Culture Club - The Dos And Don'ts Of Solo Travel

00:00:00.000 The highs and lows of solo travel, how to pack for an overseas trip and gaining independence.

00:00:12.920 I'm Maggie Zhao and you're listening to a special solo ep of Culture Club where we chat

00:00:17.580 about pop culture, current affairs, the internet and our lives.

00:00:21.460 Today I'm on the land of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nations.

00:00:33.360 I'd like to pay my respects to Elders past and present and extend this to any

00:00:37.840 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander listeners today.

00:00:40.720 well well well I am here for my first ever solo episode of Culture Club if you didn't know Jazz

00:00:54.000 and I have been doing this for five years so I feel quite dependent and attached to her but a

00:01:00.300 few weeks ago she had her first solo ep all on all things wedding culture which was such a great

00:01:06.780 listen and now I'm in the hot seat. We're recording a few episodes to have in our backlog because both

00:01:14.340 Jazz and I are doing some travel in Asia in August. I don't know exactly when we're releasing this one

00:01:20.860 but I may have completed a 10-day trip with Intrepid to Vietnam. It's a group tour and I'm

00:01:28.360 about to go in like six days. I have not packed yet. I have not thought too much about it yet so

00:01:34.100 this is kind of good to get me into the travel mindset and then very special but for Jazza's

00:01:41.120 hens we're literally going to Bali for five days. What a treat. I'm so excited and that's going to

00:01:49.680 be really fun. So anyway while you're listening to that picture us on the beach because that's

00:01:53.380 probably where we'll be. Today I want to talk about solo travel. It's a conversation that's

00:02:00.840 come up a little bit on my socials because I've been doing a little bit of it myself. I'm actually

00:02:07.240 pretty new to solo travel so let me give you my resume I guess because I love spending time with

00:02:12.400 myself and I thought I had traveled by myself more than I had but the truth was up until like

00:02:19.100 the start of last year I'd been doing a few work trips by myself maybe to Sydney and other cities

00:02:26.580 in Australia and I was like yeah I'm great at that but it's different when you're there for work

00:02:31.640 versus when you choose to be there for pleasure. So last year in about April, May or June, why have

00:02:40.040 I forgotten? I went to Thailand with my boyfriend and two of our friends and we went for a week

00:02:45.200 together. We were in Bangkok as well as Koh Samui and then I decided to stay for an extra week by

00:02:51.700 myself up north. I stayed in Chiang Mai and had such a fun week but the thing was like it was only

00:02:58.740 a week of solo travel and I was like yeah yeah yeah it's gonna be fine but I found it way more

00:03:02.580 challenging than I actually thought I would and we'll get into that more as well. But this year

00:03:07.100 my resume has blossomed and I went to Europe by myself for four weeks back in May and June. I went

00:03:14.800 to London, Copenhagen, and then I went to Paris as well. So I had such a fun time and I think I was

00:03:22.220 more prepped this time for solo travel since I did a week before and then I was going in for the full

00:03:28.060 month. I want to start off with the whys behind solo travel because I'm also going to get into

00:03:35.060 like the highs of it, the lows of it, maybe the stress that's experienced, some safety concerns,

00:03:41.100 loneliness as well as packing tips and other general tips. I actually put a call out on my

00:03:46.980 personal socials but also culture clubs and we got some questions that we'll be going through today

00:03:52.800 as well. So the first thing I want to talk about is like the why behind the travel because

00:03:57.260 I get a lot of mixed reactions when I tell people that I'm traveling by myself. Some people are like

00:04:03.240 oh my god amazing like I wish I could do that like I want to do that but I haven't yet. Or another

00:04:09.160 reaction that I get quite often is oh my god I could never I actually get that quite a lot people

00:04:14.980 I think um not trying to be judgmental but they're like that's so scary I could never do that a lot

00:04:22.620 of the time though I will mention a lot of people say that who are also in long-term relationships

00:04:27.400 which I find interesting because boyfriend that has been mentioned he's actually oh my god I wasn't

00:04:32.120 going to mention it but he's actually sitting down in this recording room um first time sitting in

00:04:37.780 sitting in but he's a silent bystander and I made sure he was sitting behind me so I couldn't like

00:04:42.720 see him anyway but yes the aforementioned boyfriend that's sitting behind me Tom right

00:04:48.580 we've been together 10 years this year so I really think maintaining independence in a relationship

00:04:55.680 is really important so my first big favorite reason of solo traveling is that the world is so

