15 Safety Tips for Traveling Alone

If you’re planning your first solo trip, you’ve probably wondered, “Is it really safe to travel alone?”

It’s one of the most common questions first-time solo travelers ask, especially women over 50. Friends and family often ask it too.

The truth is, there are no guarantees anywhere. Things can happen whether you’re at home or halfway around the world. The goal isn’t to eliminate every risk. It’s to make smart decisions, stay aware of your surroundings, and prepare for the unexpected.

While safety wasn’t my biggest concern before my first solo trip, it was something I thought about. The more I’ve traveled, the more I’ve realized that staying safe isn’t about being scared. It’s about developing good habits and making good decisions.

The tips below are the same habits I use whenever I travel. I hope they help you feel more prepared and more confident as you plan your own solo adventure.

If you’re still in the planning stages, start with my complete guide on How to Plan Your First Solo Trip, where I walk you through everything from choosing a destination to booking flights, accommodations, and travel documents.

1. Research Your Destination

This is a no-brainer but you’d be surprised how many people don’t know anything about where they are going. If you are traveling somewhere you’ve not been to before, do your research.

Don’t just blindly go somewhere thinking “Oh, it’s such and such place, I will be fine.”

Learn about the local culture, customs, and laws before you go. Find out which neighborhoods are best for visitors, how you’ll get around, and whether there are any current travel advisories.

If you’re still deciding where to go for your first solo trip, my guide on Choosing a Solo Travel Destination will help you find a destination that matches your comfort level.

2. Share Your Itinerary

Let a trusted friend or family member know your travel plans. Share your itinerary, where you are staying, and what you plan on doing. In case of an emergency, having someone who knows where you are is important.

I will send my grown kids all the details of my trip. Flights, hotels, activities…all of it. Not that I ever plan on it but, if I fall of the face of the earth, I want someone to know where to begin the search.

3. Check Reviews of Hotels

Before you book your hotel, make sure you check the reviews. Check the reviews from a few different websites too, not just one. If you find a few negative comments, pay attention to what they were for and how recent they were. If they appear to be similar and recent issues, you should probably choose a different hotel.

Booking websites like TripAdvisor, Agoda, and Booking.com are good places to start looking. So are travel blogs and Facebook groups.

I usually search for and join Facebook group pages as soon as I have a destination in mind so I can start looking for recommendations.

As a matter of fact, it was a Facebook group discussion that led me to change my hotel reservation in Frankfurt, Germany. When I arrived, I could see why. My original choice, while a nice hotel, was one street away from the red light district!

That experience completely changed how I choose accommodations. Now I spend just as much time researching the neighborhood as I do the hotel itself.

If you’re not sure what to look for, read my tips on How to Choose a Safe Hotel for Solo Travel, where I share exactly what I check before booking.

4. Don’t Look Like a Tourist

When you are traveling solo, you don’t want to draw attention to yourself by looking like a tourist. Don’t dress like one and don’t act like one. You want to blend in with the locals.

So don’t go walking around holding up the paper sightseeing map or constantly looking at your phone for directions. Criminals often target tourists because tourists are unfamiliar with the area and are so easily distracted with sightseeing. In essence, you are easier to be taken advantage of.

5. Stay Aware of Your Surroundings

Just like when you are at home, you’ll need to keep an eye on what’s happening around you. Situational awareness is so important when you’re traveling solo. There’s no one but you to watch your back.

Pay attention to where your purse or backpack is too. Is it casually draped over your shoulder? Hanging loosely in your hand? Are the zippers open? You need to keep everything secure and close to you, especially in crowded places or on public transportation.

Pickpockets and thieves are opportunists. They look for easy targets. Don’t make yourself a target.

6. Don’t Carry Valuables

If you don’t want to lose it, or risk having it stolen, leave it at home. That goes for what you pack as well as what you have on you when you are out and about.

Wearing flashy jewelry or expensive bling is just going to draw attention to you and tempt thieves. Just leave all that stuff at home.

7. Follow a Group of People

If you are walking alone, especially at night, it can feel safer to follow behind a group of people. It’s that whole safety in numbers thing. You don’t want to follow the group so closely though that it feels creepy, but close enough so that they could help you, if needed.

