Or “19 Stories of Solo Traveller Safety You Don’t Want to Be Yours” – I couldn’t decide…

Staying safe while you’re travelling the world solo is a whole new ball game from looking after yourself in your home town. Every day is some thing and some one new, you need to take extra precautions. You need… my best safety tips for solo travellers.

I know what it’s like, I travelled the world solo for three years. You’re travelling, it’s a time for new experiences – pushing those boundaries – but it’s also a time when you learn things about the world you might not want to know. I don’t think solo travel is dangerous, no more so than being at home, but being under prepared and overly trusting can definitely get you into problems.

I’ve seen it.

Coming up with my top safety tips for solo travellers has totally made me realise how stupid some of my friends / acquaintances sound, but honestly, life on the road is just different. You’re more trusting, stories seem more believable and it’s tempting to cut corners financially so you can have money for all those ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences you’ll never be back again for.

Safety first, safety second though – especially when you’re travelling by yourself.

19 Safety Tips for Solo Travellers

1. Have money in reserve

I’m sure I’ve told you this story before so I’ll keep it short. I was passing the border into Guatemala from Mexico. I was so proud of myself for managing to spend every Mexican peso I had ready for the Guatemalan quetzals. Then, it turned out my bank card didn’t work in Guatemala, neither did my credit card. So there I was, all alone, no money, not even a dollar, no access to any cash and no friends.

Incredibly, and amazingly luckily for me, I met a couple from the bus who offered to pay for my hotel that night, and dinner. And then, they ended up doing exactly what I don’t recommend in point 12 below – they generously gave me some money. In this case though, I had transferred the money first via PayPal into their account (they were Australian) and they withdrew the cash from the ATM for me, after it had cleared. My stupid bank (Natwest) were no help. Although they did end up refunding the cost of all the phone calls to them, and saying sorry.

I would’ve been absolutely