The Solo Travel Community: You’re Not Alone in Traveling Alone

How Millions of Solo Travelers Are Finding Connection, Support, and Friendship on the Road

There is a moment that almost every solo traveler experiences at some point during their first trip alone. You are sitting in a restaurant, or standing on a street corner, or walking through an airport terminal, and a thought hits you like a wave. “I am completely alone right now.” It might feel exciting. It might feel terrifying. For most people, it is a little bit of both.

But here is something that might surprise you. You are not nearly as alone as you think.

Right now, all over the world, there are millions of people doing exactly what you are doing — traveling solo. Some of them are sitting in a hostel common room hoping someone will start a conversation. Some of them are posting in an online forum asking for advice about their next destination. Some of them are walking into a group tour for the first time, nervous but hopeful. And some of them have been doing this for years and are still finding new connections every single trip.

Solo travel has exploded in popularity over the past decade, and with that explosion has come something beautiful — a global community of solo travelers who look out for each other, share advice, swap stories, and remind each other that traveling alone does not mean being lonely. This community exists online, in person, and everywhere in between. And once you find it, solo travel stops feeling like something you do by yourself and starts feeling like something you do with the quiet support of thousands of people who understand exactly how you feel.

This article is about that community. Where to find it, how to become part of it, and why it might just be the thing that turns solo travel from something you are nervous about into something you cannot wait to do again.

Why Solo Travel Can Feel Lonely — Even When It Is Amazing

The Highlight Reel Problem

Social media has created an illusion that solo travel is a nonstop adventure filled with breathtaking views, perfect meals, and permanent smiles. And while those moments absolutely happen, they are not the whole story. Between the highlights, there are long bus rides with nobody to talk to. There are meals eaten in silence. There are evenings in hotel rooms where the quiet feels heavy and you catch yourself wishing someone was there to share it with.

These moments are completely normal, and they do not mean you made a mistake by traveling alone. They just mean you are human. Human beings are social creatures, and even the most independent person on the planet needs connection sometimes.

The Fear of Judgment

Many solo travelers — especially first-timers — carry a quiet fear that other people are judging them for being alone. They worry that the waiter thinks it is sad that they are eating dinner by themselves. They feel awkward asking a stranger to take their photo. They wonder if the couples and families around them are looking at them with pity.

The truth is that almost nobody is thinking those things. But the fear of judgment can make solo travelers retreat into themselves instead of reaching out for connection, which only makes the loneliness worse.

The Missing Witness

One of the most unexpected challenges of solo travel is what some people call “the missing witness.” You see something incredible — a sunset, a street performer, a plate of food that looks like a work of art — and your first instinct is to turn to someone and say, “Are you seeing this?” But there is nobody there. That moment of wanting to share an experience and having no one to share it with can sting in a way that catches people off guard.

This is exactly why the solo travel community matters so much. It fills that gap. It gives you people to share those moments with, even if they are not standing right next to you.

The Rise of the Solo Travel Community

A Movement, Not Just a Trend

Solo travel is not a niche hobby anymore. It is a full-blown movement. Studies show that solo travel bookings have increased dramatically in recent years, with some travel agencies reporting that solo trips now make up nearly a third of all bookings. Solo travelers are no longer an afterthought for the travel industry. They are a driving force.

And where there are large groups of people with a shared passion, communities naturally form. The solo travel community has grown into a massive, supportive, and incredibly diverse network that spans every platform, every age group, and every corner of the globe.

What the Community Looks Like

The solo travel community is not one single group or organization. It is a patchwork of different spaces, both online and offline, where solo travelers come together. It includes massive social media groups with hundreds of thousands of members. It includes blogs and podcasts created by solo travelers for solo travelers. It includes apps designed to help solo travelers meet up in real time. It includes hostels and tour companies that specifically cater to people traveling alone. And it includes the quiet, spontaneous connections that happen every day between solo travelers who recognize something familiar in each other.

Where to Find the Solo Travel Community

Online Forums and Social Media Groups

Some of the most active and supportive solo travel communities live on social media. Facebook alone has dozens of groups dedicated to solo travel, many of them with hundreds of thousands of members. These groups are goldmines for advice, recommendations, and encouragement. Members post questions like “Is it safe to travel solo in Colombia?” or “What are the best hostels in Lisbon for meeting people?” and receive dozens of thoughtful, experience-based responses within hours.

