StoryV Travel & Lifestyle community member, Gehad Gaber is an Egyptian wanderluster who is planning her first solo trip to Indonesia in February. She has a question many people struggle with when planning their first solo trip, so today I’m going to respond and share my tips…

Reader Q&A: How To Meet Other Travelers When Traveling Solo

No time? Come back later… Pin this to your travel board on Pinterest >>

Question:

Hi Hannah, I’m finally planning for my first trip to Indonesia and I will go solo, so I’m looking to get some advice. I was wondering if there is a way for me to meet other travelers or to get to know them beforehand?

Answer:

Hi Gehad, in terms of ways to meet other travelers, there are a few great apps to help you achieve this, including:

Backpackr, Tripr, Wandermates, Party with a Local and MeetnGreetMe.

Then there is also Couchsurfing and hostels.

I’m not sure what you plan to do for accommodation but if you choose to Couchsurf or stay in lively hostels, you’ll meet people really easily…

With Couchsurfing, you can sign up, complete your profile and then contact people living in Indonesia who are offering their couch (or spare room) to travelers for a few days.

If you choose a good host, they’ll be interested in traveling and meeting other travelers as well, so they will most likely want to show you their city and introduce you to others.

It’s free for you to Couchsurf but in return, it’s courtesy to bring a gift, cook dinner, take them out, etc.

As a solo female traveler, make sure that if you are going to Couchsurf, stay with other women or ensure that whoever your host may be is trustworthy and not just looking for a one night stand (this does happen).

And by the way, to the guys reading this, this can happen to you too, so always research first.

You can know if a host is trustworthy by simply reading through the reviews on their profile (and they can also do the same for you).

If you choose to stay in hostels, specifically hostels with a social atmosphere, it will be really easy for you to meet and get talking to other travelers.

Most people who stay in hostels travel alone so they are all in the same position as you and will be eager to meet new people as well.

I actually traveled to Bali and Thailand alone…

As soon as I landed in the airport in Bali, a young woman who was on my plane approached me and asked if I’d like to share a taxi with her to the beach.

She was traveling solo and didn’t have any accommodation booked so in the end, she stayed at the same place as me.

We became good friends and spent the next 3 days exploring together!

Then, a few days later I flew to Thailand…

There was one guy there that I kind of knew from volunteering in Thailand a few months prior so we stayed in contact and I met up with him.

That night, 2 of his friends who were staying in a city 6 hours away walked into our hostel (and one was Dan).

From then on, I never traveled alone.

So don’t worry too much about whether you’ll be alone throughout the trip.

Being an introvert, I’ve always found it quite difficult meeting new people on my own, but as soon as I shared that first taxi ride, I knew there were a lot of people in the same position as me.

That taxi ride completely calmed my nerves and helped me to trust that I would have lots of amazing new friends in no time.

If you are introverted like me, just try to relax, open up and shake off that “what if they think I’m weird?” feeling. Chances are, they feel exactly the same.

I hope this helps, and all the best in Indonesia!

If any of you are going to be traveling through Indonesia in February 2017, Gehad is open to connecting. You can get in contact with her on Facebook.

---

Over to you! Leave your thoughts in the comments section below…

• Have you traveled solo? How was your first experience? Did you meet other travelers on your trip and if so, how?
• Do you have a general question travel question that you’d like answered? Fire away!