How to Prepare For Worry-Free Solo Travel

Facing the daunting headlines of plane crashes, I found myself pondering how to make solo travel less intimidating and more secure. Ever wondered how to travel with peace of mind, knowing you're prepared for any bump along the way? This episode promises to equip you with practical strategies to organize essential documents, utilizes tools like Google Docs to store critical information, and introduces a comprehensive resource called "I'm Dead, Now What?" By setting these preparations in motion, loved ones stay informed, and your travel can be as worry-free as possible.

On the flip side of meticulous preparation lies the art of truly living in the moment. I share heartwarming tales of encouraging a friend to reconnect with her roots in Italy and my own unplanned escape to Florida, where spontaneous connections turned into cherished memories. For women especially, the message is clear: don't let life's busyness or financial worries hold you back from experiences that enrich your soul. Preparedness, after all, is not just about safety; it's the foundation upon which you can build an adventurous, regret-free life. Whether you're ready to embark on your first solo trip or seeking inspiration to seize life's fleeting opportunities, I'm here to guide you on this exhilarating journey.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Preparing for Solo Travel Safety
• 10:24 Embracing Life's Moments Through Travel

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Have you ever worried about something that just never happened and you wasted all this energy, mind energy, and even maybe got yourself a little nauseous or sick? We've all been there. I've been there, and I even think about the times that I worried as a parent, about my children specifically, and letting them go to a party or what would happen, or sending them off to college and all the trouble that they could get in and worrying about them. Yet most of the time, almost all the time, nothing ever happened. It never came to fruition, and I thought about that in terms of when we travel solo. There are many worries that we have as solo travelers and in today's episode, I want to address those, as how can we prepare ourselves in a way that we have no worries and that is not an issue as we seek to go on these solo adventures? Welcome to Solo Travel Adventures. I'm Cheryl Esch, your recovered, worrying mom and traveler.

Speaker 1: 1:11

Well, I brought up this topic today and it's a bit of a somber reason why I got to thinking about these things that we worry about when we travel solo and how to prepare, and I want you to stick with me. This is going to be probably a little sensitive and it might even be a little somber as we discuss, and the reason it was brought up in my mind today and I wanted to really come here today to talk about and because I was thinking about it. If you have watched the news and you know, this past week we've had some plane crashes and that people's lives have been taken, and it's very unfortunate, very sad, very disheartening, but it can also cause this potential now that you've seen this, and it seems to be happening more frequently, although they say there are stats that say it's safer to fly than even to drive. But you know, we're seeing a little more of this, so we have this anxiety or this fear that's coming up within us because of what we're seeing happening in the world. And, to make things worse, I was actually traveling this week when all this was happening, and so it really got me to thinking.

Speaker 1: 2:25

You know, about things twofold. First thing am I prepared? Do I have everything in place? Would my family know what to do if? And then the second thing is, you know, just thinking in terms of life is short and we never know correct. And so you know, making that time and I'll share a little bit of my adventure that I just came back from and how it really got me to thinking about that whole thing of that. Time is short and we really need to seize those moments of not putting off, whether it's visiting a loved one, traveling to someplace you've wanted to go, so that you don't have regrets, as we know. But let's talk about this being prepared so that, as we go on these solo trips, that we know that our family, friends, our loved ones know where we are and have any kind of documentation that might be necessary if something were to happen to us and that could just be maybe you got injured or detained in another country or, of course, the worst case scenario and making sure all of that is in place before you go on your trip.

Speaker 1: 3:49

And so it got me to thinking cause I have, I have things in place and I want to share some of those things. And, um, there's things that I know I need to. You know, like one thing I thought of was I do have, for one example, I have a Google Docs with very important information. You know things like address, I have a storage unit, I have a post office box, my life insurance policy number, all that stuff that would be necessary for a loved one to have information for in case something would happen, and so I needed to update that actually. And so, of course, with things happening this week, I realized I hadn't updated a few items, so I was, like, on my to-do list, I did get that done just today before I went to record here. I wanted to make sure and I shared that, of course, with my two sons so that they have that information so they, if anything should happen, they know what to do, they know where to find everything.

Speaker 1: 4:56

And the other reason that was brought up is that on my trip this past week I did visit my aunt who my uncle had just passed recently, and so she was struggling, in that there was a it was either a life insurance policy or a pension sort of thing that my uncle had that she had no information on, and so it's really important that we have all that stuff somewhere where someone could have access to it. And so that got me to thinking even more, like are we prepared? Are you prepared? Am I prepared for the you know, worst case scenario? Right, it's always just good as a. I'm a single person, so it's always even good just on a, you know, not looking at worst case scenario. Okay, that I have these things in place to make it easier, and it's just also just organizing everything right and you know, writing down where is my located, where are my keys for my safe, for my storage unit. So making sure that is all written out and it is accessible to those important people.