Reddit also has thriving solo travel communities where travelers share detailed trip reports, ask for itinerary feedback, and discuss the emotional side of traveling alone with a level of honesty that you rarely see elsewhere.

Instagram and TikTok have become visual hubs for solo travel content, with creators sharing real, unfiltered accounts of their trips — including the lonely moments, the scary moments, and the awkward moments that make solo travel so human and relatable.

Solo Travel Blogs and Podcasts

There is an entire world of solo travel content created by people who have been where you are. Bloggers and podcasters who specialize in solo travel share everything from destination guides and packing tips to deeply personal essays about what it feels like to navigate the world alone. These creators often build tight-knit communities around their content, and many of their followers become friends with each other through comment sections, live events, and meetups.

Apps Designed for Solo Travelers

Several apps have been built specifically to help solo travelers connect with each other. Some match travelers who are in the same city at the same time so they can meet up for a meal or an activity. Others create group experiences — like walking tours, cooking classes, or bar crawls — designed for people traveling alone. These apps take the pressure out of approaching strangers by creating a structured, low-stakes way to meet other solo travelers.

Hostels and Social Accommodations

Hostels have always been the unofficial home base of the solo travel community. Unlike hotels, hostels are designed for interaction. Common rooms, shared kitchens, organized events, and communal dining areas create natural opportunities to meet other travelers. Many hostels host nightly social events like pub crawls, game nights, or group dinners specifically to help solo travelers connect.

Even if you prefer private rooms, staying at a social hostel gives you access to a built-in community of fellow travelers who are often in the exact same boat as you — alone, open to connection, and looking for someone to share an experience with.

Group Tours for Solo Travelers

A growing number of tour companies now offer trips designed specifically for solo travelers. These are not tours where you happen to be the only solo person in a group of couples. These are trips where every single participant is traveling alone, which immediately creates a sense of camaraderie and understanding.

These tours range from adventure trips and hiking expeditions to cultural immersions and culinary journeys. Many participants say that the friendships they make on these trips last long after the tour ends, and some travelers return to the same tour company year after year because of the community they have found.

Real Stories From the Solo Travel Community

Elena’s Lifelong Friends From a Hostel in Portugal

Elena is a 32-year-old solo traveler from Miami who was feeling deeply lonely on the fourth night of her first solo trip to Europe. She was staying in a private room at a hostel in Porto, Portugal, and had barely spoken to anyone in two days. That evening, she forced herself to go down to the common room, where a group of solo travelers from different countries were playing cards.

She sat down, someone handed her a drink, and within an hour she was laughing harder than she had in months. She spent the rest of her trip exploring Porto with three of those travelers. Five years later, she has visited two of them in their home countries, and they have a group chat that is still active every single day.

Elena says that one decision — to walk downstairs instead of staying in her room — changed her entire perspective on solo travel. “The community is there. You just have to show up.”

David’s Reddit Connection in Tokyo

David is a 40-year-old solo traveler from Toronto who was planning a two-week trip to Japan. Before he left, he posted on a solo travel forum on Reddit asking for tips on things to do in Tokyo. A member named Yuki, who was also a solo traveler living in Tokyo, offered to show him around for a day.

They met at a train station, spent the day exploring neighborhoods that David never would have found on his own, and had dinner at a tiny ramen shop that was not in any guidebook. David says it was the single best day of his entire trip, and it happened because a stranger on the internet offered to share their city with a fellow solo traveler.

Natasha’s Solo Travel Group Tour Through Morocco

Natasha is a 55-year-old divorced mother from London who had not traveled internationally in over 15 years. Her kids were grown, and she wanted to do something bold but was terrified of going completely alone. She found a tour company that ran small-group trips exclusively for solo travelers and signed up for a 10-day tour through Morocco.

From the moment the group met at the airport, she felt at ease. Everyone was traveling alone. Everyone was a little nervous. And everyone was immediately bonded by that shared experience. They explored markets in Marrakech, rode camels in the Sahara, and ate traditional meals in family homes in the Atlas Mountains.

