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.
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Trust your gut: staying 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:
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.
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.
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.