Shakeemah Smith has visited more countries — by herself — than most individuals have visited of their lifetimes.
She’s visited 63 countries alone, she said, and now coaches others on tips on how to go solo.
Smith — who goes by the name of Keem — said she began traveling alone after a disagreement with a friend left her by herself on vacation in Amsterdam.
“From there, I used to be like … I haven’t got some other friends to travel with, that either have the financial means to travel, or haven’t got family obligations that can prevent them from traveling,” she told CNBC by phone.
Smith, who’s from East Orange, Latest Jersey, decided to plan a solo vacation to Paris, a spot that was high on her bucket list. She began by writing a listing of all the pieces that might go mistaken — and the way she could best prepare, looking up the locations of hospitals and the U.S. Embassy, in addition to researching town’s Metro transit system.
“I selected a rustic that I used to be so enthusiastic about going to so it might … diminish the anxiety around being alone,” she said. Once she got to Paris, she felt the preparation was value it. “I used to be walking around like I used to be the cat’s pajamas down the Champs Elysees, because I kept feeling like I’m here. I did it,” she said.
Since posting trips of her Paris vacation on social media, Smith said people have messaged her to ask for tips on vacationing alone. She created a nine-week online course via the Teachable platform named Travel Like a Bawse and has tutored 10,000 women within the art of traveling solo, she said.
A Teachable representative told CNBC that solo travel course enrollments grew 31 times faster than other sorts of course on the platform between the summers of 2020 and 2022.
Smith also runs private coaching sessions, which include itineraries, tours and call details for drivers and photographers — she recommends hiring someone to take pictures for you. Her coaching also includes every day FaceTime calls for travelers’ first solo trips.
Where to plan your first trip
Smith advises selecting a well known destination, like Paris, for a primary vacation alone.
“Whenever you start off in such touristy places … there are such a lot of other those that also are usually not from there, so you do not stand out as much as you think that,” she said.
You do not need your happiness tied to another person.
She also really useful Antigua and Barbuda, the Maldives and Bora Bora as protected destinations to go solo. “I do know quite a lot of women are like, oh I would like to attend until I even have a husband to go to Bora Bora or the Maldives, and I’m like, so you are going to wait on a person to see the Indian Ocean?”
“You do not need your happiness tied to another person,” she said.
Popular places now
Solo travel is something that Angelee Rathor, managing director of luxury vacation company SevenTravel, expects to be popular this 12 months.
Following an uptick in enquiries — many from women aged 45 and older — Rathor said her team created several itineraries corresponding to a “solo sojourn” to South Africa and a “me, myself and Iceland” vacation to the Nordic country.
After Covid-era shutdowns, it was “well-documented that couples and families desired to … have these blowout trips, but really solo travelers are also wanting to make up for lost time and are feeling more confident to explore latest places,” said Rathor.
A “me, myself and Iceland” tour with SevenTravel can include seeing the night-sky phenomenon often called aurora borealis, or the northern lights.
Ingólfur Bjargmundsson | Moment | Getty Images
The corporate makes a speciality of upscale, tailor-made travel. An 11-night solo South Africa trip that features Cape Town for culinary experiences, the Winelands towns of Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, and a number of other nights at two safari lodges with spa treatments costs from £15,495 ($19,067), excluding flights.
Rathor’s team designs vacations that balance activities and rest. Solo experiences in Iceland might feature a guided tour of its capital, Reykjavik, wine-tasting under the Northern Lights and a day on the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa. The corporate provides 24-hour customer support on WhatsApp, which is added reassurance for those traveling alone.
She said people enjoy solo travel because they needn’t take anyone else’s interests under consideration.
“They’re doing on that trip — 100% of the time — what they need to do,” she said. “When the wellness element is forming greater than 40% of the trip, people do come back and say … ‘I feel like a distinct person.'”
Group tours
Group tours are one other popular option for solo travelers.
Florida-based Judy Hoffman is a retired history teacher who, during her profession, accomplished study programs in Nigeria, Japan and the UK.
She said she has all the time loved traveling, whilst a young child.
“Since I put pennies and dimes in my ‘travel the world’ bank as a toddler [I] knew that was something I aspired to do in life,” she told CNBC.
Hoffman has taken 10 vacations with small group operator Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.), visiting places like Nepal, Peru, Central America and East Africa, on trips that aim to assist people get off the beaten path. O.A.T was co-founded by Alan E. Lewis “to take Americans to places Americans don’t go,” in line with the corporate’s website.
Solo traveler Judy Hoffman at Darwin Lake within the Galapagos Islands. She swam with sea lions and penguins on her trip to the Ecuadorian archipelago.
Judy Hoffman
That seems true for Hoffman, who said she has most enjoyed “waking as much as the sunrise within the mountains of Nepal, floating at night on the Amazon looking up at the celebrities, and swimming with sea lions and penguins within the Galapagos.”
“Watching people travel from the countryside to a faculty in Tanzania, then standing in long lines to vote in an election, touched me greater than I can say,” she added.
O.A.T’s website says it has 42,000 solo traveler reservations throughout 2023 and needs to encourage more people to travel alone. It has added more single-occupancy cabins with no single complement, that are extra fees that solo travelers are sometimes charged to remain in a room by themselves.
An organization representative told CNBC that popular cruises include its 15-day voyage from Lisbon to Barcelona, which starts at around $9,000, including airfare.
Solo travel suggestions
Hoffman offered advice for people who find themselves traveling alone.
“When you are outgoing, which I’m not, you will slot in immediately,” she said. Otherwise, she suggested offering to take photos of fellow travelers as a strategy to strike up conversations.
She has one other tip: “I all the time journal while I’m on a visit and all the time have a book for any down time.”
Trondheim is a small city of around 200,000 people, and is understood for its waterways, Gothic cathedral and bicycle lift, which helps cyclists navigate a steep hill.
Everste | Istock | Getty Images
Torunn Tronsvang, founding father of Norwegian travel specialist Up Norway, recommends solo travelers stay open-minded.
“Do not be afraid to say ‘yes,’ step outside the comfort zone, show interest in engaging with locals,” she told CNBC.
Like Rathor, Tronsvang has noticed an uptick in demand for solo travel, and her company created private itineraries accordingly.
Certainly one of its hottest is “Give me more,” a 10-day trip ranging from Oslo and involves traveling by rail, bus and ferry to Trondheim. It’s a visit that features nature, outdoor adventure, Norwegian culture and self-reflection, she said. It costs around $3,500 per person for accommodations, transportation, guided tours and a few meals, but not flights.
She said solo travelers are “well educated” and range in age, from early 30s to 60s.
“They have an inclination to be individuals with flexible jobs corresponding to writers, photographers, or people in between jobs,” she said. “We have also noticed a trend in individuals who want a distinct variety of holiday in a busy life, and other people who seek for meaning of their travels.”