00:05:03.060 big and if you have the means to because of course it can be a very costly and time consuming

00:05:08.960 activity and getting leave from work and all that jazz is difficult but if you have the means and

00:05:15.420 if you want to put your I guess priorities to the world of travel it's a big place and it's great

00:05:21.860 to explore as much as we can of the world and I think as someone who was born in Melbourne has

00:05:27.360 lived in Melbourne my whole life has probably lived in like a 15 kilometer radius my whole life

00:05:32.920 I've realized that I want to try explore the whole world well as much as I can this is sounding a bit

00:05:40.180 eat pray love which I get and like no like obviously most people want to travel I get it

00:05:45.200 but surprisingly a lot of people are quite um content to stay stay at home because the thing

00:05:50.960 is I'm quite like that too I'm quite a homebody and sometimes if I'm being real okay this happens

00:05:57.680 almost before every single trip I take no matter if it's like a short one interstate or someone

00:06:04.240 really exciting overseas I actually have this dread a little bit um it's usually like a week

00:06:09.900 before a few days before and it's just the overwhelming I guess factor of oh my gosh there's

00:06:16.960 so much to do there's so much to pack um I'm going to be thrown out of my routine I won't have my

00:06:22.180 creature comforts all of that definitely starts to seep in and that's kind of where my head is at

00:06:28.780 today actually. My second reason why I love solo travel is something I alluded to before which is

00:06:34.700 that independence is so good and testing yourself and challenging yourself to be put in these

00:06:40.260 situations that you aren't otherwise I think is just so good for personal growth. Again like I'm

00:06:46.020 someone who loves spending time with myself. I will easily like go out for meals by myself in

00:06:50.660 in Melbourne and spend days by myself in Melbourne but when you're in a new country and you haven't

00:06:58.260 ever navigated that space before I think it does add an extra layer of something and even

00:07:06.080 theoretically when you're like yeah I love spending time with myself I love navigating the world

00:07:10.300 by myself putting it to the test when it comes to like oh you are really by yourself in some ways

00:07:18.860 I think is a great challenge and it's relatively safe as well like I don't know I'm not gonna

00:07:25.640 go on a massive like hike in a foreign country up a mountain because that's not in my skill set but

00:07:31.440 I'm like no I could navigate the city by myself for a week or whatever. The third reason why I 0.99

00:07:36.620 love solo travel is that you are living on your own time you literally answer to nobody. As much

00:07:44.620 as I love traveling with partners or friends or family because obviously that brings so much fun

00:07:52.120 and uniqueness to it there is nothing like solo travel where you are your own manager of your own

00:07:57.280 time you can wake up and decide what you feel like you get to choose where to go you get to

00:08:02.260 choose where to eat you can change your mind as simple as that there's no guilt I think sometimes

00:08:07.880 it comes with traveling with other people of like okay are they enjoying the time or like you know

00:08:13.320 do they want to spend more time in that gallery or do you want to go to shopping or whatever it

00:08:17.780 might be you don't have to like deal with that and that brings us to our first kind of hurdle

00:08:24.340 topic which is I've just called it the umbrella category of stress so we're going to start even

00:08:31.260 before we get to the destination we're going to start at the airport because listener Lydia asks

00:08:37.620 How do you cope with airport stress and the possibility of things going wrong?

00:08:43.000 Oh my gosh, I want to take you back.

00:08:44.680 So back in 2019, I went on my first trip with a friend.

00:08:49.640 We went to the west coast of the US.

00:08:52.460 I went with my lovely friend Natalie and I had the best time of my life.

00:08:56.820 And this is a little callback because on a recent regular Culture Club ep,

00:09:01.620 my recommendation at the end of the episode was a YouTube channel called Andrew, Stephen and Adam

00:09:07.600 and they were the frontiers, the front talent for BuzzFeed's now defunct series where they try

00:09:17.260 one type of food at three drastically different price points and I mentioned it a bit in that

00:09:23.120 episode but I literally planned so much of that trip around that food series. Me and my friend Nat

00:09:30.360 we hit up so many of the places that were mentioned in the YouTube series and it was the

00:09:35.620 best for instance I really remember having I was in LA and we were staying in Koreatown and there

00:09:42.120 was this little little pasta joint I think it's called pasta sisters I think I remember and it

00:09:47.900 was so good it was so cheap every order came with a serving of bread olive oil balsamic vinegar

