When I walked back to my car to get fire starters and a lighter, I noticed my neighbor watching me. He wasn’t creepy, just one of those folks that you can tell doesn’t get a lot of social interaction. It could have been unnerving since it was my first-time solo camping, but I leaned into the situation.
I went over and introduced myself to him and his wife. Within 30 seconds I had an invite to come over for dinner tonight. They told me if I needed anything to come knocking, and that they’d keep an eye out for my things while I was out hiking today. Campers are the best 😊
I declined their invitation to come over that night, so they came to keep me company while I started my own fire. After a few comments on my veggie burger, we shared a beer and a few comments on the weather. Together, we watched a lightning storm approach. Again, they offered that I could come to their camper if I needed anything. I learned later on that it hailed hard on some campsites about 6 miles west of us, so I was grateful for the friendship.
I was super nervous about sleeping in the middle of nowhere alone. The best thing I did was bring an extra blanket and a flashlight. It got down to the 40’s but I was cozy as I read in bed and drifted off to sleep. I got a full 11 hours of rest and loved waking up without any technology.
First Day of Solo Camping
Another thing I forgot to plan? Filling up my water bottles and Camelbak before I got to the campsite. There was no running water after Labor Day, so I had to drive about 6 miles to find water.
I also forgot to plan anything to do while out there. Go ahead, roll your eyes.
I knew that ranger stations typically had plenty of maps and knowledgeable staff, so I chatted with the rangers while at the station. I lucked out because the Rest Area had Wi-Fi, clean water, and great staff.
The ranger had great tips for a hike that started about 1km down the road. So, I took off from there on foot to hike for about 8 miles. I had a sandwich, a banana, some cashews, and 2L of water on me when I left.
Ultimately, the first day of my first time solo camping went a lot better than it probably should have. I should have planned more than just food and a tent, but I fared pretty well.
After the day I just told you about, I spent an extra day in Vedauvoo National Forest. After that, I headed to Jackson Hole then onward to Montana for two weeks. Solo camping left me feeling so independent and free. I’m so proud of myself for doing it, and can’t wait to have another go at it somewhere else!
So, failing to plan might not always mean planning to fail,
don’t you think?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my time spent traveling, it’s that people are people everywhere.
Don’t hate in my state
I firmly believe that every person, regardless of location or culture or otherwise, has more in common with any other person than they do differences. Here are a few stories to prove that:
Story 1:
When I was in Palestine in April of 2014, I was sitting on a stoop facing the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. School must have just let out because several kids dressed in uniforms came out into the stone-paved plaza. Groups of girls crowded together, giggling. Maybe I only noticed them looking at me because I was watching them in return, but after a few moments, I felt a tug on my hair. As I turned and smiled, the little girl ran back to her group of friends, giggling. I wondered to myself, “Is it because they’ve never seen big, blonde, curly hair like mine? Or is this just little girls being little girls?”
Story 2:
In Southeast Asia in 2019, so many skincare products promised whiter skin. When I asked people about this, the explanation boiled down to: darker skin means a lot of time spent outside. Time spent outside means manual labor jobs in the sun. Manual labor means you’re poor, so dark skin equates to a lower social class. Meanwhile, tourists spent time on the beach in bikinis, ordering their drinks from people in full sleeves and wide-brimmed hats. At night, both the tourists and locals ditched their makeup and headed to the beach bars.
Story 3:
I had brunch with friends on Sunday in Dallas and made casual conversation with our server. Nothing out of the ordinary: I asked what she’d recommend between two options, and made friendly banter. As she dropped the check off at my table, she said, “You’re so friendly.” I laughed uncomfortably. “No seriously! You’re the friendliest customer I’ve had so far today.” I replied, “A smile is the same in every language.”
So perhaps we all want to be appreciated. To be appreciated and respected. To be appreciated, respected, and honored.
Xenophobia runs rampant worldwide as well as at home. I’m wearing a t-shirt today in solidarity with the victims of hate crimes here in Texas. It happens here, it happens elsewhere. But today I’m choosing to remember that we have a little more in common than we do in differences with every person we meet.
Never one for New Year’s Resolutions, I try to set a strong intention every year.
This year was to breathe. In the past couple of years, I’ve come to terms with the fact that as an introvert, I don’t always express my stress appropriately. I don’t accept it, and I don’t rid myself of it well.
This year, I resolved to take time to breathe. I intended to get more in to yoga, breathe through my anxious moments. To me, a breath insinuates that I should take in what comes into my life, nurture what I can, and let things go.
When you set your intentions to something as repetitious as breathing, interesting things happen.
Do you know what your environment smells like?
These breathing exercises have been interesting. I know what the back staircase at work smells like now. I can tell the difference between breathing in ocean humidity and midwest humidity. I’ve experienced the different between a deep breath and a hatha breath. The way I interact with my environment is changing, slowly.
Inspire
FUN FACT- the word for ‘breathe’ in Brazilian Portuguese is ‘inspire’. Striking.
It’s tough to say goodbye to new places and friends that I’ve grown to love. Rarely do I visit a new place expecting it to change me. ‘It’s just a vacation community’ I tell myself. Then, a week later, I can’t seem to remember what the world is like outside of paradise. Do people really work to support lives they can’t afford? Why doesn’t everyone make just enough coconut oil in their kitchens to support their surfing habits and rent?
Thus, travel can be professionally taxing. Everywhere I’ve been has challenged me to explore whether or not the path I’m on is ‘right’ for me. I’ve been resisting the idea of corporate America for years, yet I’ve accepted a position right in it’s core. What is really so wrong about living without a 401k and disability benefits? Where does the line lie between following a passion, doing what one is good at, and supporting a given lifestyle?
Traveling is hard. It is hard to accept that two weeks in an immaculate hostel cost me less than a week of rent will out East. My lifestyle on the road is less expensive than at home. No car insurance, rent, electric bills, or tuition. It’s difficult to see that as I nickel and dime my way into less expensive surf lessons, my instructor has to decide between traveling to see his family or giving weekend instruction.
It’s challenging to be away from my own family. I feel such deep empathy for my brother, and when he hurts, I hurt. When my best friend is going through something, it’s difficult to not be able to call. The world is getting smaller with technology, but until I can hug my parents from another continent, I’m not buying it.
Sometimes, it’s hard to swallow the things I see. Is that child alone? It’s 11pm on a weekday. She’s in diapers. Is she eating that? Oh, yeah. Yeah she is. It looks like so much fun to be a child in Brazil! They play all day in the streets without fear. Isn’t that better than the suburbs? Who’s at home waiting for them? Do they have access to medical care? Why is his foot turned like that?
With travel, every day is an adventure! What will I eat, and where will I find it? Where will I sleep, and how much will it cost? Who will I meet, and how will their story intertwine with mine?
Travel is a privilege that I try to never take for granted. Every day I learn a great deal about the way our world works.
