Solo travel. DO IT. 7 tips for having a great trip.

It's daunting.

It's terrifying.

It's unnerving.

It's exciting.

It's a necessity.

How many times have you dreamed of going somewhere but the lack of available company stopped you?

You thought you would be lonely, it would be too troublesome to plan everything yourself, it could be too expensive not having someone to split a hotel with, or it might be unsafe.

Well, no more!

I've just returned from my latest solo adventure. I spent 10 days cycling from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Siem Reap in Cambodia through G Adventures with six others, and then I spent 4 days in Chiang Mai in Thailand by myself.

Previous to this, I've had a long weekend in Llubljana, Slovenia and had a few days in Seoul in South Korea, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada and day tripped to New Orleans, Louisiana from San Antonio, Texas. I cannot recommend solo travel enough!

Honestly, this is the one way to ensure that you never miss out. Once you embrace doing things by yourself, you'll never be held back by the availability (or lack thereof ) of others again.

1) Think about the type of place you're going to: Personally, I wouldn't go on a beach holiday alone, I'd find it weird and uncomfortable. I love going to cities where you can almost blend in with the locals and potter about without feeling awkward.

2) Research your destination: What is there to do and see? If you have a little to do list, it will stop you from being tempted to sit in your hotel room when your nerves kick in. And when you get to those places, make sure you have a selfie stick to hand in case no one's about! Though I do have to say, some of my favourite holiday snaps include one taken by a random Japanese man who took pity on me trying to balance my phone in a tree - that trick has worked sometimes though.

3) Look up group trips in the area: I use an app called 'GetYourGuide' and it hasn't let me down yet! This will give you an injection of people time, whilst you're still doing your own thing. I've done a number of trips and I've always found someone to talk to, I also haven't always been the only person on the trip by themselves - and even when I have been, no one cares.

4) Don't force yourself to stay in a hostel: I think some people think that if they're travelling solo then they *should* stay in a hostel or some form of group accommodation, for many different reasons. They are definitely great places for meeting people, if that's what you want. I've never felt that pull though, if you book in advance or join some type of loyalty program (I use Hotels.com's reward scheme), hotels don't have to be that expensive.

5) Literally do what you want: A beauty of travelling alone is that you don't have to concern yourself with anyone else's schedule. When I went to Llubljana, it was at a time when I genuinely just needed 3 good nights of sleep and that's exactly what I had! Yes I ventured round the lovely city and took a day trip round Lake Bled, but I was also asleep by 9:30pm every night and not up until 10 or 11 the next morning. It was what I wanted and needed, so it's what I did.

6) Be open to learning about yourself, don't expect to come home the same: For example, I've always been a fairly confident person, up for talking to anyone about pretty much anything. However, that has nothing but increased since I started travelling alone. You come across such a varied amount of people and I want to embrace everyone, learning about them as individuals. If you're someone who's quite shy and what not, I imagine something like this could affect you quite dramatically.

7) Embrace your own company: Spending time alone isn't a favourite thing to do for many people, but it really should be; we are the only person that we'll definitely be stuck with forever. Wandering about a brand new place, maybe in a country where you don't really speak the language, where you have to take of yourself by yourself, you really begin to figure out who *you* are and that's bloody fantastic.

So there you have it, my main tips for travelling solo with the main being: DO IT.

There's a whole world out there, go and see it, whether the company's holding your hand or bustling in your head.