00:09:53.560 and the parcel was just so lovely. So anyway, where was I? I could get lost. I can get lost

00:10:01.200 in those memories so easily. I actually wrote a piece for Sydney Morning Herald at the end of the

00:10:06.760 year about that summer, that summer that kind of helped me feel more like an adult because it was

00:10:15.120 the first time leaving the country without my family. This is a long tangent because we're

00:10:20.760 still at the airport. The question was still at the airport. So let me take you back. Especially

00:10:25.960 around 2019, I was struggling quite a lot with anxiety. That was when I was regularly seeing a

00:10:31.840 psychologist. And for weeks and months before that trip, I actually had so much anxiety about

00:10:39.300 the airport and the flight. And that was uncommon for me because I actually enjoy flying,

00:10:44.760 dare I say I enjoy the process of flying and I've never really been nervous about it but for some

00:10:52.000 reason for this big trip back in 2019 it was like a big focus point the way I got over that or the

00:10:58.820 way I tried to combat it was just to take each step at a time so I was like okay Maggie just get

00:11:05.600 to the airport and my my parents were there with me as well okay next thing we just got to check in

00:11:10.160 and then I remember when I was checking in at the desk I actually like told the person who was

00:11:15.580 working being like hey this is the first time I've traveled like by myself I was flying Melbourne to

00:11:20.200 LA LA to Seattle all in one fell swoop they were it was just like telling someone else about how I

00:11:26.660 was feeling helped so much I was it really helped alleviate that weight that I was carrying it all

00:11:31.540 by myself so I was like hey someone else at this airline knows how I feel they were so nice I was

00:11:36.840 like okay we're going to tell the crew at the gate and they're going to look after you and just

00:11:41.700 having that sense of hey we've got you really helped. I also am like I mentioned before a

00:11:47.740 creature of comfort so I made sure to have a few things with me that helped ground me. So I think

00:11:53.520 it was things like having a necklace that I always wear. Also a calming scent really helped. I want

00:12:00.960 to say it had something with lavender in it. I don't remember what it was now. It doesn't actually

00:12:06.500 really matter what the item is it just needs to be comforting for you and then the main thing

00:12:12.220 when you get on the plane is realizing that hey the plane is your friend the plane think about it

00:12:19.620 like your living room your bedroom because in my head the way I try to frame a long haul flight

00:12:24.700 now it's like oh amazing I get to sit down I get to watch movies I get to read I get to have endless

00:12:30.840 snacks and drinks. I low-key kind of enjoy plain food as well so just think about it in the things

00:12:36.860 that feel familiar to you. Obviously there's a lot about flying that is very unfamiliar

00:12:41.100 and weird but at the end of the day it's like no like what am I doing in my physical body? I am

00:12:47.660 sitting down, I'm watching something, I'm relaxing, we can do it okay. I will say though the airport

00:12:54.960 stressors definitely heighten when you're in an overseas place where the language that they speak

00:13:02.060 is foreign and you are by yourself I think we are so lucky I mean if you're listening to this 0.99

00:13:07.660 podcast you obviously speak English I would doubt anyone's listening to this who doesn't understand

00:13:14.380 what we're saying um but we are very lucky with English I feel like it is so like universally

00:13:21.760 kind of understood or like catered for to be honest so I feel like wherever you go you've got

00:13:29.220 that on like on side the other thing with that is I think it's really important to have data

00:13:35.860 on your phone like as simple as that like or connect your airport wi-fi data on your phone

00:13:40.100 having my data on my phone just makes me feel literally just so secure because I'm like cool

00:13:45.060 I've got google translate cool I've got like the accommodation address I can kind of get anywhere

00:13:51.400 that's the thing. Speaking of, I mean, it's pretty self-explanatory, but having a portable charger

00:13:56.760 just alleviates that stress as well. I'm like, okay, cool. I've got my phone. I've got the

00:14:02.140 charger. I've got the data. I'm connected. That's just how you navigate regular life as well. So

00:14:07.840 those basic things I feel like have helped.

