The Solo Traveller
Your independence, passion, and lifelong memories.
Confidence and Safety
Wrong place, wrong time? Travelling through uncertainty with courage
By Emily Clarke
It’s a phrase many solo travellers dread – "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time". It lingers in headlines, travel forums, and the concerned voices of friends and family. And while it might sound like a throwaway expression, it speaks to something deeper – the uncomfortable reality that not everything in travel (or in life) is within our control.
No matter how carefully we plan, how thoroughly we research, or how closely we follow advice, circumstances can change in an instant. Even the most cautious and thoughtful traveller can find themselves in the midst of a situation they didn’t choose and couldn’t have predicted. It’s a humbling truth that underpins every journey – we are not immune to the mysteries of ‘chance’.
There is a paradox at the heart of solo travel that has always fascinated me. We strike out fearlessly on our own to take complete charge of our experiences – choosing where to go, when, how we’ll get there, and what we hope to experience throughout our journey. It’s a declaration of independence, an autonomous reclaiming of time and direction. And yet, in choosing freedom, we give up something else – the illusion of complete control. This is the deal we make when we travel solo – we accept uncertainty. Or do we? Trains will be late, the weather will change (sometimes quite dramatically), and streets and locales will feel unfamiliar. And sometimes, despite our best efforts, we’ll find ourselves in the middle of something we didn’t expect. But that doesn’t mean we were careless – it means we’re human, and the world is unpredictable.
Confidence doesn’t evolve from having every detail locked down – it grows from knowing and recognising within ourselves that if the unexpected happens, we need to be able to trust ourselves to respond calmly and wisely. And if something does go wrong, we are not foolish, reckless, or to blame. We are travellers in a world that not only contains risk, resilience, and vulnerability, but also the good fortune, luck, and kindness we expect and hope for.
I find strength in the concept of Fate – that there’s a reason and a purpose behind each twist and turn. Others draw comfort from knowing that randomness doesn’t mean failure, and that blaming yourself for not having anticipated something going not quite as planned is never useful. Either way, it helps to have a personal philosophy – whether spiritual, practical, or intuitive – to power your vital internal compass when circumstances change. Mine is a combination of ‘practical’ – ensuring that I do everything within my power to ensure I am safe – and ‘intuitive’ – trusting my gut instincts to be aware of my surroundings, and the way in which they may be changing, and remaining calm and ready to respond in whatever way I need to.
Travelling with courage doesn’t mean ignoring risk. It means recognising it, weighing it up, and choosing the safest and most sensible responses. Yes, something might go wrong, but just as easily something extraordinary might go right – a chance meeting, an epiphany, and moments that combine and evolve to become the precious lifelong memories we dream of creating for ourselves as solo travellers.