In this day and age, lots of girls I know, go for movies alone, eat alone and even plan yearly travel sojourns alone. Well, to some it may seem weird and pathetic to be so alone, but ask any of these independent girls, they’ll surely tell you they won’t have it any other way.

Advantage number one, they don’t need to restrict their travel schedule to accommodate one or two girlfriends schedule, they come and go when it suits their schedule. They don’t need to worry about traveling with strange friends and fight the whole journey spoiling the trip they have saved up for the whole year. Sure, traveling with a companion means it is safer, two pairs of eyes are better than one, you can look out for each other, cheaper; the whole safety in numbers rigmarole. You can go out at night and venture further afar with a companion than alone in a strange country without fear, although it isn’t always a guarantee anywhere, anymore not even in your own backyard.

The way to safe travel really isn’t about the numbers, but about being street smart when traveling. Wherever you go in this day and age, even in your own country and on the way to work or school, if you don’t open up your eyes and ears you could land up in the wrong place at the wrong time and be part of a statistics.

An avid traveler myself, usually preferring FET (free and easy travel) style and my ideal traveling is with a companion, I actually find traveling alone a personal challenge. I’m kind of scared cat and shy, but when I do travel alone, I find it is different and not that terrifying and in fact can be very enjoyable!

What I tend to do when traveling alone is:

• first , book into a fair and nice accommodation, pre book before departure to ensure that someone expects your arrival and family and friend/s know where you will be.
• always leave an address of  accomodation with someone at home
• keep a photocopy of IC and passport and keep separately, just in case
• upon arrival, find out from official information counters on best places to go and avoid, hotel concierge or manager is also usually best source of advice.
• don’t go off to dark alleys, limit adventures to at least “seemingly” safe and public places
• don’t speak and go off with strangers, but being adults and since traveling is all about meeting people and getting to know different cultures , being hermit-like might defeat the purpose. So, choose wisely…
• if you are the type who likes to drink and check out the local scene, know your limits!

But seriously, do exercise some common sense and trust your intuition. If you are having a nice conversation with a bunch of fellow travelers beware of any hints that anyone throws in the conversation. They usually are trying to tell you something and best to act on prudence if you feel uncomfortable about anything.

Sometime back, when I was backpacking in Scotland and on a whim decided one morning to take a ferry to the far north, Isle of Orkney, just to see its magnificent cliffs and natural landscapes studied in my Form Six geography class, live geos and gloups fascinated me at that time, go figure…

On the ferry over, I met an Englishwoman in her forties, an elegant semi retired Englishman from London and a middle age American man, and innocent ol’ me in my twenties started speaking… and all being strange to the isle and alone, we all decided that we will catch up for a drink at the local pub. And traveling alone and being so young, these fine people took care of me except for one. At the innocent dinner and drinks, we all started talking about plans for the next day and being Asian and young, both men offered to take me along as they have rented their respective cars, since the other lady has already made plans to meet some one else. But the middle age guy, kept talking about how he heard some Asian women were real adventurous and eager to try anything and went on about it and kept insisting I take up his offer. It was uncomfortable although not rudely insinuating but nonetheless gave me the creeps about the guy. I tell you in all honesty, I don’t know, if he meant anything by it, but I wasn’t curious enough to find out ….. After a sleepless night and torn between being sensible and taking up an offer from a perfect stranger, I decided to take up John, the older man’s offer. And glad to say, he was a true gentleman and very fatherly, I saw a lot of the island than I would have, had I chosen to walk on my own and very safely too. We wrote for a bit but have lost touch now. But, I hope he and his family are well and that his son has taken over his antique business back in London. Moral of the story is not that I was so brilliant in the decision making but instinctively perhaps, because someone up there was looking out for me I made the right decision, luck or providence…

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