Over the past few weeks, I’ve been traveling with my boyfriend, Dan, rather than solo. And there’s one big difference I’ve noticed. I don’t meet as many people. When you travel solo, you’re constantly on the lookout for friends. Otherwise, you end up doing everything on your own, which isn’t any fun. Additionally, there are some things that just aren’t possible to do when you’re traveling entirely alone. In this blog, I’m looking back through my photos and remembering some of the people I’ve met (not all have been captured on film!). 

Austria

These were some of the first travel friends I ever met. During a solo trip to Austria, I found friends in a hostel room I was staying in and grabbed a drink with them at the bar. Steph (far right) and I have stayed in touch via social media.

During the same trip, I met my friend Maddie who was from Canada. We were both traveling solo on the same Sound of Music tour. We’ve also kept in touch via social media. I’ll always remember sharing drinks and talking about her passion for taxidermy (so random but certainly memorable!). 

Portugal

I met a great group while traveling solo to Lisbon. Most of us went on a day trip to Belem together. Some of the friends I met had some overlap with other people I knew at Georgetown, which was a funny coincidence. 

Cambodia

During our stay in Phnom Penh, we met Matt. He was traveling to Siem Reap on the same schedule as us and joined our tour to Angkor Wat. Greg (not pictured) was also a key component of our fun in Cambodia.

Sri Lanka

Although he was my tour guide in Sri Lanka, I count Sam among my travel friends. We have kept in touch via social media and exchange messages a couple times per year.

United Arab Emirates

I met one of the cutest mother-and-son duos in Abu Dhabi on a tour of the Grand Mosque. They were Italian, and they were so kind to include me in their day as I was a solo traveler. None of us were wowed by the tour we were on, but it was nice to have some friends. 

Turkey

Cece was an influencer from Taiwan that I met during my stay in Istanbul. She took some of my favorite pictures of me throughout the city. I looked for her Instagram with the handle I thought I remembered from a few years ago recently, and I wasn’t able to find it. I’m hoping I’ll stumble upon something from her again, so we can reconnect. 

France

I visited Caroline (far left) in Albi in early November 2019. I met some of her friends, including Miriam who I’m hugging in the photo. Miriam was her Spanish roommate. What’s even funnier about this photo is some of these girls aren’t even friends of theirs. They just hopped in the photo when they saw we were taking a selfie. 

South Africa

I took a group trip throughout South Africa and Mozambique in February 2020 before COVID hit. I met my Australian friend Maddie (far left) who I still keep in touch with today via WhatsApp. She was a travel agent for the same company we booked this tour through at the time, and now she’s been through a whole grad school program since COVID started. Time flies!

Mozambique

During our short stay in Mozambique, I met Mickey and some of his other friends through diving. He was working at the dive shop, and they all went out to drink with us one night. Here I am drinking a local specialty — Rum and Raspberry. 

Hawaii

I met a lot of special people during my time in Hawaii, including Morgan, Shaylon, and two Emilys. Hawaii was such a transient place that you ended up meeting a lot of people because everyone was always filtering through.