#solofemalebackpacker

How To Plan And Have An Amazing Time On Your first Solo Trip

Does the thought of solo travelling unsettle your nerves? Do you ask yourself questions like, why should I travel solo when I can travel with others? Will I feel lonely? Will I regret my decision? Will I be in danger? Will I come back alive?

I go through the same hesitations before every trip. I took my first solo trip back in 2017 when I was 18 years old and it gave me a whole new perspective…

I knew I wanted to start in Thailand because it's capital is one of the cheaper cities to fly into, I heard it's a good starting point culturally speaking, and I've been researching the country for a few years. Now that I've moved on, I DEFINITELY miss the Thai food and Thai tea, I had to limit myself to two glasses per day lol. Something I really admired about Thai temples is the mirrored glass they used on a lot of their statues and architecture (shown below). Here are Thai spots I checked out in this order with my accomodations, photos, and personal feedback/suggestions.

1. Bangkok

(3/23-26) Playground Hostel

Outside of Bangkok proper but a nice break from the bussling city, 30-min walk to the Grand Palace/main center; tried to be a party hostel and saw a roach crawling around the dorm the size of my palm

(3/27) Overnight train to Chiang Mai

Surprisingly a very comfortable 12-hour ride and sleep on the top bunk (bottom bunks are more expensive, I don't know why). You can buy a nicely prepared dinner and breakfast for 200-300 baht ($7-9), pricey but dinner is worth it if you didn't prepare with drinks and snacks.

This city is an ideal starting point to a backpacking trip, especially not having been to Asia before, because it'll still give you some sort of culture shock, but still relatively familiar in terms of communication (many locals speak some English). Bangkok has loads of temples, street food, nice Western-styled establishments, China Town (a must!), India Town, etc. so it incorporates more diverse cultures than other large cities in SE Asia. Tourism is a substantial part of their culture, so take it as you will, but Thailand has continued to build out their foundation around appealing to their tourists. Staying 2-3 nights is enough; I stayed 1-2 nights too long because I had already booked my overnight train to the North before I arrived.

2. Chiang Mai

(3/28-30) Hug Hostel

Five stars!!! I absolutely loved this hostel because it was right outside of Old City, there was a beautiful view of the sunset on the rooftop bar, there were seperate bathrooms for men and women (with showers seperate from the toilet area!), there was a super relaxing common room with air con, the cutest cafe with delicious food and beveratges, cheap laundry service, and super accomodating staff.

After dreaming about going to Chiang Mai for this long, it was definitely different than I had pictured and I don't think I would've been happy if I did end up temporarily moving there post-graduation. Nonethless, it's a very charming, historical city with very rich culture. Temples and monuments are on every corner within and outside of Old City. The cheapest massages I've seen were in Chiang Mai at 100 baht or ~$3. Since I went during the dry season, the air pollution was extremely high in North Thailand so getting a mask was helpful. You can rinse them once they start turning brown from the dirt.

3. Pai

(3/31-4/3) Paitopia

Different than other hostel rooms, this dorm didn't have any bunk beds or dividers, just 8 beds in one giant room. It felt a lot like college, and it was the first hostel where I had to shower in the same room as the toilet. It still grosses me out, but eh that's traveling. The common space was outside with free tea and coffe, a pool and hammocks :)

Wow wow wow... I didn't get stuck in the Pai hole but I was pretty close! Pai is a magical land that has crossed my mind a lot since I left, I think because of the town's energy and of the company I was with. This was my favorite place in Thailand, hands down. Everytime Thailand comes up in conversation, so does Pai, because everyone knows how incredible it is, regardless of how polluted the air may be. It's very quiet, relaxed, easy going and carefree. It's two hours north of Chiang Mai, and I was 99% positive I was going to vomit in the bus ride there because the roads are SOOO windy, but luckily did not. There are'nt many tourists, and now that I think about it, very little families traveling throughout Northern Thailand, which was very nice. It's more locals, backpackers and expats. You can explore rice fields, bamboo bridge, waterfalls, caves and drink mushroom milkshakes. The small town has a lot of boutiques, bars, and cafes with glow in the dark paint all over the walls. It's a hippie spot!

4. Chiang Rai

(4/4-5) Norn Nun Leng

Saw a rat the size of my cat. Next.

Only stopped in Chiang Rai for two nights to see the White Temple, which was MESMORIZING... definitely worth the 3 hour jam-packed, sticky tuk tuk ride to get here. 

