5 Signs You’re Ready to Solo Travel (Even If You Don’t Feel It)

So, let me guess, you keep waiting to feel magically ready to solo travel.

But somehow, that feeling never quite shows up.

Here’s what I want you to know, from my 5+ years experience travelling solo to 24 countries, with my anxiety and social anxiety along for the ride:

Waiting to feel ready is a trap.

And confidence doesn’t usually show up before you book your trip.

It shows up after.

Once you’ve done the scary thing and proven to yourself you can actually handle it.

And I know that because I’ve lived it myself. But also because I now help other women work through the exact same thing in my Solo Travel Confidence Coaching calls.

Most first-time solo travellers, myself included, book while still anxious.

So let’s get into the 5 signs I look for, based on the same readiness checklist I give my clients and use myself.

This post is also a podcast episode! So if you’d rather listen than read, hit play below. It’s also on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and YouTube if you prefer those.

Why “Feeling Ready” Isn’t a Reliable Sign

The myth that you have to feel 100% ready and confident before solo travelling is one I want to bust straight away.

Because the truth is, most first-time solo travellers book their trip while they’re still anxious about it. Not after the anxiety disappears.

I know I certainly didn’t feel ready before my first solo trip to Switzerland. I felt terrified!

So if you’re waiting for that “ready” feeling to magically arrive before you book, you might just be waiting a very long time.

That’s a hard lesson I had to learn myself.

And even harder to put into action when you’re anxious.

But still, the real question shouldn’t be:

“Do I feel ready?”

But rather:

“Am I prepared enough to take the one next small step?”

Because it’s consistency of action that builds confidence, not the other way round.

Confidence is built, not given.

Katie’s Top Tip: Stop asking “do I feel ready?” Start asking “am I prepared enough for the one next small step?” That’s the question that actually moves you forward.

The 5 Signs You’re Ready For Your First Solo Trip

Sign 1: You’re Thinking About “When,” Not “If”

This is usually the first sign, and it’s easy to miss because it feels so small.

Maybe you’ve stopped saying “if I ever solo travel” and caught yourself starting to say (or imply) “when I go” instead.

Even if you haven’t picked a date. Or if your plans are still loose and undecided.

So I know for me, when I was dreaming of my first trip to Montreux, I’d started saying things like:

• “I can’t wait to go on the Ferris Wheel for sunset. I hope it’s good weather.”
• “I need to make sure I leave time to walk to Chateau Chillon, it’s beautiful.”

And it was subconscious. I hadn’t woken up and decided to take the trip I was terrified of.

But that subtle shift still mattered more than it probably seems.

Because it means that at least some part of you has already accepted this is happening. Not in some vague someday, but in your actual future.

You don’t need flights booked or even a destination locked in yet.

Just notice when “when,” starts to replace “if.”

Katie’s Top Tip: If you’ve caught yourself saying “when I go” instead of “if I go,” that’s not nothing. That’s your brain already planning for this to happen.

Sign 2: You’ve Started Picturing a Real Destination, Not Just “Somewhere, Someday”

This is the natural next step after sign 1.

“Somewhere someday” is vague on purpose. And it’s safe because it never has to become real.

But if you’ve started picturing an actual place, that’s totally different.

(Even if you keep going back and forth between two or three options!)

For me, it was Montreux. I kept coming back to the beautiful Christmas Market, the Ferris wheel at sunset, the flying Santa I’d seen all over social media…

Sure, I was too terrified to be 100% set on it.

But I couldn’t stop picturing myself there.

And that’s the sign: not certainty, but a place that keeps pulling you back.

Related Read: If you haven’t landed on a destination yet, my post on 11 easy solo travel destinations for anxious beginners will help you narrow it down!

Sign 3: You’ve Thought About the “What Ifs,” and Found at Least Rough Answers

This one surprises my clients, because it sounds like the opposite of readiness!

I mean, surely if you’re still running through worst-case scenarios, you’re not ready yet?

But actually, it’s the opposite.

Before Switzerland, I had a lot of what ifs (to the extent that I got sick of them, honestly!):

• What if I get lost?
• What if I panic?
• What if something goes wrong?