00:14:12.300 the next topic that we are speaking about is safety and obviously like a disclaimer

00:14:23.840 I'm no expert on this I'm just somebody who's experienced solo travel as a woman before

00:14:31.080 let's go with the first question listener Ashley asks advice on vetting places to stay

00:14:37.520 what do you look for and any red flags? This is an interesting one because I am someone who likes

00:14:46.300 to stay in comfortable spaces. I will actually mention I did stay at a hostel in London for one

00:14:53.580 of the first homes ever. I've only stayed in a few hostels but I'm always like okay I'm okay to pay

00:14:58.420 a little bit more for a hotel or an Airbnb but this time I mean London's just so expensive so

00:15:04.140 I stayed at one quite central for the first few nights and when I'm vetting um let's say a hostel

00:15:10.400 uh so my youngest sister Katie is someone who travels a lot actually should have gotten her

00:15:15.200 on the podcast probably she spent a year in Utrecht in the Netherlands she spent three months

00:15:20.920 in Japan last year she's well traveled and she's a big hostel stayer and I'm saying hostel I know

00:15:27.600 most people say hostel I usually say hostel but then Katie's confused me and she says hostel so

00:15:32.540 following suit. But Hostel World is a great website where there's like a lot of hostels to

00:15:38.560 go through. And for me, I really am just someone who does read the reviews. So think about what's

00:15:45.000 important to you. For me, it's like safety, location and cleanliness and the types of people

00:15:50.160 that stay there. So if you're looking for a more party vibe, there's definitely that. If you're

00:15:55.560 looking for a more calm base there's definitely that too. Red flags that's a good question I mean

00:16:03.040 I just very I am quite in depth with it all I think what I want to see is like okay if you're

00:16:10.100 in a hostel they you've got like your own curtain you've got your own locker I want to look at what

00:16:15.720 the bathroom facilities are like so for instance the one I stayed in London it was a smaller room

00:16:21.420 it was like four to six people and then we shared one bathroom there whereas obviously other ones

00:16:26.260 there's like you know shared dorms and then big shared bathrooms so it's just on you on what you

00:16:32.980 want to prioritize Nina also asked do you do hostels and try to make friends or private a

00:16:39.100 com so the thing is I am not someone who will go to a hostel and make friends I don't think like

00:16:46.300 I don't mind having like a very friendly repertoire with people in your room it was surprising that

00:16:53.820 no one spoke in mind I don't know if that's normal or not but we might have said hi I didn't I kind

00:17:00.440 of wanted to spark more of a conversation but it was quite like a individual like you keep to

00:17:06.300 yourself hostel so I think it really does vary but of course all hostels have communal spaces

00:17:11.660 where people do hang out. I personally think a lot of the people there were a bit younger or

00:17:18.120 they were already in groups so it just didn't really feel like my vibe. I think my favourite

00:17:23.460 way that I did accommodation this trip was to get an Airbnb with an owner so I just like booked a

00:17:31.400 room in a house or an apartment and what happened there was it was nice to have someone else around

00:17:36.840 to be honest. It was nice to have a local that I could ask things about. Also a lot of the time

00:17:42.000 these owners weren't home. A lot of them actually went traveling or you know they were just in their

00:17:48.120 day-to-day lives but I feel like that was a really nice balance and it was really nice having access

00:17:53.180 to a kitchen as well as like a living room and not just one room. And when we're talking about

00:17:58.660 safety in general right people warn me so much about London. It's so funny like I've traveled

00:18:04.080 to quite a few places I've been to like India China etc but I've never been warned as much as

00:18:10.500 when I was going to London people were like don't wear a nice necklace it'll get snatched off your

00:18:14.880 neck I was told that I was told you know your phone like you can't have it out in public

00:18:21.180 essentially I mean I did like Jazza's advice who said you know if you like need to look at

00:18:26.600 something on your phone like have your back up against the wall quickly look at it and then put

00:18:30.040 it away and then start walking again there was a lot that I was warned about and the thing was

00:18:35.100 it wasn't that bad and I don't want to say this and then someone come for me if their phone gets

00:18:39.280 snatched because there was definitely you know I had friends of friends whose phones were stolen

00:18:43.760 while we were traveling but the thing is I think having your wits about you is number one protection 1.00

00:18:50.460 dare I say I think being again like an Asian woman just by herself back in Australia you're 0.93

00:18:57.900 pretty aware of your surroundings and the people that are around you I feel and I feel like having

00:19:02.780 that same mentality will just do you wonders I would like grip my phone I would still like look

00:19:10.680 at my maps I would still like take outfit photos on the streets of London and it was okay it wasn't

00:19:19.480 as bad as people made it out to be I think it's similar with like pickpocketed culture in Europe

00:19:24.620 as well it's just like know where your things are like zip up your bags like make it look like you

00:19:29.600 are aware of your space as well so it could be like like I was saying the claw grip on the phone

