Road Trips: Tips and Itineraries for Solo Travelers

Throughout our road trip category we have suggested itineraries for various destinations with maps showing the route. This map shows a route with suggested stops for circumnavigating Nova Scotia, Canada.

We have a lot knowledge and experience to share about road trips.

Below you'll find a number of posts that amount to a complete guide to taking a road trip alone along with many solo road trip stories.

A solo road trip requires a bit of extra planning and care but it can also be a thrilling experience as you can wander the highways and bi-ways according do your own whims. Stop at quirky roadside attractions. Choose a different destination on a dime. Take a break for a swim at that welcoming lake.

The open road. A road trip is good for the solo traveler's soul.

Table of Contents

Why Road Trips are Good for the Soul

A road trip is good for the soul in so many ways, especially if you're traveling solo. On a solo road trip you can;

Experience freedom. You define the route. You travel on your schedule. It's all about you.
Be spontaneous. See an enticing road? Take it. Change plans on the fly. It's your solo travel prerogative.
Meditate on life. All that open road and vast horizons helps you place yourself, your life, in the big picture. It can help one gain perspective.
Explore your priorities in travel. It's interesting to see what you actually do when you can do anything, take any road, and stop any time.
Get off the beaten track. Your own car and your own curiosity can take you fascinating places that others don't think of going.

The road may be winding but it is in the twists and turns of a road trip when the real fun happens.

Road Trip Stories

We love solo road trips. Our readers do as well. Here's a few snippets for road trip stories that we took and some by our readers as well.

"Last year in June I went for my very first solo road trip around the northern tip of Scotland, the North Coast 500. Five hundred miles of dramatic landscape, narrow roads, lots of Highland cattle and sheep, and above all – lots of heartwarming Scottish people." Northern Scotland Road Trip

"This summer, I sublet my apartment for a month and used the money to pay my rent and rent a car. I decided to drive east from Toronto, visit as many people as I could, and see all the sites I felt like stopping at along the way. It was the first time I’d taken an extended solo road trip and I covered 7,539 kilometers in 30 days." Eastern Canada Road Trip.

"As someone who grew up in Southern Alberta, I've gained a lot of appreciation for how beautiful this province is the more I've traveled abroad. In fact, one of my favorite drives in Alberta is one that your average tourist probably hasn't considered – specifically, because it omits Calgary, Edmonton, Banff, and Jasper." A favorite road trip in Alberta.

"On July 25^th, 2016 at the age of 49, I received my driver’s licence. Two weeks later I flew to Halifax, Nova Scotia, picked up a rental car, and embarked on my first solo road trip. It. Was. Awesome. First Road Trip for a Solo Traveler.

"I don't think I've ever met a culture so fiercely determined to celebrate its history and so modern in how they do it. The Acadians of New Brunswick are fully present and not to be missed. This New Brunswick road trip is a perfect introduction to Les Acadiens." New Brunswick Road Trip.

That's just a smattering of the road trips that solo travelers have shared on the site. Scroll down to see them all.