Traveling alone has never been so fun

Traveling alone has never been so fun

If you’ve thought about taking a solo trip but aren’t sure how to go about it, we have the perfect interview for you in today’s Tour & Explore. Writer Christine Maxfield took an entire year to travel the world by herself, visiting 19 countries and volunteering in 12. She gives us some essential tips on how to travel alone in a way that’s smart, safe and fun.

Maxfield’s advice is especially helpful for solo women, who are likelier to get friendly treatment in Cambodia than they are in the Middle East. This is no reason to avoid the latter, however. Maxfield lists some simple precautions to help women avoid unwanted attention.

(See also: How to take an unplugged vacation)

Click on the video above for more about these tips on extended solo travel:

  • Enhancing the experience with work and volunteerism.

  • Planning ahead but also staying flexible if any surprises come up (such as the Arab Spring uprising, in Maxfield’s case).

  • How to collect souvenirs as you go (hint: you’ll want to send that tribal machete back home ahead of you).