The quiet confidence of travelling solo

By Josh Chandler

Confidence doesn’t always come before the journey. Sometimes, it’s the gift you collect from a myriad of experiences – good and not so good – along the way. For many of us, solo travel isn’t about being fearless – it’s about learning to trust ourselves in small, steady and reliable ways. Whether you’re planning your first solo trip or just daydreaming about it, remember that confidence can be quiet, gentle, and completely yours.

There’s a kind of confidence that doesn’t shout. It doesn’t look like someone striding through an airport in hiking boots or ticking countries off a list. It’s quieter than that. Softer. It builds slowly, one decision at a time.

For me, it started the moment I chose to travel alone.

Not everyone understood. Some asked if I was lonely. Others worried about my safety. A few hinted I might be running away from something … or someone. And maybe I was, but mostly I was running toward something I couldn’t name yet. I just knew I needed space. Curiosity. A change in rhythm.

My first solo trip wasn’t glamorous. I took the wrong train more than once. I cried in a hostel bathroom, overwhelmed by unfamiliarity. I ate a cheap sandwich on a park bench in the cold, watching a world I didn’t quite belong to. I felt invisible, and sometimes, very seen. But I kept going. I learned to ask for help, even with shaky language skills. I learned that silence doesn’t have to mean loneliness. I learned to find calm in uncertainty.

And with every small challenge, I built something. Not just confidence, but trust. Trust in my instincts. Trust in strangers. Trust in the strange, beautiful rhythm of being completely on my own. That’s the gift of solo travel – not invincibility, but self-connection. Not fearlessness, but a quiet, growing sense that you can rely on yourself. That the world and so many people within it, while unpredictable, often meet courage with kindness.

So, if you're standing at the edge of this idea – nervous, excited, unsure – you’re not alone. That mix of fear, trepidation, anticipation and hope? It’s the beginning of something. Something good. Something brave.

Because confidence doesn’t always come first. Sometimes it follows you, quietly, step-by-step, until one day you realise you’re already well on the way to understanding how travelling solo will help you become the kind of person you were wanting to be.

Josh Chandler is a freelance writer based in the United Kingdom.