Speaker 1: 6:09

And then, not to get morbid again, but I have a great resource that actually was recommended to me by somebody else that I have started using and I'm still working through this little booklet and it has different tabs for it. It is called bear with me, it's called I'm Dead, now what? And I did purchase it on Amazon. But it's a nice bound book and there's sections where you can put all your personal information, your medical information, your will, your key contacts, um dependent information, important documents, financials, business all of that in one place and it has all that information for any family members or friends for that time. And I think it's important as a single solo traveler, um, and even if you have, you know, say you're married but you're going on a solo trip, you still want to make sure you have this information in place. The other part is when you're traveling. As we all know we, as a solo traveler, you would likely want to have someone know what your itinerary is and so, sharing that um, in last week's episode, uh, in episode one 21, I did share that. Uh, like the app, wonderlog and even TripIt are places where you can um, have information about your itinerary, where you're staying, your, your flight information is all in there and you can share that information through that app. So that is a key point. So maybe go back, maybe re-listen to that episode or get on that app and get your things organized in one place for your trip and so you can share it.

Speaker 1: 7:50

The other thing I do is I will text my family or friend that you know I've arrived, I'm here now and, for example, with this recent trip in which I was driving throughout Florida you know timing I didn't know. Oh, hey, I'm going to be here at this time. It was very fluid. So I would, when I got somewhere, I would text my sons and say, hey, I just arrived here. Or, you know, I had some other family members I was communicating with and said, oh, I arrived safely, I'm here now. Or I'm traveling to here this day. So I make sure that I have family or friends that know where I'm at and I do check-ins every day, do a daily check-in. You can discern if it's going to be twice a day or just maybe at the end of the day. Here's where I'm at.

Speaker 1: 8:40

The other thing you can do and this is a great tool as well, that I use it is called Life360. It is an app and there's a free version and a paid version and you can determine what your needs are. But it does work off of GPS mostly, and this means it could also work off of Wi-Fi, but GPS for sure. So you want to make sure, if you're traveling internationally, that you do have some sort of data plan to support the app, that you do have some sort of data plan to support the app, and so the app and you can have people in your circle they call it and they can watch or monitor where you're at. And this is also a great tool because if you forget which happened to me one time during my trip I had forgotten to text my uncle that I had arrived at my friend's house and so he texted me later. I'm like, oh yes, I totally forgot. But if they were part of my Life360 circle, which my two sons are, and I have some other family members like my sisters are also they can look at the app and see where I'm at, and so it tells them GPS exactly where I'm at. And this is a great tool, especially if you're traveling alone and maybe you are moving around a lot and you're not going to be like in one city for that whole trip. So that's a great tool to use so people can know where you are, and that's going to not only put you at ease, it's going to put your friends and family members at ease too. That you are, you are safe, right. So these are things to put in place. I highly recommend it.

Speaker 1: 10:24

And then I just want to touch a little bit on this. You know we don't know our time, we don't know when our time will end, and we, we really don't. And not to get morbid, but I'm encouraging you as women that, um, I have a dear friend who just also was mentioning um, you know she's Italian, she's got this Italian heritage and she's been putting off for years to go visit family in Italy and I, finally, I think I'm still trying to encourage her that you know to do it. She's got some availability this summer and she's already going to be in Europe for something else, and so I'm really trying to encourage her because I like to think, you know, like seize the moment, you know, kind of idea, and that we just don't know and and I have to share with you a long time coming.

Speaker 1: 11:16

I should have gone to visit some of my family and friends that I did see in Florida. That was a whole um, interesting, um, serendipitous type of uh trip that I had this past week. Honestly, and it was also, you know, had some great little God moments and him I feel like he was arranging some of these meetings and just spontaneously, but in the end it really reminded me of how important because I did see family and friends that I hadn't seen in ages, that I hadn't seen in ages and just how important that is, that connection, especially when we're traveling, just finding some connections and for me it was family and friends during this trip, but it was a reminder of that. These connections, these conversations that we had, these fun times that we shared, were long overdue. And I'm going to try to not put things off, not say, oh, maybe some other time, maybe next year, oh, and really make it a priority to sort of seize the moment and when I'm feeling led or encouraged to do things like that. And I encourage you to not put off that trip, to not miss out on um.

Speaker 1: 12:39

You know, maybe you have a dear friend that's celebrating a big milestone birthday and you are just saying you're too busy to go or you can't get away, or maybe there's some finances.

Speaker 1: 12:53

But I will tell you, if you make the effort and you go, it is worth it and you will not regret it, because we don't want to finish our lives with regrets. And so I highly encourage you that's two things. I'm talking to you today is get yourself ready so that you don't have worries when you travel solo. Get yourself prepared in that way. And then, secondly, get out there and definitely seize the moment. You don't know when your time will end and you know I hate to say it we're getting older and so these trips, these adventures, they will have more meaning to us as we make time for them. Now, if you're still unsure, you're still struggling with some fear or even anxiety about doing a solo trip, please book a call with me and let's talk and see if I can guide you through that process for yourself. Otherwise, sisters, get out there and have that adventure. Don't put it off.