10 Mistakes I Made On My First Solo Trip (So You Can Skip Them)

The plane landed in Hanoi at 11pm. I had no SIM card, no Vietnamese dong, no idea how to get to my hostel. The Grab app wouldn't load without internet. My hostel was a 45-minute taxi ride away.

That was my first 30 minutes of solo travel. The next three weeks contained nine more mistakes of similar magnitude.

If you're planning your first solo trip, read this. You don't have to learn the hard way.

Mistake 1: Not buying a SIM at the airport

You think you'll just wait until you get to your accommodation. The hostel WiFi will work. You can grab a SIM tomorrow.

Wrong. Without internet, you can't call a ride. You can't translate signs. You can't reach the person who's supposed to pick you up. You can't tell the driver where you're going.

Buy the SIM at the airport. It's $5-15. The kiosk is 10 feet from baggage claim. Do it before you do anything else, including using the bathroom.

Mistake 2: Booking too much in advance

I had booked all 21 nights of accommodation before leaving home. Three days in Hanoi, two in Ninh Binh, three in Hue, four in Hoi An, three in Da Lat, six in Ho Chi Minh City.

By day 5, I knew Hue wasn't for me. By day 10, I'd met traveling friends going to Da Nang who I wanted to spend more time with. By day 12, I was tired and wanted to just sit in one place for a week.

I couldn't change anything. Every booking was paid. Every reservation was non-refundable.

For your first solo trip: book the first 3-5 nights. Leave the rest open. You'll find your rhythm on the road and want to adjust. Trust me.

Mistake 3: Overpacking

I brought a 70L backpack. By day 4, I was actively resenting it. Stairs in old hotels. Boats that didn't have luggage storage. Buses where the bag took up half my seat. Long walks to find accommodation when I missed the right stop.

You need way less than you think. Three quick-dry shirts. Two pairs of pants. Underwear and socks. One nice outfit. Sandals and one pair of shoes. Toiletries kit. Reusable water bottle. Power adapter. Done.

You can buy anything else you need on the road for a fraction of what you paid at REI back home.

Mistake 4: Eating only in tourist restaurants

I was nervous about getting sick. So I ate at the safe-looking places near my hostel. The ones with English menus and high TripAdvisor ratings. The ones that catered specifically to tourists.

The food was 3x the price. The portions were small. The flavors were dialed-down to suit Western palates. I was in Vietnam and I was eating mediocre Vietnamese food.

The street stall around the corner from my hostel? The one I walked past every morning? It served the best pho I had in three weeks. $1.50 a bowl. Locals only. I ate there 8 times in my last 10 days, after I finally tried it.

Eat where the locals eat. Pick stalls with high turnover (food is fresh). Watch for places that have a line of locals waiting. That's where you go.

Mistake 5: Not learning 20 words of the local language

I assumed everyone in tourist areas would speak English. Mostly true. But the woman selling banh mi from a cart didn't. The grandmother at the homestay in Mai Chau didn't. The driver who picked me up at 4am for my Ha Long Bay trip didn't.

Twenty words takes one hour to learn. Hello. Thank you. Yes. No. How much. Where is. Bathroom. Water. Beer. Help. Sorry. Excuse me. Good. Bad. Vegetarian. Spicy. One. Two. Three. Goodbye.

The way people warm to you when you make this small effort is striking. It changes the entire experience.

Mistake 6: Not being okay with loneliness

I'd expected solo travel to be exciting and free. What I didn't expect was how lonely it would feel some days.

Especially in the middle of a meal at a restaurant. Or watching a sunset alone. Or arriving at a new hostel where everyone already knew each other.

I tried to fix the loneliness by joining group tours and constantly meeting new people. That worked some of the time. But the real fix was learning to be okay with being alone. Reading a book at dinner instead of scrolling Instagram. Walking with no destination. Sitting in a park.

If you can't enjoy your own company, solo travel will be miserable. Practice this at home before you go.

Mistake 7: Saying yes to every social invitation

The first 5 days, I said yes to everyone. Every drink. Every hostel pub crawl. Every "we're going to the night market, you in?" invitation.

I was exhausted. I was hungover. I was spending money I didn't have on activities I didn't really want to do. I felt I had to socialize because that's what solo travelers do.

Around day 7, I started saying no to half the invites. I'd read in my dorm. I'd go to bed early. I'd skip the bar crawl and explore the city alone the next morning.

The trip got better immediately. The people I did go out with were better company because I'd chosen them deliberately, not just defaulted to whoever happened to be in the common room.

Mistake 8: Carrying too much cash

I started with $400 in cash because I thought ATMs would be hard to find. ATMs in Vietnam are everywhere. I ended up carrying way too much cash for 16 days until I started spending it.

What I should have done: $100 in starting cash to cover the first 24-48 hours. Then use bank ATMs (not airport ATMs, which have terrible rates) to pull local currency as needed.

Carrying $400 in cash means losing $400 if you get pickpocketed or you lose your day pack. That doesn't happen often but it happens. Don't make yourself an attractive target.

Mistake 9: Skipping travel insurance

I figured I was 26, healthy, and going to a developed country. What could go wrong?

What went wrong: I caught a stomach bug in Hoi An that lasted 4 days. The hostel suggested I see a doctor on day 3 because the dehydration was getting serious. The doctor's visit cost $80. The IV drip cost $200. The medications cost another $40.

Total: $320. I had no insurance. I paid out of pocket.

Travel insurance costs $45-60 per month from SafetyWing. It would have covered the entire bill plus given me peace of mind. Get it. Always.

Mistake 10: Trying to see everything

I left Vietnam having "seen" Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Da Lat, and HCMC. I had Instagram photos from all of them.

What I actually experienced: I rushed through every city. Two days here, three days there. By the end I couldn't remember which cathedral was in which city. The places I remember vividly are the ones where I stayed 5+ days. The places I rushed through are blurry.

For your first solo trip, do less. Pick 3 places. Stay at each for at least 4 nights. Get a feel for each. You'll remember the trip better.

The pattern

The mistakes were all variations of the same theme: I was trying to optimize my trip the way you optimize a project at work. Maximum efficiency. Maximum experiences. Maximum content.

Solo travel isn't a project. It's a slow surrender to a place. The mistakes I made all came from approaching it like a checklist.

Slow down. Buy the SIM. Eat the street food. Be okay alone. Don't overpack. Get insurance. Stay longer in fewer places. Skip the things you don't actually want to do.

Your second solo trip will be a lot easier.