00:19:34.460 or it's yeah you might be hugging your bag a bit when you're on the subway anyway I'm I'm really

00:19:39.620 scared I'm gonna jinx myself and I will get something stolen one day but so far I've been safe

00:19:44.700 now let's talk about perhaps the biggest hurdle for solo travel and that's loneliness let's start

00:19:58.840 with Heather's question they ask how do you find the confidence every day to put yourself out there

00:20:04.940 in unknown places because yeah I feel that Heather like it can feel scary and daunting

00:20:13.000 and there were definitely moments I'm reflecting just on my recent Europe holiday where I did feel

00:20:19.420 out of place and it was not always like an enjoyable experience I think the first thing

00:20:26.560 I want to talk about is that focus on every day right because obviously you're going to experience

00:20:31.240 the city you're in every single day when you're traveling but I think there's this pressure to

00:20:35.940 like seize every moment and make every single day when you're traveling like the best day ever

00:20:42.140 but the thing is if you're going on an extended trip you know over three weeks or more you need

00:20:48.120 your downtime and what I really struggled with was trying to not feel guilty for doing that

00:20:54.740 because some nights I would stay in and I would have dinner at my accommodation and I'd like watch

00:21:00.760 something on my laptop or something like that right or some mornings I take it really slow

00:21:06.020 and not really make the most of the day but that's normal I think that's what we need to remember is

00:21:12.740 that we're still human wherever you are in the world you are still you you still live in your

00:21:16.160 body you still have the same needs and you have the same kind of preferences and that helps balance

00:21:21.920 out the trip we can't go at a hundred percent speed every single day and I had a lot of people

00:21:27.640 comment this being like wow you've jammed so much into your day like you do you're doing so much

00:21:32.000 every day and I'm like you're seeing that from my Instagram story obviously I'm not going to post

00:21:36.180 when I'm just staying home cooking like a crappy little pasta in this accommodation so I feel like

00:21:43.380 try to remember that it's really normal to have recharge days slash nights slash mornings to

00:21:50.540 continue on with Heather's question you know she asked like how do we find the confidence every

00:21:55.040 single day to still put yourself out there. I think carrying a sense of not caring about like

00:22:03.600 how other people perceive you helps so much and that goes for whether you're at home or you're

00:22:08.540 traveling. I'm so glad that my frontal lobe has developed because I think it's really helped with

00:22:15.340 me not really caring as much with what other people think and a good test of this is I actually

00:22:21.360 don't mind I think you know Tom can attest to this like being on a train in peak hour going on the

00:22:26.620 way to work and be like okay I'm gonna let out a crump let out a crump like who cares the other

00:22:32.280 day we were literally just at the park singing and dancing in a public park because you're like

00:22:37.520 no one actually cares that's the number one thing especially when you're not you know obviously

00:22:42.660 harming anyone else you're not inconveniencing anyone else no one actually cares is that is my

00:22:48.420 main takeaway so that is how I think I would put myself out there because especially when you're 0.69

00:22:54.080 in a foreign place that's amplified you're like you'll never see these people again you are nobody

00:22:58.660 to them in the nicest way possible you're not going to accidentally bump into a co-worker or

00:23:03.120 your boss or like an old friend from your past like the chances of that are so slim and I think

00:23:10.380 you just have to realize that being overly self-conscious of how you might be seen especially

00:23:16.540 when you're solo traveling so you know if you're having dinner by yourself if you're at a gallery

00:23:21.120 by yourself the only person that's kind of ruining the experience for is yourself if you're if you're

00:23:28.580 preoccupied on that easier said than done of course but I just think you know I think my

00:23:35.420 embarrassment rose quite a bit when I'd be like okay let me put down my phone and record an outfit

00:23:40.540 video by myself like on the streets and there's people around or I'm taking a self-timer pic

00:23:45.800 somewhere and you just laugh at yourself a bit and you're like oh my god that was a bit embarrassing

00:23:49.640 but no one cares and no one's going to remember you. Annabelle asks do you ever feel lonely being

00:23:55.940 by yourself especially surrounded by groups or couples? If you've chosen to go solo traveling

00:24:01.560 I think you're prepped with the idea of loneliness. You know that that's what you're going to expect

00:24:06.880 to an extent. I think there is a difference though between loneliness and just spending time alone

00:24:12.120 and spending time alone is easier to navigate because you're like yep cool you know you are

