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Men Traveling Alone: 10 tips

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About 30% of our readers and Solo Travel Society followers are men.

Yes, men travel solo too.

But you wouldn’t think so when you see what is published by other sites about solo travel. They are very focused on women.

At Solo Traveler our posts are designed for everyone – young, older, men, women, gay, straight, brown, black, white… However, because there was a demand we did write a post for women traveling alone.

It’s time to balance things out with this post specifically for men who travel alone.

10 Tips for Men Traveling Alone

Because I can’t claim to know what men are up against when they travel solo, I turned to Brian Peters, publisher of No Debt World Travel. He came through with flying colors which isn’t surprising since he has traveled solo all over the world. Here are his top tips.

  1. Sit back and let it happen – Men tend to rush in without thinking. Take the time to sit back, watch how a culture functions, see the opportunities that are presented and let things develop.
  2. Try not to be intimidating – You may not be as approachable as you think you are. Western men tend to be much larger than those in other parts of the world. So, especially if you’re a big guy, try to be gentle. Smile, speak calmly and remove sunglasses so that people can see your eyes.
  3. Keep drinking and drugs in check – It’s important to stay in control at all times. Drinking, drugs even being really tired can cause you to respond with less restraint than normal to a difficult situation. Getting into a fight, whether by your provocation or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, can be a big problem in another country. Having your wits about you to manage a situation well is important.
  4. Risk taking can be a thrill, but don’t push it. – Everyone needs to know their limits. A quick scuba course may prepare you for a shallow dive but not a deep one. A motorbike may be easy to rent in Thailand but it’s not the place to jump on and learn if you’ve never ridden one before. It’s a basic look before you leap message.
  5. Keep the gadgets to a minimum – No one wants to lose things but it does happen. Try to carry only the gadgets you need and try not to carry really expensive ones that will attract attention. They add weight and more things to keep track of.

    Travel pants with Zip-closed security pocket. Available on Amazon.

  6. Protect yourself from pickpockets – Wear pants with a zipped pocket inside the front pocket for keeping valuables. It’s not as good as a money belt but it’s way better than any other pocket. It will reduce the chances of having your wallet stolen.
  7. Take a small roll of duct tape – What guy doesn’t like duct tape. Take along a small roll to fix a suitcase, improve your first aid kit, tape up a privacy screen, entertain locals with your duct tape figurines…
  8. Wrap it up – Have condoms on hand. There was a study on backpackers in Australia which saw that men contracted diseases at a higher rate than women.
  9. She loves you / She doesn’t love you – Finding love on the road is complicated. Being outside your culture makes it difficult to accurately interpret a woman’s response to you. If you get serious it’s also difficult to know whether the love will survive everyday life when you’re not traveling. It’s also important to consider that there may be other motivation for developing a relationship with you. Take your time in any new relationship.
  10. Know that you, too, are vulnerable to muggings – Men sometimes think that women have to worry more about solo travel safety than men but one set of statistics I read says that men are just as likely to be mugged or robbed as women. However, you can use the power of eye contact to your advantage. Prolonged eye contact by a man is considered an act of aggression. Not so for women.

So, there you go. 10 tips for men. If you have others, I really hope that you will add them in the comments below. And here’s a link to Men Travel Solo Too! High Fives to the Guys!

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Last updated: 28th February, 2017
  • Taylor

    you’re right there is less on the men side to solo travel. I can’t find anything good for manly men but when it comes to women, Its almost as the lord paved the way… But thats the new “taboo” I suppose if your a man looking to do manly things when traveling (sigh)

  • Taylor

    I agree big time on foreigners that are women come onto eastern european and american men more so for money reasons than other’s quite often.

  • Taylor

    They are meant for “men” not men who act as women aka beta male.

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  • Blocky Orbits

    Wow, that’s sexist.

  • I should have thought of this earlier. Check out The Cruise Traveler’s a Handbook written by Gary Bembridge. He also has a podcast at Tips For Travellers. He likely has something about cruising solo as a man. .

  • Ben Tenther

    That’s unfortunate that there’s not much out there for men. I’ve met men who love cruises, and I don’t know how just the salty sea air alone wouldn’t appeal to more men. I haven’t been yet. My wife’s going on one in November, we’re doing one together next summer, and I’m doing one solo on a date TBD. Who knows? I blog sporadically. Maybe I’ll be the pioneer to write one.

    Any thoughts from the other readers?

  • Hopefully someone else has tips for you as I don’t. But, from what I hear, there are more women than men.

  • Ben Tenther

    Any advice for men specifically about cruising solo?

