My First Solo Trip to Europe Was Before Smartphones
My first solo trip to Europe was in 2003, which means I did something that now feels almost impossible.
I went to Italy by myself with no smartphone.
No Google Maps.
No hotel apps.
No digital train tickets.
No Apple Pay.
No Google Translate.
No live location.
No “hey ChatGPT, please build me a 10-day Italy route where I do not accidentally strand myself in Sicily.”
I had a backpack, a train pass, a guidebook, a little English-to-Italian translation book, some Euros, and the confidence of an 18-year-old who was really not that confident. I was winging it - and it completely changed my life.
If I wanted to know where to stay, I looked in a book. If I wanted to call home, I found a payphone. If I wanted to send an email, I had to find an internet cafe and pay to use a computer. If I got lost, I was just lost. There was no blue dot on a map gently telling me I was walking the wrong direction.
It was scary, stupid, amazing, and probably one of the best things I ever did.
But if I were planning my first solo trip to Europe now, I would do it very differently.
Not because the old way was better, because it wasn’t. It just required more patience and planning.
Solo travel is easier now, but you still have to make decisions
The biggest difference between traveling alone in 2003 and traveling alone now is that your phone can solve a ridiculous number of problems before they turn into disasters.
You can land in a country you have never been to, open a map, find the train, buy a ticket, translate a sign, book a hotel, check reviews, pay for dinner, message your family, and figure out how to get to the next city without ever speaking to a human being if you do not want to.
That is incredible.
It is also a little weird.
Your phone is basically the trip now. It is your map, wallet, translator, camera, notebook, boarding pass, train schedule, hotel confirmation, entertainment, and emergency plan. If my phone disappeared on a solo Europe trip now, I would not say I was helpless, but I would definitely need to sit down and rethink my personality for a minute.
In 2003, I had none of that. I had to make decisions with limited information, and then deal with whatever happened after.
That made the trip feel more alive, but not always in a fun way. Sometimes “alive” means walking around Venice at night with a paper map, realizing you have no idea where your hotel is, and wondering if you are about to become a kidnap victim.
Today, you can avoid a lot of that.
And you should! 🤣
Getting lost can be charming when it is voluntary. It is less charming when you are 18, alone, and starting to wonder where people sleep if they fail at being a tourist.
What I would do before leaving
If I were planning my first solo Europe trip now, I would still keep the trip flexible. I would not plan every hour with meticulous detail.
But I would handle the basics before I left.
I would book the first night before arriving. That is non-negotiable now. When you are traveling alone, the first night matters. You are tired, you are figuring out a new place, and you do not need the added drama of searching for a room while carrying everything you own.
When I was 18, I could roll into a city, open a guidebook, and start looking for hostels. Sometimes that worked. Sometimes it meant walking into strange places with no real idea what I was getting into. In Cinque Terre, I ended up sleeping in an older man’s son’s bedroom because he was standing near the train station in Manarola and somehow communicated that he had a room available. Between his fluent Italian, and the three words I knew from my translation book, we figured it out.
It worked out just fine.
I do not recommend building a modern travel strategy around “maybe an old man at the train station has a room.”
Now I would book the first night, save the address offline, and know how I am getting there from the airport or train station. That does not make the trip boring. It just keeps the first few hours from becoming a test you did not study for.
I would use ChatGPT, but I would not let it own the trip
If I were 18 now, I would absolutely use ChatGPT to help plan the trip.
I would ask it for route ideas, first-time solo travel advice, train vs. flight comparisons, neighborhood suggestions, rough daily plans, and what to watch out for. That would have been insane to have in 2003. I was walking around Italy with a book that might have accurate information. I didn’t know until I got to the address and saw if the sign said what I thought it should.
But I would not let ChatGPT plan the whole thing like it was sending me on a business trip.
That is the balance.
Use it to understand the options. Use it to avoid obvious mistakes. Use it to ask better questions. Then make your own decisions.
A solo trip should not feel like you are completing a schedule written by a robot with no feet. You still need room to wander, change your mind, stay longer somewhere you love, and leave somewhere that does nothing for you.
That was one of the best parts of traveling alone when I was younger. If I liked a place, I stayed. If I did not, I left. Nobody had to vote. Nobody needed a meeting. Nobody had to pretend they wanted to see another tower.
Solo travel gives you freedom.
Do not give all of it back to an itinerary.
I would still pack light
The older I get, the more boring and certain I become about this.
Especially if you are traveling alone.
When you are by yourself, your bag is your problem every second of the day. No one is watching it while you go to the bathroom. No one is carrying it while you figure out the ticket machine. No one is helping you drag it up the stairs because the elevator is either broken or never existed.
A smaller bag makes the whole trip easier.