00:24:18.020 your own companion in a sense but I think loneliness is messier it's a bit harder to

00:24:23.980 deal with and you're you are right Annabelle I think those feelings can amplify especially when

00:24:29.900 you're surrounded by groups or couples what was difficult for me was being in a foreign city and

00:24:34.740 country and just feeling a bit of an outsider surprisingly even in a place like London right

00:24:40.120 where the similarities between Australia are quite strong but I was like whoa there's a lot

00:24:45.580 about their culture their slang the way that people interact that I just wasn't a part of

00:24:50.740 but I think sometimes that's like where the niceness of solo travel comes about like that's

00:24:56.000 actually what you want to experience you're not going to a new city or country and being like yeah

00:25:00.780 this is exactly like it is back home because otherwise why would you have left and those

00:25:05.440 feelings of loneliness are just a manifestation of that it's you're in a new place you don't know

00:25:11.220 people the culture the society is different of course you're going to feel a bit weird and I

00:25:16.180 think no matter how uncomfortable those feelings are recognize that they are actually necessary

00:25:21.920 as part of your growth but also a little bit more of a practical tip as well I mean we are so

00:25:29.660 interconnected with the you know the rest of the world and your friends and your family back home

00:25:35.740 that staying in touch with people I think really does help and it can be hard with time differences

00:25:41.520 of course but for me I found that you know with my partner Tom especially in Europe the time

00:25:48.800 differences of you know our my early mornings and late nights lined up pretty well with Australia

00:25:54.320 so having times that you call your loved ones is also really helpful I called my mum a few times

00:26:00.660 which she loved and also like don't underestimate a voice note I know some people really don't like

00:26:06.740 them but I think that's probably the sweet spot of time different like you know time different

00:26:11.780 struggles as well as feeling like you don't want to be thinking so much about you know who you have

00:26:20.100 to call at what time what will you be doing then I just feel like voice notes alleviates a lot of

00:26:25.160 that like timely pressure I mentioned at the top that when I spent a week alone in Thailand I kind

00:26:32.200 of did struggle with the solo travel aspect of it and I felt that the language barrier was one of

00:26:39.340 the biggest hurdles for me because I realized you know I was staying at a lush hotel after a week

00:26:45.520 with my friends I was like you know what I just want a place where I can have my own space and

00:26:49.360 there's a pool etc so that was so nice but the con of that was that I was like not speaking with

00:26:57.140 people because the little interactions that you have with other like locals or tourists whether

00:27:03.780 that's you know you're at the supermarket and you're making small talk with the person at the

00:27:08.020 register or you're in line for something and you strike up a conversation with somebody else

00:27:12.480 I didn't realize how important those little interactions were so when I was in Thailand

00:27:17.480 and couldn't speak the language I really struggled with that one thing that really helped me and you

00:27:24.280 know maybe next time I would have actually stayed in a hostel for a night or two but one thing that

00:27:29.200 really helped me was I booked in a half day trip for it was to visit an ethical elephant sanctuary

00:27:36.800 and there were other girlies my age some from Australia some from New Zealand and it was so

00:27:43.620 nice to have that connection one of the girls was wearing a after work drinks hat so if you

00:27:49.440 if you don't know after work drinks they're a podcast started by an Aussie and a Kiwi and it's

00:27:55.300 similar to culture club they speak about pop culture and stuff but seeing that hat was like

00:27:59.860 oh my gosh like a breath of fresh air it felt like I had this sudden connection to home and

00:28:05.380 understanding I know there's such a stereotype of oh Australians when they travel they just seek

00:28:11.260 out other Australians and like you know expat culture like you only really hang out with people

00:28:16.120 from back home and obviously obviously we want to make friends with locals and you want to

00:28:21.160 meet other people but there is this beautiful innate understanding of people from your home

00:28:26.820 country and I feel like people do just gravitate to each other which isn't a negative I don't think

00:28:32.120 seeing that girl with the AWD hat was so lovely and then a few of us that met that day ended up

00:28:40.100 going out together that night and that was really fun we went to a drag bar and yeah and what I

00:28:45.880 really like is you don't have to make friends for life when you travel you can literally just make

00:28:49.420 a friend for a day and that's and that's more than enough. I want to next talk about packing tips I

00:28:56.040 mean somebody did ask for advice around what to bring especially I think in terms of clothes

00:29:02.320 and I want to first focus on like the summer wardrobe because that's kind of the only time

