Solo travelling is the new trend going on amongst the modern population all over the globe. Youngsters now like to experience more adventure travelling solo to any lessly explored location rather than with a group travelling to a famous tourist spot in some part of the world. A true explorer travels alone. Only way to understand the voice of the mountains, the sounds of nature is by travelling alone. You can never feel the calmness of the mountains while travelling in a group.
There are pros and cons of travelling alone. It has its own challenges starting from planning to safety issues. There is nothing like a perfect plan while travelling solo.A solo trip comes with lots of surprises and here comes the roles of travel companies.
Planning for a trip includes collection of information of the destination followed by selection of accommodation and other requirements including travel mode. A large number of companies working in the travel sector all over the world offer varieties of packages for a solo goer.
1.Tripoto: A travel blogging platform based in India, this is the largest community of travellers. Travellers all across the globe post their unique experience in the form of photo blogs on this platform with detailed itineraries. Your first destination for planning your solo trip should definitely be this platform. Learn details about your target destinations from millions of blogs and itineraries available on this platform and plan your trip accordingly. Additionally, this platform contains lots of ads of travel agencies and accommodation providers which also can be great helpful for you.
2.Make my trip: A large number of travellers in the subcontinent region like to book their flights and accommodation through this app. They provide holiday packages, honeymoon packages, group packages etc.For travelling alone, you don't need to book everything prior. There is something like onspot management which is a crucial part of travelling solo. If you book everything prior, you will miss those elements of surprises. Book your flight tickets using this platform and just go with the flow. That is the beauty with solo travel.
3.OYO: Technically OYO is not a travel planning website but cannot be ignored while you travel alone. In an unknown city, the best choice to search for a hotel in India is OYO. Platforms like booking,com are there but not mostly seen in semi remote and remote locations of the country.
4.Couchsurfing : The trend of staying with locals while traveling is still not that much popular here in India. But when you will be traveling solo abroad, this will be your most used platform. Budget is the main constraint while travelling solo in a forein soil. Major percentage of your budget goes into accommodation. The percentage actually varies from country to country. But if you can manage staying somewhere free of cost, your total budget during the trip will come significantly down.
5.Ixigo: Ixigo is a very holistic kind of platform that offers almost everything needed in a trip. From fights, train, cab to hotel booking, everything can be booked using this platform. If you don't want to take any headache during your trip, this is the best app you can use. But as I said earlier, don't wish for a smooth planning while travelling solo. Wish for an adventurous trip with lots of options for learning new things.
6.Google maps and offline maps: Very few people will tell you about this. Map is the best friend of an explorer. There are many locations in the world where google maps don't work. You have to use offline maps for finding your destination. Download an offline version of maps of your locations prior to the start of your solo trip.
6.Travel blogs/instagram pages/ youtube: Best way to learn something is learning from the experiences of others. For travelling, nothing can be better if you already have knowledge about the journey someone went through prior to yours. Read blogs by the most off beat travellers out there on the internet, go through their instagram pages and watch the number of travel blogs available out there on Youtube.
Conclusion: Best way to travel solo is by not planning at all. Book the ticket and start your journey, manage everything during the journey.