I’m just about beginning to grow old enough and wise enough to acknowledge that solo travel is full of challenges and can never be considered a piece of cake. I still distinctly remember Mother Dear fussing over me and my preparations just before I set off on my first solo adventure. At that time I rubbished her worries and laughed at her easy anxiety. A couple of years and several hilariously (read: unfortunate) incidents later, I’ve finally come closer to understanding her anxiety. When you travel solo, there’s so much that can go wrong. You can’t always prevent that, and frankly, part of the thrill stems from the uncertainty and the likelihood of having to face unfamiliar and intimidating situations, and coming out on top; however, you can substantially reduce the potential dangers of solo travel by preparing well in advance. Over the past few years, I’ve started following some great travel blogs, forums and websites for traveling, packing, and destination tips, in addition to extraordinary stories. I decided to build this page as a catalogue of my favourite travel resources, and it will keep growing with time, in the hope that some of my readers will benefit from it, from time to time too.
Travel Blogs
My goal for the rest of my life…is to travel indefinitely. Will I succeed in putting that into practice? Only time will tell. If there’s one thing though that I’m absolutely sure of…is that despite my unquestionable passion for travel, I’d never have identified it and even if I did, certainly wouldn’t have had the cojones to embark upon this journey, if it wasn’t for some of the absolutely inspirational and mind blowing stories I’ve read on the travelogues of a few nomads, who’s escapades I rabidly follow. These deserve a shout out…a very LOUD shout out. So here goes, an (ever-growing) list of my favorite travel bloggers:
i) The Shooting Star by the inspirational Shivya Nath
ii) A Newyorker Travels by the late Harry Devert
iii) The Fairytale Traveler by Christa Thompson
iv) Girl vs Globe by the gorgeous Sabina Trojanova
v) Chasing The Donkey by Sarah-Jane Begonja
vi) Wandering Earl by the tongue-in-cheek Derek Earl Baron
vii) Nomadic Matt by the efficient Mr. Matt
vii) Trip Bloggers Central (Where Travel Adventurers Converge)
Travel Insurance
Ultimate Guide to Travel Insurance — Travel insurance is amongst the most ignored components of travel prep you’ll ever come across. You don’t have to be as unfortunate as young Lucy Hall, who met with a terrible accident in Thailand, to benefit from travel insurance. Simple and commonplace incidents like losing your luggage in transit, or misplacing your passport/wallet are all very realistic, and legitimate factors covered by travel insurance policies, and I have never travelled outside the country without one. This comparison guide from Australia, is a wonderful tool to help you compare different policies and run a simple cost-benefit analysis to help you choose one that is best suited to your interests.
India Travel Forums
IndiaMike.com — easily the best backpacker/solo traveller community you’ll find for India-specific travel. I’ve used this community so many times to figure out local/safe places to stay, visit in the country, that I can virtually recommend this to anybody.
If you have your own travel blog or a travel resources that you think is worth sharing with fellow travellers, please feel free to reach out to me at sanket@nomadiclives.com and I’d gladly add you in.