5. Phuket

(4/6) 12 Month Hostel

Hidden, but very cute, cheap hostel with large, comfortable, private dorm beds made of wood rather than metal bunk beds which was nice. The showers had shampoo and body wash = super clutch. AND with a waterfall shower! I felt like I was at a spa compared to the other places I had recently stayed at.

Took a boat from Phuket Town, through Phi Phi, to arrive in Krabi. Not much time spent in Phuket Town or Phi Phi, but nothing too special from what I saw, just a bunch of bars and restaurants. You have to travel outside a bit to experience the nice beaches.

6. Krabi (Klong Muang)

(4/7-9) Bliss Beach Resort

I met my girlfriend at this Resort (the friend who I backedpacked with in 2011). Typically I wouldn't stay at a resort since I'm obviously on a budget, but she had already planned her itinerary. Bliss is an adorable, cozier, authentic beach resort than most. It's nestled between other resorts on a quiet side of Krabi, facing many islands with private boats. The buffet breakfast was delicious, the staff was super sweet and the shampoo/body wash smelled amazing.

Klong Muang was extremely relaxing and cleaner than I was used to.  I celebrated my birthday here with my best friend, the best pinacoladas I've ever had and fried pineapple rice. THE BEST. I'm drooling. During the day, we hired a private boat to Hong Island where we swam with gigantic jellyfish, snorkled and tanned on the beach. Just amazing. Take me back!!

7. Khao Lak

(4/10-11) Mana Thai Resort

The nicest hotel I've stayed at in years lol. I guess they noticed my birthday from my passport and secretly delivered a birthday cake to our room!! In the rooms they have bowls of tropical fruit and chili garlic scented toilettries. Oh so Thai. Ther's a huge, refreshing pool overlooking the ocean with pool/beachside service. Not a bad way to say "Kob Khun Kha" to Thailand after THREE INSANELY PACKED, SUPREME WEEKS.

It’s been five weeks since I started my solo backpacking travels, six weeks since I’ve been free of work. I’ve arrived at the point where I’m no longer completely present minded and beginning to crave some personal projects; one being a visual journal I’ve started, another being this public journal. During my first days in Bangkok I attempted a vlog and subsequently dropped my first journal in the world's grossest creek, so I took that as a sign that vlogging just isn’t for me. I don’t write often but when I’m in the mood, I can write. Sometimes too much information. But that’s alright because judging people isn’t even cool anymore!

So far, I’ve been to the following places in this order:

Thailand (3 weeks)

Bangkok

Chiang Mai

Pai

Chiang Rai

Phuket

Krabi

Khao Tao

Cambodia (3 weeks)

Siem Reap

Koh Rong Samlom

Kampot

Phnom Penh

Eight years ago I backpacked for five weeks with my good friend primarily along the Mediterranean Sea of Europe. Unfortunately I don’t remember as much as I’d like because I have the worst memory, but I do remember swearing myself against hostels if I were to backpack again. As much fun as I had, I struggled a lot with managing travel arrangements and having a general understanding of how to get to and from places of interest. Granted it’s been eight years, but I realized traveling across countries (alone) isn’t difficult at all, only after throwing myself into the situation of course.

Chianti, Italia (2011)

It’s been four years since I first had an interest in traveling to Asia long term. As I was wrapping up college, I decided to move to Chiang Mai to teach English, so I interviewed for a temporary position to save money for flights. Rather than pursuing my teaching career abroad, I was offered a full time position in recruiting. Of course I took the route that was most clear and stable. I can’t blame myself for that, especially for how fruitful my career and life became since accepting that offer.

Two years ago, with fate AND hard work, I met an incredible opportunity. A 2-year contract, which essentially paid me to learn everything about technology. All I wanted at this point was to KNOW and be IN that world. The gender discrimination around this industry really frustrated me, which is what made it even more appealing to me. After joining the company, I was given the resources to take in everything that interested me and run with it however I pleased, which included a project around gender inclusivity within tech and staffing. Two years later, I now know the ins and outs of the “tech” industry. More importantly, I now recognize my own professional worth, potential and trajectory.

Google, Austin, TX (2018)

So, I’m finally in Southeast Asia, four years later, with things I needed to learn in order to get here, to feel as confident and self assured as I do. But I want to share my experiences, thoughts and emotions along the way because 1) people have asked, 2) I love a good project, 3) I’m interested to see how vulnerable I can be considering how private of a person I am, 4) vlogging didn’t work out so this better, 5) for as much as I read, it’s only fair to extend my writing capabilities.

Goals:

Meet incredible people

See the world, on my own time

Think present mindedly