There’s also nothing wrong with saying “Hey, do you mind if I tag along behind you? I’m just going a couple blocks down and I’d feel better if I wasn’t walking alone.” You’d be surprised how many people take you under their wing and make sure you get to where you are going.

8. Don’t Get in a Car with a Random Stranger

Yes, this is commonsense but it’s still worth repeating. Never take rides from random strangers. Even if you’ve been chatting with someone you just met, it’s still not wise to get in their car. Better safe than sorry with this one.

To help stay safe when you’re traveling solo, it’s best to just use public transportation, taxis, or legitimate ride-sharing apps.

Pro Tip: Make sure you carry the business card of where you are staying, or have the location pinned on your GPS map. If you’re in a place with a language barrier, you can always show your driver the business card or the pinned location.

9. Keep your Phone Connected

Yes, your phone will still work in another country, but you’ll want to make sure you activate international coverage first. If you don’t, you’ll pay a fortune in international roaming fees.

Before you travel, contact you service provider and ask about coverage for your trip. Most cell phone companies will provide international coverage for an additional fee of about $12 a day.

Another, less costly, option is to purchase an eSIM card. eSIMs are digital SIM cards specific to the country or region you’re traveling to.

An eSIM will cost about $12 for enough data to usually last for a week.

The biggest drawback for using an eSIM is that they don’t work on phones that are not unlocked or paid off. So, you’ll want to check with your carrier before purchasing an eSIM.

10. Be Careful Posting on Social Media

This is a hard one for me because I love to post on Facebook and Instagram when I’m traveling by myself. I find it helps me feel more connected to friends and family when I’m so far away. But social media posts and location tagging are seen by a whole lot of people, including people you may not even know.

Never post your real-time location. It can compromise your privacy and your safety. It’s best to be vague or, better yet, wait until you are home before you post.

11. Stay in Communication

Regularly check in with friends or family back home. Let them know where you are and what your plans for the day are. You may even want to set up a specific time for daily or periodic check-ins.

Pro Tip: Turn on location sharing on your phone so that someone will always know where to find you. I have my location shared with my adult children even when I’m not traveling.

12. Have a Plan for Emergencies

If there is an emergency, would you know who to call? In the US, we know 911, but that number doesn’t work everywhere. Before you travel, save the local emergency number and your country’s embassy or consulate information.

I also recommend carrying copies of your passport and important travel documents. I keep printed copies of my passport, hotel reservations, flight information, and emergency contacts together in one travel folder. It gives me peace of mind knowing everything is in one place if something goes wrong.

You can also take photos of your documents and email them to yourself or a trusted person as a backup.

Before every international trip, I use my Travel Documents Checklist to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything important.

If you’re a US citizen, consider enrolling in the free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) before traveling abroad. It provides updates about safety, weather, and emergencies, and helps the embassy contact you if needed.

Want extra peace of mind?

Download my free Just in Case Travel Guide. It walks you through what to do if your passport is lost, your luggage doesn’t arrive, your flight is canceled, or something else goes wrong. Hopefully you’ll never need it, but it’s reassuring to know exactly what to do if you do.

13. Fake it Until you Make it

Act confident. Even if you don’t feel it, fake it. You never want to appear vulnerable. When you’re in public, don’t show signs of panic, fear, confusion, being lost, or getting overwhelmed.

If you find yourself in a situation where your senses are getting the best of you, take a deep breath, stand up tall, and fake your confidence. Fake it just long enough to walk into a nearby hotel, restaurant, museum or someplace safe.

Collect your thoughts, ask for help if you need it, and then keep going. Every solo traveler has moments like this. The confidence comes from working through them.

RELATED POST: 10 Ways to Build Confidence to Travel Solo

14. Travel During the Day

Whenever possible, arrive at your destination during daylight hours, especially if it’s somewhere you’ve not been before.

When you’re traveling solo, you need to be fully alert at all times. Arriving in the dark, especially after a long flight, significantly impairs your awareness and the ability to make good decisions. That’s how I ended up getting scammed into paying triple the price for a taxi after a 35 hour flight to Indonesia!

15. Be Mindful of Alcohol