Natasha says the friendships she made on that trip filled a void she did not even know she had. “I went to Morocco expecting to find adventure. I found a whole new circle of friends instead. We have already booked our next trip together.”

Marcus and the Facebook Group That Changed His Travel Life

Marcus is a 27-year-old solo backpacker from Chicago who joined a large Facebook group for solo travelers before his first trip to Southeast Asia. He used the group to ask questions about visa requirements, hostel recommendations, and safety tips for traveling alone as a young man.

What he did not expect was how much emotional support the group would provide. When he posted about feeling lonely in a guesthouse in Vietnam, dozens of people responded with encouragement, advice, and stories of their own lonely moments. Several members who were in Vietnam at the same time reached out privately and invited him to join them for a day trip. He ended up traveling with two of them for the next week.

Marcus says the group became his lifeline during the trip. “I was technically alone, but I never really felt alone. There was always someone in that group who understood what I was going through.”

Rosa’s Podcast-Inspired Solo Adventure at 68

Rosa is a 68-year-old retired librarian from Albuquerque who had never traveled alone in her life. After her husband passed away, a friend recommended a solo travel podcast hosted by a woman in her 60s. Rosa started listening and was immediately hooked. The host talked about the fears, the joys, and the unexpected friendships of solo travel in a way that made Rosa think, “If she can do it, maybe I can too.”

Rosa started following the podcast’s online community, which was filled with women of all ages who were either planning or already taking solo trips. She got advice on destinations, learned about travel insurance, and found a recommended tour company that specialized in solo travelers over 50.

Six months later, Rosa took her first solo trip — a river cruise through southern France. She came home with a camera full of photos, a heart full of memories, and a new group of friends she met on the cruise. She has since taken two more solo trips and says the podcast community gave her the courage to take the first step. “I thought I was too old. That community showed me I was exactly the right age.”

How to Become Part of the Solo Travel Community

Start Online Before You Leave

You do not have to wait until you are on the road to find your community. Join a few solo travel groups on social media weeks or months before your trip. Introduce yourself. Ask questions. Share your excitement and your fears. The more you engage before you leave, the more connected you will feel when you are actually traveling.

Say Yes to Social Opportunities on the Road

When you arrive at your destination, make a conscious effort to put yourself in social situations. Stay at a hostel with a common room. Join a free walking tour. Sit at the bar instead of a table for one. Attend a group cooking class or a pub crawl. You do not have to become best friends with everyone you meet. Sometimes just having a conversation with a stranger for 20 minutes is enough to remind you that you are part of something bigger.

Share Your Own Story

The solo travel community thrives on honesty. When you share your real experiences — the good, the bad, the lonely, and the beautiful — you give other solo travelers permission to feel the same things. Post about your trip. Write a review of that amazing hostel. Answer someone’s question in a forum. The more you contribute, the more connected you become.

Keep the Connections Alive After the Trip

Some of the best friendships in the solo travel community form on the road but are maintained at home. Exchange contact information with people you click with. Stay in touch through group chats, social media, or video calls. Plan future trips together. The solo travel community is not just something you dip into when you are traveling. It can become a permanent part of your social life if you nurture it.

20 Powerful and Uplifting Quotes About Solo Travel, Community, and Human Connection

“Traveling alone does not mean you are lonely. It means you are brave enough to find connection in unexpected places.”
“The solo travel community is proof that strangers are just friends you have not met on the road yet.”
“You set out to see the world by yourself and end up discovering that the world is full of people just like you.”
“Solo travel is not about being alone. It is about being open.”
“The bravest thing a solo traveler can do is not board the plane. It is walk into a room full of strangers and say hello.”
“Every solo traveler you meet understands something about you that most people at home never will.”
“You are never truly alone when millions of people around the world are on the same journey.”
“The solo travel community does not ask where you are from or what you do. It asks where you are going and if you want company.”
“Connection does not require a travel partner. It requires an open heart.”
“Some of the deepest friendships are formed between two solo travelers who chose the same hostel on the same night.”
“Loneliness on the road is temporary. The community you find lasts forever.”
“The world is full of people eating dinner alone tonight. You are in very good company.”
“Solo travel taught me that I did not need someone to complete my trip. I needed someone to share it with — even for just a moment.”
“The best travel stories do not start with ‘we went.’ They start with ‘I went, and then I met.'”
“You are not alone in traveling alone. You are part of a tribe that spans every country on earth.”
“Community is not a place. It is a feeling. And the solo travel community carries that feeling across borders.”
“The courage to travel alone is the same courage that opens the door to lifelong friendships.”
“Every solo traveler was once a nervous beginner who could not believe they were doing this. Welcome to the club.”
“The road is wide enough for everyone. Pull up a chair. There is always room.”
“You left home alone. You will come back with a world full of people who feel like family.”

