For most parents, accepting that their little kiddo is going to travel the world alone can be scary. Especially if they aren’t experienced travellers themselves or -even worse!- if you are a girl. This is exactly my case and I promise you that with a few precautions you can actually spare them the panic attack. My parents’ confidence and support didn’t just arise overnight. They required years and years of baby steps in testing confidence, boundaries and trust. But in the end, we all got so successful at not-freaking-out that recently I’ve also managed to drop that I’m into long-term travelling and digital nomadism. So here are a few tips on how to tell your parents you want to travel solo.
Test your -and your family- confidence with a short trip
If you – and your family- are new to solo travelling, start with a short trip. Choose a location that makes you feel comfortable. For me, it was ten days of travelling in Norway, which is one of the safest countries in Europe, with a great hostel culture and plenty of daytime activities to do by myself or with new friends.
Research your itinerary and explain it to them
If this is your first solo trip, I’m sure you’ve spent hours trying to plan it. Make your parents part of your research. Show them your itinerary (with pictures), the activities you are planning to do and some of the accommodation you’re going to stay in. Is it a nice young hostel? Even better! Show them you’re going to spend time with fellow travellers your age and not creepy old strangers as in their worst nightmares.
Give them visuals of the places you’re going to visit
“I’m moving to the Philippines” can be a scary affirmation to process for a westerner parent that have never left Europe, let alone travelled to Asia. They’re probably picturing a poverty-stricken country, where there isn’t any edible food nor hospital care. So, after explaining how going there for a while can be an extremely enriching experience, help them visualize the paradise you’re moving to. Show them pictures of lush nature, wonderful beaches or cultural sights, happy locals and tasty food. To prepare my parents for my three months stay in the Philippines, I showed them a documentary about Sanne, a Swedish girl who built an eco-friendly hostel in tiny Siargao and founded a local charity there. For my time in Bali, I showed Marco Randelovich wonderful documentaries:
Share your insurance details with them
Show them that you take your health seriously. Buy a travel health insurance and check if you need any special vaccination BEFORE they can ask about it! Showing them that you’ve already taken care of the-most-important-aspect-of your-trip (aka your health), without them having to push you to do it will make you score a big point on the adulthood scale! Their proudness may soon morph into another level of stress: “Which company is this? I never heard about it. Why can’t we just use our regular local insurance provider?” but this is a whole other story.
Stay connected while travelling
Nowadays, there are so many ways to stay in touch with your loved ones while travelling. Agree on a schedule of skype/WhatsApp calls and stick to it. If you know that you will be travelling in an area of poor signal inform them in advance. Send nice pictures and stories via WhatsApp or Instagram every now and then and always keep them updated on your itinerary. One of my family traditions to stay connected is sending postcards. I find it old-fashioned and super cute. All my postcards are still hanged on my parents’ fridge!
And what if you want to take a solo trip even if you are in a relationship? Fellow blogger Victoria explains her view on why you should still travel alone if it’s your thing.
Hello people!
My name is Sabrina, and I'm a pirate.
As such, I usually travel a lot and don't have a fixed adress. Not for long at least. So here you are, welcome to my home, the one that follows me around the globe.
funny but relatable post! Im from the Philippines 🙂
Great advices! I have been traveling since I was 16 yo – and now have a 16 yo of my own. It’s such a huge difference between being a young adult who travels and a parent of a young adult who travels. (I hope it made sense :))
It makes super sense! For sure things changes a lot as soon as you become a parent! 🙂
Great tips! They are also great points for people to consider if they are traveling solo for the first time even if their parents aren’t worried.
Loved your post. This sounds so much me, I always follow these points. I leave a hard copy of my itinerary and contact numbers of the hotel with my mom. This helps a lot.
I remember how apprehensive my mom was when I moved away from home to live alone in the city… She was worried all the time. I love your tips. Parents love us so much, it is important we put their mind at ease
So true!
This post is so relatable!! I have been travelling since 18 and now I’m 24 and they still worry all the time haha I guess some things never change.
All awesome tips! I love the idea of taking a short trip first, especially if you haven’t done a lot of travel beforehand. I did a tour-holiday for my first “solo” vacation so that I could get a taste of lots of places, work out what I wanted to go back to visit, get an idea of what goes into planning a trip like that etc. It was a great way to see things and up my confidence.
My mom is kind of paranoid every time we travel. Most of the time she keeps on monitoring us and she’ll go crazy if we don’t answer her messages within 5 minutes. So before we go out and about I’ll make sure to drop her message, letting her know where we are going for the day. Basically, I did everything listed here. 🙂
I feel so connected here. When to went to Europe alone from India, my parents were ok, but they knew it’s a safe place. But when I tried a solo trip in India – probably to one of the safest places – gosh I remember how freaked out they were. They even asked me to cancel at the last minute. I wish I knew these tips at that time. Thanks for my future solos 😉
You have mentioned some really good points like keeping them informed about insurance details etc. These actually should make sense often. Sometimes, however, depending on their moods nothing really seem to work.. hehe :)…
Nice tips. Solo traveling is not an easy travel. You share the information it’s a valuable. Thanks a lot this beauty Enjoying article with me. Great blog!