So you’ve finally decided to backpack around Europe – maybe even around the world – and your friends have bailed on you at the last minute. Or maybe you don’t have any friends, or maybe, you love the freedom of solo travel and prefer to go it alone and meet new friends out on the tourist trail.
Whatever your reasons for backpacking alone, the fact remains that (unless you’re a loner who loves wandering the streets alone and reading a lot of books) you’ll need to meet people on the way if you’re going to have a fun, memorable trip.
For some people making friends on the road is as easy as walking into a room, smiling and striking up a conversation with the first person who smiles back. For the rest of us, there is a certain level of apprehension that comes with being a lone in a strange place and a bit of shyness is certain to take over at times.
We’ve put together some tips on breaking the ice and getting to know people along the way.
Backpacker Hostels
As a solo traveller, backpacker’s hostels will be your lifeline! Rather than being stuck away in a hotel room all on your own, hostels will have shared rooms and usually a kitchen, a common room and maybe even a pool or other outdoor sitting area.
These are great places to meet other travellers. It can be a bit tricky striking up a conversation when everyone’s stuck in front of the TV, but dorm rooms and the kitchen are prime spots for a bit of banter.
Hostel Events and Outings
Many good hostels will put on social events to get people mixing and liven things up a bit.
These sorts of things are geared towards getting people socialising, so you’d be an idiot to miss out on it if you’re trying to meet people!
BBQs, pub crawls, movie nights and the like can seem scary at first if you’re on your own, but plunk yourself down at a table with other people and you’ll be comfortable in no time.
Day Trips & Excursions
In Asia you might find yourself locked away in single rooms in cheap hotels most of the time. Because of this, meeting people can be a bit tricky unless you’re the type to wander into a bar by yourself and strike up conversations with random people.
The best way to meet people for me was to take a few days trips here and there – snorkelling excursions, trips to secluded islands. You will probably be sharing confined transportation and seeing some pretty cool things, so it’s pretty difficult not to get talking.
Classes
Another great way to meet new people and not spent time alone is through booking courses.
There are lots available all around the world, and a lot aimed at travellers. For example throughout south east Asia you can find cookery courses where you’ll get to improve your kitchen skills with others. Fitness and martial arts courses are also popular.
Language classes can also be taken all over the world, from Brazil, to Mexico, to Portugal to Japan. You’ll study with like-minded people and also most schools organise social activities like sightseeing activities and day trips.
Adventure Group Tours
If you are really worried about being alone with travelling, or don’t want the hassle of trying to make friends a great way to discover a new destination and meet other people is organised tours.
Lots of travel companies offer adventure style tours for 18 – 35 years of age, usually in groups of 6-12 people. These can be great way to bond with others as you’ll discover new locations and have a lot of fun.
There are trips for all interests too, whether you want to explore beautiful National Parks in Europe, to discovering the highlights of south east Asia, you can find a perfect tour for you.
City Walking Tours
Many hostels offer free or cheap walking tours of their cities and these are a really good way to get chatting to a group of people. Walking tours will usually last a few hours which is plenty of time to build a bit of rapport with your fellow hostellers.
Plus visiting the sights of the city will give you a good talking point as well. If organised by your accommodation, you’ll probably also see the same people where you are staying too so you’ll have something in common which can be a good starting point.
Volunteer Programs
How about doing something beneficial? Volunteering abroad can not only be a really rewarding experience, its also a great way to learn new skills, meet inspiration people and also get to know other like-minded people.
There are thousands of projects around the world too, from helping at elephant sanctuaries in Thailand, to working on community projects in Africa, to teaching in Latin America – no matter where you want to travel you’ll be able to find ways to give back.
This is one of the ways travelling can help your career whilst also potentially making you new lifelong friends and also getting you interested in the NGO and voluntary sector. You can find gap year companies offer long term opportunities, but also short term projects are available too.
Alcohol
We can’t emphasize enough the power of the going for a night out.
Getting drunk with a new group of people is a great way of bonding, like it or not. Sure there are a lot of people out there who travel to see museums and have early nights, but who wants to meet them anyways?
Backpacking is as much about having a great night out as it is about seeing the sights by day and rocking up to a hostel’s kitchen with a bottle of wine and offering it around is bound to be the start of a good night.
A lot of hostels organised bar crawls and social events, so don’t miss out.
Everyone is in the Same Boat
The main thing to remember if you’re feeling a bit shy or timid is that the other solo travellers in the place are probably feeling the same way. Most people come travelling for a good time, to see a few sights and to meet lots of new people.
If you are feeling a bit shy or intimidated in a new hostel, you might want to resort to reading a book… but that’s the last thing you should be doing! It would much better to be sharing travel stories with a new person and wwe’re pretty sure that most people feel the same way.
Hostel Cliques
Sometimes in certain hostels it can feel as though there is an already established group. Perhaps they’re long-term residents or maybe they all just met each other a few days before you arrived.
Either way, this can be pretty intimidating, especially if it feels like you’re the only one who’s not part of the group. A lot of people who shy away from groups like this and look on from afar half jealous and maybe half disapproving.
Our advice would be to do everything you can to muscle in on the group! If they’re hostel long termers (especially common in cities where people stay awhile and work like London, Dublin, Edinburgh) then they’ll know all the best places to go and will show you a good time.
Starting That Conversation
All it takes to break the ice is usually a simple question like ‘what time is it?’ I find that asking if you can take a look at their guidebook for a minute is a really good way to bust in. If someone wants to chat you can usually tell, and if they don’t then no harm done, move onto the next person.
Hopefully our list has given you some reassurance that you won’t be lonely even if travelling solo. If you need some ideas for where to visit on your next adventure, view our guide to the world’s best backpacking destinations.