00:29:08.460 I really travel I have not done like a deep winter trip so I can't really give advice there

00:29:13.780 because for summer and maybe this is applicable to winter wardrobes too but I think lean into

00:29:19.520 the vacation dad outfit I feel like that is my top way of packing know that you're not going

00:29:28.340 to look like your coolest self always when you travel because it's like impossible to bring

00:29:33.700 your whole wardrobe over right my favorite things to wear are a few like of your quote-unquote like

00:29:40.700 signature pieces so pieces back home that you gravitate to that you know you feel good in and

00:29:45.520 they they really feel like you because on the flip side of the vacation dad outfits and what

00:29:51.300 I mean by that is you know bring your t-shirts bring your like cargo shorts bring things that

00:29:56.840 you're comfortable in and that are that really do prioritize function at the same time I have

00:30:03.020 lent too far into that at times and then I don't feel like me and if fashion's important to you

00:30:08.320 you know you want to look and feel good so making sure that you have pieces that really sing out to

00:30:14.620 you that make you feel your best incorporated within this the vacation dad outfit the other

00:30:21.120 thing is like obviously depends on where you go I think really make sure that you consider like

00:30:25.400 cultural norms and what's like acceptable in terms of perhaps like bare shoulders or if you need like

00:30:30.480 a shawl to cover up etc but also look at the fabrics you're bringing I'm always quite staunch

00:30:36.700 on being like don't bring too much because there's laundry you might buy things etc but if you've got

00:30:41.740 like a few few silky little tops like little singlets that literally takes up no space and

00:30:47.580 it's super light to bring so don't feel like you're super limited on that on that limited

00:30:54.360 clothing space too. A recommendation as well this is terrible like unfortunately where I bought this

00:31:01.260 from I would not recommend but packing cubes actually really do help. I feel like this is

00:31:06.660 the first trip where I have used packing cubes where I'll put all my pants together all my skirts

00:31:11.700 together all my tops together roll them up I like to roll up my clothes and I feel like it saves so

00:31:17.780 much space and it's actually so much easier to navigate especially if you're moving in between

00:31:22.300 accommodation like I can just have all my all my tops together you just know where everything is

00:31:27.340 but yes I did get that off Amazon because I didn't know where else to get it

00:31:31.940 we're almost at the end but I want to talk about friends friends and finding people to hang out

00:31:43.340 with because I did go overseas by myself the intention was to solo travel but of course you

00:31:50.840 can't spend all that time by yourself and I had a few friends that I knew of especially in London

00:31:56.040 and in Copenhagen that I really wanted to spend time with and I did get to hang out with but what

00:32:01.460 I didn't really realize was that a lot of the people I would end up hanging out with were people

00:32:06.180 like wasn't necessarily close with some people I had been internet friends with but I had never

00:32:12.060 met up with there's other people that maybe I used to work with but we'd never hung out socially but

00:32:18.080 than we did I think what's really nice about solo travel is that element of vulnerability that you

00:32:23.600 have to put yourself out there and it will connect you with people that you might not have connected

00:32:28.140 with otherwise so for instance I would send dms to people that I saw were also traveling in the

00:32:34.560 same place or you know I met up with a few locals in London and I was like hey I'm here like would

00:32:41.040 you like to get a coffee sometimes people don't respond and you just have to be okay with that

00:32:46.420 but other times it's really nice to be able to have these kind of fleeting connections with

00:32:51.300 people I feel like more so than when you're back at home all together like you might not

00:32:56.860 be as open to meeting new people but if you're connecting with other travelers I feel like

00:33:01.200 it's it's really nice and it really enhanced my trips too. One such friend is actually my friend

00:33:07.460 Ashley she works at the social studio here in Melbourne where I volunteer at sometimes and she

00:33:14.480 coincidentally had a solo trip to Europe almost like we left a day apart from each other and again

00:33:21.260 we had not hung out socially ever but it was the loveliest time ever because we got to hang out a

00:33:27.200 few times in London together we saw a musical together got dinner etc and Ashley I think had

00:33:32.620 such a fun trip overseas she's someone who is so extroverted and she did stay in like different

00:33:38.500 hostels and really connected and made friends with a lot of people. Ashley is also a listener

00:33:44.860 of Culture Club and she has sent in a voice note about her own tips around solo traveling. So we'll

00:33:51.780 play it here now. Hey Maggie, I just got back from a five-week solo trip and thought I'd send in

