I’ve traveled solo to over 12+ countries across four continents over the last 10 years. For many, traveling alone, especially as a woman, is incredibly daunting and the fear of it holds you back from taking that step into what could be a life-changing adventure.

In my opinion, solo travel is one of the best things you can do for yourself. So, if you’re planning a solo trip for the first time or you’ve gone on a few but are looking for ways to improve your experience, here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years to help you become a solo traveling guru.

I’m a massive proponent of solo travel, for both yourself and your existence in the world (because after you solo travel, you’re life, how you see it, and how you treat others will never be the same - I swear it). That being said, there are some realities to solo travel that personally, I think aren’t talked about as much as they should be. I’ve compiled the below list of seven realities that I’ve found true over 10+ years of solo traveling.

I said it in a previous post, but if I had to lose either my wallet or my phone while traveling? Take my money. I’ve compiled a list of my favorite travel apps for my people who are either new to traveling, don’t do it often, or are simply always looking for any app that makes a trip just a little less stressful.

Last spring I spent two months backpacking South America, solo female travel style, with one day pack strapped to my front and another to my back. Here are 19 tips I learned from my eight weeks abroad.

Rio de Janeiro was one of my absolute favorite stops across the five countries and over 12+ cities I explored over these eight weeks, though many people warned me against it. If you are considering Rio, please do it! Do your research, find good spots, and explore. There is so much to the city and the people, I honestly can’t wait to return.

You haven’t seen waterfalls until you’ve been to the Iguazu Falls (or Iguaçu Falls if you’re Argentian or Foz do Iguaçu if you’re Brazillian). I will be completely honest, I thought these would be mildly impressive but likely nothing to knock my socks off. Let me tell you… my socks were obliterated. If I had to rank this UNESCO Heritage site in my list of the most magical places my traveling eyeballs have beheld… it definitely lands within the top 3.

After spending two days exploring the Iguazu Falls National Park, here are my tips for you ahead of your visit.

When I tell you that Buenos Aires was the most hyped destination of my trip… I do not lie. I had multiple people in multiple destinations in South America (and before), leading up to my arrival in this curiously European-vibed but South American-infused capital city, raving about Buenos Aires. The amount of “I could live there” and “ugh I wish I could have spent longer” were enough to get me psyched for this change of scenery.

After a week in Peru, I was off to Chile for some time in the desert. If you’re looking to visit Machu Picchu, read my tips before you go here! A friend recommended San Pedro de Atacama as a “must stop” on my backpacking route so, of course, I added it into my itinerary. I ended up meeting up with some friends I met in Ecuador, which made for an even more fun few days, to explore this otherworldly terrain.

The longest and narrowest country in the world covers a lot of climates - from the desert to the mountains of Patagonia and beyond to many glaciers - allowing for a lot to be explored.

If you’re planning a visit to this wonder of the world, I’m incredibly excited for you. Not only does it seem like an impossible feat but the landscape these ruins were built into, is unreal.

Regardless of whether you are planning on no hiking, a little hiking, or doing the complete trek, here are some of my tips from one traveler to another.

My weekend visit to one of the seven wonders of the world: Machu Picchu. The visit of a lifetime, that is totally worth the hype (even if my original plans got a smidge thwarted).

I can’t say enough about the beauty of Peru. The colors, the landscapes, the llamas! I cannot wait to go back and explore more of this country. There were so many vivid colors in the landscapes but also the decor - I fully plan to recreate the Peruvian pom pom garland you see in so many shops, for my own home sometime soon.

I kicked off my eight weeks of backpacking in South America in Ecuador, where I would start my backward “J” trek through the continent. I decided to give myself time to explore Ecuador while keeping my itinerary a little “looser.” The only thing I had booked was my first three nights in Quito. I’m so glad I left myself open to everything I experienced in Ecuador.

I’ve been traveling solo for over ten years now, so I figured I’d offer some tips and tricks I’ve collected along the way. Though most of these are especially relevant if you’re traveling solo as a female, many are applicable regardless of your sexual identity.

I tell you what, I am a sucker for positive reinforcement. Give me a motivational quote on a coaster, the back of a t-shirt, scratched into a wall or spelled out with food, and I will feel automatically empowered. So you besta believe, when I see any and every type of could-be motivation while I’m traveling, I capture it. These are 15 of my more recent finds.

I’ve done cooking classes all over the globe, from Argentina to Italy, Indonesia to Scotland, anywhere from afternoon activities to six-week certificate courses. If there is one thing I love to do when traveling, it’s a cooking class. Since I want everyone to experience the joy of cooking while traveling I’ve put together this list of things to look out for, questions to ask, or things to be conscious of, in advance of choosing a course.

This isn’t the comprehensive list we all love and adore BUT I believe it’s just as important of one - it’s the random stuff that you don’t always think to pack but praise yourself when you do. During my two months backpacking South America, these are some items that came in handy during my trip.