Five tips for international travel & safety: as a current solo traveller

     If you’ve been following along, there’s no doubt you’re familiar with the type of travel that has my heart. While adventuring to brand new places can be exhilarating, prioritizing safety can sometimes be crucial in making sure your trip lives up to its full potential. If you haven’t I invite you to catch up through reading my latest blog posts (don’t stress, there’s only three)! However, I’m going to give you a short recap anyways. My very first international trip was a week-long volunteer excursion to the Dominican Republic in November of 2022. Around seven months later, I accompanied a friend on their vacation in Croatia, and by October I was high-tailing it to the Netherlands to stay with another dear friend for a week. By March of the next year (2024), the travel bug had bitten me so hard I drew up a ten-day solo adventure to Costa Rica. By the time I’d returned home, I’d already contacted several hosts and had solidified my plans for the summer after only a few weeks of being home. In June, I flew out to Turkey (my farthest and longest travels yet), with the intention of hanging out for a month, but after a whirlwind of events, ended up floating around southern Europe for two weeks and napping two new countries in my belt. 

     Alright, if you’re still here, I owe you one. Actually, I owe you ten tips on international travel and safety. I enjoy sharing about this so much that I’m splitting it into two separate blog posts. Here are my first five tips on international travel (in no particular order): 

1. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE FLYING INTO

I’m aware that if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably based in the U.S., and while we do have enough national news to fill our plates (plus some), while traveling internationally, you must be familiar with the climate of the country you are flying into (a link that might be helpful: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html). We are familiar with the extent to which global events (ie: COVID-19) can affect international travel. While I hope nothing happens to this extent again, it’s good to have some awareness of what might delay our flights and other pieces of our trips. While I visited the Netherlands, we attended a local professional match, and it later came out that there was further conflict between fans of opposing sides afterwards (article: https://nltimes.nl/2023/10/13/city-alkmaar-targeted-polish-trolls-online-since-az-legia-warsaw-riots ). While this was a single match, larger sporting events can cause further conflict, and potentially disrupt any plans for travel. 


      2.  KNOW HOW SAFE YOUR DESTINATION IS FOR YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC
      The reality is not everyone is able to travel everywhere. Two months before my first solo trip, you would have found me in my room binging countless online vlogs and blogs from female travelers. I wanted to research whether or not they felt safe traveling in the same cities I desired to go. While I was in the middle of my travels, I happened to meet a few families who felt very comfortable traveling through Costa Rica (they had kids in the age range of 2-14. However, I wouldn’t have been able to take this leap of faith if I didn’t do the proper research beforehand. 

        3.  DO NOT POST YOUR CURRENT LOCATION
This is definitely one you are able to play the “what if” game with. While you may have traveled to a location that has been overall safe for you, there’s a small possibility you can put yourself at risk by posting your location online. Any individual you haven’t had a previous connection to, that reaches out to you while you are in the midst of traveling, could be a risk.  I know how this sounds, and while I will promote and encourage solo traveling until the end of time, minimizing risks has been what has allowed me to step out of my comfort zone. There is so much beauty and richness in traveling, and the spontaneity of connecting with people. Doing it grounded and informed will allow you the space to experience these things. 

        4. TRAVEL INSURANCE 
In my very short time of traveling, I have already run into some problems where travel insurance would be needed, such as weather or flight delays. While the coverage definitely depends on who you go with, this insurance can cover things such as trip cancellations, delays, medical expenses, baggage loss, or any extreme circumstances (illness, natural disaster, job loss, family member deaths, etc.).  It is definitely important to research the specific areas a particular  insurance covers, and find one that best fits. 

      5.  IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS, ASK FOR HELP

Planning my own adventures was one of the best decisions I’ve made, but I am well aware of the amount of information and details that come into play. It can be very easily overwhelming. So, it’s time for my shameless self-promo! This year, the travel bug bit me so bad that I decided I want to take it a step further. So, I am now an independent Travel Agent. What that means is I can gather quotes, create itineraries, and recommend the best activities to enrich your travels — free of cost. I do earn commissions back on every booking, so that’s where the benefits come in for me. However, I am also very enticed by the idea of getting to help people discover new places, visit dream destinations, and ultimately have the same fulfilling and wonderful experience I have with seeing the world. 

Thank you so much for reading! These blog posts are designed to help give you a picture of what travel might look like for you, and for me. As always, I might be the one out documenting random faces and places, but I will always find my way back to this space that we have. If you’re interested in creating your vacation, holiday trip, or adventure, click ‘PLAN’ at the top of the page. If you’re looking for more personal content and updates about me, my Instagram account is linked below. Feel free to drop a comment with any additional advice for international travelers, and I will meet you next time!

MY travel instagram:
​https://www.instagram.com/jordanleddon/