So, annoyed at my own overthinking, I decided to sit with them for a bit and try to answer them as questions.

Ok, so what if I get lost? I’d duck into a shop and check Google Maps to find my way again. And if that doesn’t work, I’d ask a local for help.

You see how that takes the fear and uncertainty out of it?

I didn’t have perfect answers. But I had rough ones.

At least enough to know I wasn’t walking into this completely blind.

And again, that’s the sign.

You shouldn’t be expecting silence where the fear used to be (that’s just unrealistic), but at least a rough plan sitting underneath it.

Katie’s Top Tip: Having a “what if” isn’t proof you’re not ready. It’s normal. But having even a rough answer to it is often proof that you are ready. You don’t need every what if answered before you book, either – just sit with the few biggest ones.

Sign 4: The Fear of Regret Is Starting to Outweigh the Fear of Going

This is often the tipping point for me and a lot of the women I speak to.

For a while, the fear of going is louder than anything else.

• What if it goes wrong?
• What if you hate it?
• What if you can’t cope?

But at some point, I always find a different fear starts creeping in.

And that’s the fear of not going.

For me, that was the fear of still sitting here this time next year, still saying “maybe someday” to Montreux, while watching other people online live the trip I’d been dreaming about.

And this fear doesn’t feel dramatic like your what ifs might.

Instead, I can only describe it as a small, nagging feeling.

And when that feeling starts to outweigh the fear of going, even just a tiny bit, that’s not a coincidence. And you should listen to that.

Katie’s Top Tip: If you’re more scared of never going than of going, pay attention to that. It’s one of the clearest signs your mind is ready, even if your anxiety hasn’t caught up yet.

Sign 5: You Know You Don’t Need Every Answer Before You Book

This last one isn’t about having fewer worries than everyone else, but about your relationship with those worries changing.

And I say this with love as a fellow anxious girl, but:

Stop needing the whole trip figured out before you’ll let yourself book it.

Instead, accept that a good enough plan, taken one step at a time, beats a perfect plan you never actually finish.

Because that’s the thing about confidence: it’s built, not something you wake up with.

It comes from the doing the thing scared, not from having every answer lined up first.

And if you’ve reached the point where you know, even deep down, that you don’t need it all figured out, that’s not reckless.

Just another sign that you are ready.

Katie’s Top Tip: You’ll never have every answer before you book, and you really don’t need to. You just need to know that’s ok.

But… What If I Only Recognise One or Two of These Signs?

Maybe you read through those 5 signs and only really felt one or two of them.

That’s still a valid starting point!

Most people don’t tick every box before they book. And I certainly didn’t have all 5 sorted and believed before Switzerland.

Readiness isn’t all or nothing. It builds one step at a time, the same way confidence does.

So if you’re only just starting to notice the “when, not if” shift, or you’re still working through your what ifs, that’s not a reason to wait longer.

It just means you’re a step or two earlier than someone with all 5.

And that’s exactly what my free email course, 7 Days To Your First Solo Trip (Even If You’re Anxious), is for! It walks you through building the rest, one day at a time.

How to Know You’re Really Ready to Book (Not Just Thinking About It)

If you read through those 5 signs and found yourself nodding along to most of them:

The next step isn’t more research. Or another week of overthinking.

It’s a plan.

If you want the exact system I use to go from ready to booked, I’ve laid it out step by step in my post: The Exact System I Used to Plan My First Solo Trip With Anxiety.

Or, if you’d rather have someone confirm you’re ready and help you build that plan together, that’s exactly what a Solo Travel Confidence Call is for!

Either way, I hope you know that you don’t need to feel fearless to take the next step. You just need to be willing to take it while still a little scared.

Want a little extra support planning your next solo trip?

Explore my FREE Solo Female Travel Resource Library – a growing collection of tools designed to help you feel prepared, confident, and genuinely excited about travelling on your own – even if anxiety has been holding you back.

Inside, you’ll find:

• 7 Days To Your First Solo Trip (Even If You’re Anxious) Email Course
• The Ultimate Solo Female Travel in Europe Starter Kit
• An exclusive invite to my private Facebook community
• Plus checklists, templates, mini‑guides, and new resources added regularly

Click here to access the full resource library! 💛

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