In 2003, I was backpacking because that was the cheapest and most obvious way to move. Now I would still do one bag, but I would do it smarter. I would pack fewer “just in case” things and more items that actually help the trip happen: comfortable shoes, charger, power adapter, basic toiletries, layers, enough socks, and whatever keeps me from smelling like a homeless guy. That first trip, I was probably a little stinky. 🤣
One bag also keeps budget flights useful. If your cheap flight becomes expensive because your bag is too big, you did not find a cheap flight. You found a small trap with a boarding pass.
Traveling alone is easier when you can move quickly.
Your bag decides whether that is possible.
I would stay near transportation at first
For a first solo trip to Europe, I would stay near transportation more often than not.
Not always at the airport. Airport hotels are usually for survival, not joy.
But near the main train station? Very often, yes.
I learned this the old way. When I was moving around Italy by train, staying near the station made everything easier. Get off the train, find the room, drop the bag, go explore. Next morning, walk back to the station and leave.
That is still a good system.
It is not always the most charming system. Nobody dreams of Europe because they saw a hotel next to a train station and thought, finally, romance. But on a fast solo trip, convenience matters.
You want your first move to be simple. You want your next move to be obvious. You want to avoid spending your first night in a new city wandering around with a bag while trying to act calm.
Stay near transportation when it gives you time and confidence back.
Do not stay there just because it is cheap!
I would use the phone, then put it away sometimes
This is the part I would have hated hearing when I was younger, but it is true.
Use the phone. Then stop staring at it.
Use Google Maps to get where you need to go. Use Translate when you need help. Use train apps, airline apps, hotel apps, saved maps, screenshots, and whatever else keeps the trip from falling apart.
But do not experience the whole place through the planning device. You have to stare out the window and let. your mind wander. This is one of the best parts of life - and - travel.
I say that as someone who now films and documents travel. I understand the trap. Your phone can make you feel productive while you are missing the thing right in front of you.
Some of the best parts of my first Italy trip happened because I was not constantly checking something. I got lost. I walked around cities without knowing exactly what was next. I talked to people badly, in almost no Italian, and somehow survived.
Modern tools make travel easier, but the point is still to be there.
Not just navigate it.
I would plan less than the internet tells me to
The internet is very good at making every place sound mandatory.
You have to see this. You have to eat here. You have to book this. You have to visit this viewpoint. You have to avoid this mistake. You have to do the hidden gem that now has 12,000 reviews and a line.
That kind of advice can help, but it can also turn a first solo trip into homework.
If I were planning a first solo Europe trip now, I would choose fewer stops and give each one more room. I would rather have three good days than seven frantic ones.
That does not mean you cannot move fast. I like moving fast. I like 24-hour stops. I like seeing a place, getting a first impression, and deciding if I want to come back.
But when you are alone for the first time, every transfer takes more mental energy. Every decision is yours. Every mistake is yours. That is freeing, but it is also tiring.
Do not build a trip where every day has to go perfectly.
Perfect days are fragile.
Build a trip that can survive you being tired, hungry, confused, or suddenly interested in something you did not plan.
Give yourself time to investigate that weird alley. Wander. Backtrack. Go somewhere your heart sends you. It is so powerful.
What I would still do the same
Even with all the modern tools, I would keep the spirit of that first trip.
I would still go.
I would still take the train sometimes just to watch the country move outside the window. But now I would also be more honest about when it makes sense to fly or take the train in Europe, because the romantic option is not always the smart one.
I would still stay flexible.
I would still eat cheaply during the day and spend more on dinner.
I would still try to use a little of the language, even if it is embarrassing and I end up saying good morning to people at the wrong time like a human Duolingo error.
I would still leave room for weird things to happen.
Because that is the part you remember.
You remember the wrong train. You remember the cheap room. You remember the city that surprised you. You remember the place you left immediately because it was not worth your time. You remember the moment you realize you handled something by yourself.
That is what solo travel gives you.
Proof.
Not that you are cool. I am not cool. I have never been cool. (That’s what my kids tell me! 🤣)
But, proof that you can figure things out.
The real advice
A first solo trip to Europe is much easier now than it was in 2003.
That is good.
Use the tools. Use the maps. Use ChatGPT. Use Google Flights. Use hotel apps. Use translation apps. Use digital tickets. Use your phone like the tiny travel computer it is.
But do not let the tools convince you that the goal is to remove all uncertainty.
Uncertainty is the trip.
You do not need to be fearless. You do not need to be rich. You do not need to know every detail before you leave.
You need a first place to sleep, a way to move, a way to pay, a way to contact someone, a bag you can actually carry, and enough sense to stop when a plan starts getting stupid.
Everything else can be figured out.
That was true in 2003.
It is just a lot easier now.