00:33:59.120 the tips that I would pass on to anyone who's about to do their own solo trip. My first would

00:34:05.060 be to make sure you have things planned where you know you'll be with other people. So whether

00:34:10.480 that's like a friend you'll meet up with or a class or a dinner, have some of those in the

00:34:16.660 calendar to break it up and give yourself something to look forward to where you know you'll have

00:34:20.740 social interaction. I found that really helped. The second thing would be to not underestimate

00:34:27.600 the kindness of strangers um I personally had so many amazing experiences with strangers

00:34:34.880 like one day for instance my car didn't work and it wouldn't allow me to get on the bus and the

00:34:40.520 person behind me offered to pay so that I could get on which was super lovely and I think it was

00:34:45.220 a really big fear of mine before solo traveling is thinking I'd have to face a lot of I don't know

00:34:50.500 difficult things alone um but I think trust that there are strangers out there who would help you

00:34:56.200 if you need. The third and final one would be to ask people where they're from anytime you hear

00:35:03.100 them speaking English. So wherever I was, whether it was at a cafe, at a tourist attraction, or

00:35:09.400 anywhere that I heard someone alone speaking English, I would ask where they're from, start a

00:35:14.440 conversation. And often it would end in us having dinner together or spending time at the attraction

00:35:20.280 together, taking photos for each other. And I found that a lot of other solo travelers really

00:35:25.340 appreciated someone striking up a conversation with them and we're often really open to

00:35:31.160 companionship and spending more time together so be brave and yeah put yourself out there and I

00:35:39.120 think you'll be surprised at how many people are so on board to hang out with you even if it's just

00:35:46.020 for that day and who knows you might make a friend for life. To end with I have a question from

00:35:52.520 listener Laura who asked was there anything you discovered about solo travel that you didn't

00:35:57.800 expect to? I think going into solo travel I did trust myself and I backed myself that you know

00:36:03.820 I could do it but I was really surprised at when you push yourself like how much can actually come

00:36:12.100 out of it because I've always you know jokingly said I'm someone who's really bad with geography

00:36:17.160 and directions and and like kind of like the admin side of travel as well that's something

00:36:22.540 that really puts me off but I think being able to do something by yourself for yourself and

00:36:30.160 actually go through with it and look back and be like hey I actually did that I actually feel like

00:36:34.960 that was really really validating and a really nice byproduct of the trip I had been to Europe

00:36:41.500 for the first time two years before that in 2023 and I think going back to so Paris was the only

00:36:48.680 place that I had revisited this time around but going back to some of these places and being like

00:36:53.320 oh I remember I was so nervous the first time I traveled here or like I got lost or I didn't

00:36:58.560 really know my way around I felt like I really grew in confidence and I trusted myself more

00:37:04.760 throughout this process I think especially like as an indecisive person you're really put to the

00:37:11.640 test like no one's telling you where to go no one's telling you what to have for dinner like

00:37:15.280 it's all on you and I think having that challenge or that space to explore that was really delightful

00:37:23.980 I feel like I yeah I got to know myself more that technically brings us to the end of the episode

00:37:30.100 but I am just realizing, you know, every single episode, we love to give you a recommendation for

00:37:35.980 our segment on Bookmarked, where we share something that we've loved reading, listening to, or

00:37:40.840 watching. I want to give a general, a very general and vague recommendation, which is to read a book

00:37:47.800 or watch a movie set in the place that you are going to, or that you are in when you're traveling.

00:37:53.560 I think there's nothing more special than being in a city and then reading about the city while

00:37:59.180 you're in that city I know that sounded messy but for instance back to that 2019 US trip when I was

00:38:06.940 at Yosemite I was reading Into the Wild which I really love this adventure adventure book I want

00:38:13.860 to call it that's also a movie and it was so special I can still recall now six years later

00:38:19.420 like being in that wood log cabin reading how the narrator or like the protagonist in that book was

00:38:27.140 also where i was and there was something really kind of 4d to it like i was really placed in that

00:38:33.380 story so i would recommend that wherever you go thank you so much for listening to this special

00:38:38.900 one-off episode of culture club just picture us still i hope you got that image in your heads of

00:38:45.140 jaz and i sipping cocktails at the beach in our swimmers because that's where we are in no time

00:38:51.840 at all we'll be back in your ears with our regular programming but until then keep well keep warm

00:38:57.880 see you later bye

Culture Club - August 18, 2025

The Dos And Don'ts Of Solo Travel

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