  • David Nowell

    A couple or three good tips there! I actually just wrote a book on this topic….well, an e-book anyway. “Guy’s guide to 1-bag travel” – http://goo.gl/AuRpYe

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  • LR

    Another one. She may be married, engaged, or in a relationship, despite most locations will have higher male-female ratios, including America. Local women may not come onto you but avoid coming onto them and throwing yourself at them because they usually have a husband, boyfriend, or fiance who will beat you up or kill you. Male travellers often steal married, engaged, and committed local women. Local men are very territorial over their wives, girlfriends, or fiancees. And it’s usually foreign men throwing themselves at local women, not the other way around due to strict gender norms. But single men are highly respected than married ones in most countries.

  • No I haven’t. It’s an idea for the future.

  • Terence

    Very good reminders! Thanks.

  • Terence

    Janice, have you done a post on favourite Train Travel books? I am not referring to travel advice ones, but rather like author Paul Theroux’s excellent ones.

  • Zoe

    It is cool to see a list for men. I’ve only ever seen travelling as a solo woman written about before.

  • Good on ya!

  • Brian

    With the exception of two if the points, they are all sarcastic, sexist generalizations. Frankly this should be removed from your site.

  • Hi, I would have to agree. It’s a big generalization. I think an edit is in order.

    Janice

  • Jones

    I actually think Thailand can be a great place to learn how to ride a moto!

  • Some good points there but not sure about point two. I know quite a few guys who have found love overseas and to suggest foreign women that come on to men are gold diggers is a little narrow minded if you don’t mind me saying.

  • Carroll

    This is a good list although I do think that many travel tips apply to both genders, there isn’t always a need to separate when it comes to good advice. Then again people on the internet seem to love to debate in ways they never would in non-virtual interactions….travel advice is travel advice in the end. I of course would add that a good bag is essential, especially for even slightly adventurous travel (my favourite). You don’t want to be battling with a suitcase on cobblestone streets or dirt trails- I love my explorer’s bag (http://www.chapmanbags.com/men/shop-by-products/carry-on-bags/explorer-16.html) it’s been a great investment so far. Happy travels!

  • angela

    Typical man response.  Macho.

  • Fine, I’ll (try to) behave. 😐 It just seems that they doth protesteth too much about being given travel safety suggestions when said suggestions, TO ME, can clearly be used for men. It’d be different if the tables were turned.

    *goes back to behavior mode* 😐

  • solotraveler

    Now let’s not get a gender war going here.

  • These sound good to me. The tips seem man-friendly to me. *shrugs* Maybe they don’t like being told what to do/what they should do. They’re men, after all, and know everything.

    😐

  • solotraveler

    You’re right, and we have discussed in the comments that these tips can be included in a list for women as well. However, if you want to talk in generalizations, they probably apply more to men than women. But I hate generalizations. Yet I published it. Why?

    This post was in response to a complaint that there is so much on the web for women traveling alone and nothing for men.

    I think this is all a matter of positioning. Many blogs are positioned specifically for women but, in reality, travel is pretty gender neutral. I hope you noticed that there are only a few posts on the site that aren’t.

    Thanks for your comment.

  • andy

    You know I read these and my first thought was “duh”.

    But the more I thought about it the more I thought “says who?”

    There are too many unsubstatiated “facts” based on “one study I read”

    Really? Please provide a link.

    Finally, most of these apply to women as well.

  • I love tip #9! Although I am a woman, I do always travel with a roll of sturdy tape. Very handy to have. 🙂

  • Bebhinn O’Loingsigh

    I’d like to add one that I’ve seen a lot. It’s not so much about travelling alone, as not taking care of themselves, particularly cuts and grazes being kept clean. This includes mosquito bites getting infected. I’ve personally known four men in the last 2 months who’ve ended up in hospital on a drip, with blood and tissue infections from what started as a minor cut/bite that got infected. It happens A LOT. People can lose limbs from this. This is aimed at guys as they seem to be less likely to keep wounds clean and dressed, in my experience – sorry to those of you who DO take care of yourselves! Remember, bacteria loves hot and humid environments. Cuts take a lot longer to heal and so need to be taken care of more.

  • solotraveler

    That’s interesting Gary because, as I read these as a woman, I think that most are targeted for men. Interpreted broadly, yes they apply broadly. But women don’t tend to be risk takers the way men are (#4), find it difficult to be intimidating (#5), are less gadget inclined (#7)… You get the idea. I think that they are points more relevant to men than woman.

    What I would really like to know is what tips you would offer men. You’re not only a guy, but you’re the guy of travel blogs- http://everything-everywhere.com.

  • There are a lot of websites, ebooks and posts floating around out there on the subject of women traveling alone. There are very few about men traveling alone.

    The fact is, any discussion of men traveling alone will quickly degenerate into tips on how to get laid and where to get drunk. There really isn’t a whole lot about traveling along as a man which deserves its own discussion.

    Of the above 10 points, only #2 really has anything to do with being a man and even that only really is an issue in certain countries (Thailand for example).

    All that being said, if/when someone comes out with the Maxim magazine of travel blogs, I think it might be very successful.

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