Finding Home on the Road: A Reflection on traveling alone
Countries that shaped my solo travel journey while discovering freedom, connection, and confidence abroad
As a woman who travels alone quite often, I find myself constantly falling in love with new places. Even if I’m only visiting for a few days, I catch myself imagining what my life would look like there—what coffee shops I’d return to regularly, what my morning routine would look like each day. It’s these little glimpses into a life unlived that allow me to feel a sense of home nearly everywhere I go.
Someone once gave me a simple request: Describe your home. My mind immediately thought of home as a feeling—a sense of safety, familiarity, belonging. I described how home isn’t tied to walls or an address, but something you carry with you. Home is a mindset that helps you feel grounded, no matter where you are. What they actually meant was to describe the physical home I grew up in. But honestly, I still don’t think I answered their question wrong.
That moment ended up being quietly significant. Something I come back to often. Without realizing it, I had landed on a perspective that would shape every solo trip I’d take in the years to come. It was the first time I understood that home isn’t always a place—it’s a connection to yourself. This mentality has made the world feel a little smaller, a little more familiar, and a lot easier to navigate on my own.
I’m beginning to lose count of the places I’ve left with tears in my eyes when leaving a new home I had quietly created for myself. A small heartbreak, not knowing the next time (or if) I’d return—and the small piece of me I was leaving behind.
I encourage you to find these little pockets of home wherever you go, and I hope to inspire that by sharing eight of my top countries for solo travel, below.
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