Benefits of Solo Road Trips
Solo road trips offer complete and total flexibility. This is the biggest and most obvious benefit of a solo road trip.
You get to decide where you go, when you go, how you go, PLUS what you do when you finally get there. You get to make the schedule (if any), the budget, the snack list, the music playlist, and the bathroom decisions.
Go to the beach for a week? Fine by me.
Blasting early 2010’s Taylor Swift all trip long? Sing away.
Five and a half hour drive with no stops and only your bladder to consider? No one whining at you otherwise.
A solo road trip can be the ultimate stress-free vacation, but you may worry about being lonely, feeling selfish or safety.
Well, your personality type can give you clues about how you might feel on a solo road trip.
Personality Types and Solo Road Trips
Your personality type will also influence how a solo road trip will benefit you.
Two general categories are introverts and extroverts.
Introversion
In general, introverts enjoy alone time. It recharges their energy.
If you are not sure if you are an introvert or extrovert ask yourself what recharges your energy, alone time or time with others.
A solo road trip is often an introvert’s dream. She can drive wherever she wants, often as far away from people as possible. Being alone offers a chance to reflect on life, listen to a podcast or audiobook, and get out in nature.
Extroversion
Extroverts, by contrast, are usually energized by people.
A solo road trip sounds miserable to most extroverts.
Whom are they supposed to entertain? Who is going to entertain them? A full day in the car alone with no one to ask absurd and then later meaningful questions? Miserable!
On the other hand extroverts may make friends easily on the road.
If you are planning a solo road trip as an extrovert, choose your stops carefully and be sure to find the party so you can recharge your social battery.
How Both Types Benefit: Challenge Versus Rejuvenation
Solo road trips can benefit people from both personality types, with the right planning and perspective.
First, if you’re not sure where you fall in the introversion-extroversion spectrum, there are personality tests available to help. I’m partial to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which you can take for free here.
After understanding where you fall in the introversion-extroversion spectrum, you need to decide why you want to travel alone.
Are you looking for rejuvenation, a challenge, or a mixture of both ?
For example, if you’re an introvert working in a fast-paced people-oriented environment, a solo road trip is perfect for rejuvenating your soul. Go find a new hiking spot and exhale your stress away.
However, if you’re an introvert who works remotely from home on administrative tasks and has little interaction with people, you might feel the need to seek some balanced adventure, in which case, a road trip that includes at least some social activity can provide a healthy challenge.
The same pattern applies to extroverts but in reverse. Extroverts who find themselves in task-oriented environments with little room for people may take a solo road trip that ends in people-oriented activities to rejuvenate.
But if you’re an extrovert who is always around people, some solitude will be challenging but may provide much-needed time to slow down and reflect on your life.
The trick is balance. I like to mix challenge and rejuvenation, putting the challenge in the beginning or middle of the trip.
As an introvert, I’d add social activity at the beginning or middle of my trip. That way I can use the end of my trip to rejuvenate my energy. Extroverts would do the opposite, putting their solitude at the beginning or middle and socializing at the end.
Is It Safe To Road Trip Alone?
Solo travel can be just as safe as group travel if you do some research and stay prepared. Be sure to remain aware of your surroundings and be sure someone know when to expect you home.
If you find yourself nervous in a situation, go with your gut and get out of there.
There are a few things you can do ahead of your trip to make it as safe as possible.
City Safety Rankings
Part of your solo road trip decision making involves evaluating the safety of your destination.
Naturally, there are plenty of sites with a variety of studies and scales with a range of reliability, user-friendliness, and most recent data.
An easy site that lets you custom search possible destinations is Areavibes, which looks at the livability of an area. Type in the zip code for where you’re going and you’ll be able to rank the resulting scores based on criteria such as crime or cost of living.
You can also look up crime reports for an area directly by doing a Google search that will typically lead you to a city’s government webpage compiling crime statistics for that area.
Activity Safety
What you actually do at your destination is also a huge factor when considering safety measures.
Road trips that end at a public beach and manifest hours of time spent in high-tourist shopping areas provide plenty of witnesses who generally deter dangerous or illegal activity.
Solo physical activities like hiking or rock climbing are more dangerous not just because of the physical risk of the activity but also because there will be fewer people around to help in an emergency.
When considering the safety factors of your road trip, think about what you want to do at your destination and take the appropriate measures to ensure you’re safe throughout your journey.
If you are hiking or swimming alone, be sure that someone knows where you are and when you will be back.
Transportation
How you get to any location will impact your decision making, especially if you’re contemplating a solo road trip.
Be sure your car is in the best shape possible, use the checklist in this post to do a DIY car inspection or bring it to a shop and ask them to look it over.
Consider using public transportation when available.
If you’re from a rural area with little city-driving experience, a solo road trip to a major metropolitan area could be very challenging.
When I went to New York City by myself in 2014, I took the train. I didn’t want to mess with traffic or pay dollars upon dollars for parking, and I am so glad I did and that was before gas prices skyrocketed.
With gas prices being what they are now, the train and public transportation system offer some savings too.
Don’t Forget Your House!!!
Regardless of where you go and what you do, don’t forget to keep your home safe while you’re away.
Let some trusted individuals know where you’re going, how long you’ll be away, and how to contact you in case of emergency, but do not post on social media.
Look into simple home security measures like adding Simpli Safe or a Ring doorbell camera. These can help keep an eye on the front door and send videos to your phone.
Even without a security system a few measures will make it less obvious that you are away.
Call the post office to pause mail delivery.
If your city or county collects trash, arrange for someone to move your bins down to the street for collection and then back up afterward so it’s not obvious that you’re away because your bin is still down at the street three days after trash was collected.
Keep the lawn clear. Most people don’t think about the weather back home while they’re away. It’s not a bad idea to have your friends or family check on your house while you’re traveling to make sure there is no damage from any storms that hit.
Basement flooding and fallen trees could be major problems left unaddressed.
We have very mature trees around our house that always drop limbs during rain or high wind. If we have to leave for any extended period of time, we always get a friend to check out on the house at some point while we’re out just to make sure a tree hasn’t put a huge hole in our home.
If you are renting be sure you have an active insurance policy and take a few pictures before you leave just to document the condition of your apartment.
Tips for Solo Road Trips
Regardless of where you go and what you do, following a few strategies will help keep you and your home base safe while you are away.
Tell some trusted individuals where you’re going, how long you’ll be gone, and how to reach you in an emergency. Ask if they can check in on your home occasionally while you’re away.
Pick destinations and activities that complement and/or challenge your personality appropriately
Consider your budget and driving confidence for major metro destinations and use transportation methods that fit your comfort level and experience
Plan activities that will refresh and challenge you and be sure to allow plenty of down time before returning.
Pros and Cons of a Solo Road Trip
- Flexibility and control: you decide where, when, and how you go plus what to do
+/- Can be more challenging for extroverted personalities
+/- Can be too comfortable for introverted personalities
- Some activities are more dangerous alone
- Driving ability and confidence may influence transportation options in high-traffic destinations