Picture This

Close your eyes and imagine this for a moment. You are sitting in the common room of a hostel in a city you have never been to before. It is early evening. The golden light from the window is warming the room, and there is music playing softly from someone’s portable speaker. The smell of food drifts in from the shared kitchen where a traveler from another country is cooking dinner and offering plates to anyone who wants some.

You arrived here alone. You checked in by yourself, dropped your bag in your room, and stood in the hallway for a moment wondering if you should just stay in for the night. But something pulled you downstairs. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was hunger. Maybe it was that quiet voice inside you that said, “Just go. See what happens.”

And what happened was this. You sat down on a couch and someone asked where you were from. You answered, and they smiled, and suddenly you were talking. About travel. About home. About the weird thing that happened on the bus today. Someone else sat down and joined the conversation. Then another person. Before you knew it, there were five of you making plans for tomorrow — a walking tour, a street food crawl, a sunrise hike that someone read about in a blog.

You are laughing. Really laughing. The kind of laugh that comes from your chest and catches you off guard because an hour ago you were alone in your room wondering if this trip was a mistake. But now you are surrounded by people who understand exactly what you are going through because they are going through it too. They left their homes alone. They boarded planes alone. They checked into this hostel alone. And now, none of you are alone anymore.

Later that night, you climb into bed and stare at the ceiling with a smile you cannot wipe off your face. You think about the friends you just made. You think about the plans for tomorrow. You think about how scared you were before this trip and how silly that fear seems now. And you realize something that every solo traveler eventually realizes.

You were never really alone. The community was always there, waiting in common rooms and comment sections and group chats and walking tours and tiny restaurants around the world. All you had to do was show up. And tonight, you did.

Share This Article

Do you know someone who wants to travel solo but is held back by the fear of being alone? Maybe it is a friend who keeps saying they wish they had someone to go with. Maybe it is a parent or grandparent who thinks solo travel is only for young people. Maybe it is someone going through a divorce or a life change who needs a reminder that a new chapter can start with a single plane ticket.

Share this article with them. Send it in a text message with a note that says, “You should read this.” Post it on your Facebook page or your Instagram story. Pin it on Pinterest. Share it on X. Drop it in your favorite travel group. Email it to the person who keeps putting their dreams on hold because they do not want to go alone.

The solo travel community grows every time someone new finds the courage to take their first trip. And sometimes, all it takes is one article, one story, or one friend who says, “You can do this. And you will not be alone.”

Be that friend today. Hit share. You might just change someone’s life.

Disclaimer

This article is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The stories, tips, perspectives, and suggestions shared here are based on general travel knowledge, widely reported experiences within the solo travel community, and the personal accounts of real travelers. Every individual’s solo travel experience will differ based on factors including but not limited to the destination, personal comfort level, accommodation choices, cultural norms, safety conditions, and individual personality.

DND Travels does not guarantee specific outcomes from following the advice or suggestions shared in this article. DND Travels is not responsible for any injuries, illnesses, financial losses, emotional distress, negative social experiences, travel disruptions, or other issues that may arise before, during, or after any solo travel experience. We are not affiliated with any specific hostel chain, tour company, app developer, social media platform, or travel organization, and any references to types of services or platforms are for illustrative purposes only.

Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research, verify safety conditions for their chosen destinations, purchase appropriate travel insurance, inform trusted contacts of their travel plans, and exercise personal judgment in all social situations while traveling. Solo travel involves inherent risks that each traveler must assess and accept for themselves. All travel decisions are made entirely at your own risk and discretion. By reading this article, you acknowledge that DND Travels and its contributors bear no liability for any outcomes related to your solo travel experiences.