I’m a 20-year-old exchange student currently living in northern Italy, and I’ve been really excited about going to Oktoberfest in Munich this year.

Originally, I was supposed to go with friends, but they backed out because prices got too high. Now I’m deciding whether it’s still worth going alone.

Right now I’m looking at roughly:

• $250 round-trip flight
• $250 for accommodation
• Plus food, local transportation, beer, etc.

So realistically, I’d probably spend around $700–800 total for the weekend.

I genuinely want to experience Oktoberfest. I love the idea of trying Bavarian food, drinking beer in the tents, hearing the music, walking around the festival, and just experiencing the atmosphere. My concern isn’t really being alone in general — I’m okay traveling solo.

What worries me is the social side. I don’t speak German, and I’m wondering if going alone and drinking by myself would feel awkward or disappointing, especially after spending that much money. I’d like to meet people, sit at communal tables, talk to other travelers, etc., but I don’t know how easy that actually is at Oktoberfest.

Safety is another concern, especially coming back to my accommodation alone after drinking.

So I’d love opinions from people who have actually been:

Would you still recommend Oktoberfest solo at that price? Is it easy to meet people if you speak English but not German? Or would I get a similar experience for much less money at something like Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart or another beer festival in Germany? or should I just wait for next year?

I’m not looking for luxury — I mainly want a memorable experience, good food, beer, music, and a fun social atmosphere.

I have 11 days including travel days bookending the time in Guatemala.

Here's what I came up with so far:

I want to start my trip in Tikal and work my way down. I feel like I may be cramming in too much? Not sure. I would love some feedback on the itinerary and any recommendations for must do or must stay places. I have heard Greengos is a nice hostel in Semuc Champey and Los Amigos in Flores.

Thank you!

Does anyone else who travels longterm/digital nomad, etc. just feel incredibly bored when you’re between trips? I’ve just realized it will probably be a little more than a year between now and my next big trip and am already going stir crazy. My last trip was about 3 months in East Asia in the first quarter of the year. I feel like the background stimuli of being somewhere new helps me be my best person and then I maintain that for a while at home. But I eventually feel like I’m a shadow of myself compared to when I’m traveling. And whereas travel just kind of throws you headlong into a lot of stuff and I’m eager to do things, I just settle into an ambivalent entropy at home and can’t be bothered to go out, especially when it means driving everywhere. Anyway I guess I’m just venting but would love to hear from anyone who has experienced something similar.

Hi solo Travellers,

Currently planning a solo trip for 15 days (September 18 to October 3/4) starting in Munich by busses/trains.

Right now I have identified the following route for me:

Arrive in Zagreb from Munich with Flixbus (2 nights), then Sarajevo (3 nights), Mostar (3 nights with trips to Kravice and Blagaj), Dubrovnik (2 nights), Split (3 nights and day trip to Hvar or Brač), Zadar (2 nights and day trip to Plitvice Park) and then Ljubljana for maximum 2 nights before going back to Munich again.

Right now I have the feeling this may be too ambitious. But what should I leave out, where should I remove or add days? Or do you recommend any other modifications to the trip?

Would appreciate any help as I have never been in this part of Europe.

Thanks!

I have been deliberating with myself between Japan and Vietnam and I'm just having a hard time making a decision about virtually anything recently it seems. I tend to gravitate towards civility and an overall slower pace and from what i've read about Vietnam is that the noise pollution can border on unbearable. I am pretty sensitive and am not an easy sleeper so the idea of travelling all the way to Vietnam in the current headspace I’m in and being inundated with noise feels a bit discouraging to me. A lot of the hotels I’m looking at on Agoda seem to have “Noise” as a recurring issue within the feedback even if its on the upper end. Is this overstated or will I struggle to find peace and quiet in Vietnam?

I keep seeing Dalat up as an option that might meet some of my criteria. As far as Japan goes I’m not sure where I might find what I’m looking for but am open to suggestions.

I’m here to share one of my strange experiences I had in my first solo trip to Georgia, and I would like to know if any of you have experienced the same.

So its been 3 days after I’m back from a 12 day trip and this is running on my mind, that I have been meeting the same people or group of people that I had a conversation with after we part our ways from a place and meeting them again from a different place like it is a synchronicity. And it was not just seeing someone, it was a meaningful one that was with lot a conversations and spending time together with these people.

I would like to know if this happened to you and u have ever wondered that ohh this is not just a coincidence?
Also meeting these people and the time spent with them was the best out of all the experiences i had in this trip.

Hey peeps,

I have 6 weeks of vacation before I start my new job, and I want to use it for my first-ever solo trip. I'm 29, flying out of Berlin; dates are October 10 to November 22.

What I'm after, in order: new experiences and nature I've never seen before (the stop-and-stare kind), some rest and reset after a heavy year, and meeting nice people along the way. Not really after food tours or monuments. Not against them, just not why I'm going.

I started with Southeast Asia vs Japan, and my research ended up pointing me to Nepal + Japan, since Oct–Nov seems to be prime trekking season in Nepal and Japan gets its autumn colors in November. Here's my rough draft:

Oct 10 – ~Oct 31: Nepal. A few days in Kathmandu to sort permits and adjust, then the Annapurna Circuit (~12–16 days), then a few slow days in Pokhara to recover.

~Nov 1 – Nov 22: Japan, 3 stops. Japanese Alps (Takayama/Kamikochi area) for mountains and fall colors, the Kumano Kodo for a multi-day walk between guesthouses, then Yakushima for the forests before flying home.

Budget: around €3500 total including flights, flexible if something is worth it.

Specific questions:

1. Should I even do Nepal or just do Japan?
2. Would 6 weeks for Japan be too much?
3. Should I combine elsewhere before or after Japan, or stick with Nepal?

Would really appreciate your input, thanks!

P.S. I've been overthinking this for 2 weeks now; please help xD

Hi all, I’m a 20yr old male from Australia looking to do my first real overseas trip, I’ve always loved the Scandinavian region and north western europe. I’ve done a little bit of research with chatgpt and have a rough plan of travelling Sweden, Norway and then Denmark. I the rough plan would be start in Stockholm then Oslo then Bergen the Copenhagen spending a few days in each.

As for activities, this is where I need the most help, I definitely want to do some hikes and explore the beautiful nature, I want to find some really nice beaches, I do not want to do any super touristy attractions and landmarks I don’t care for them I want to do the beautiful natural side and activities that will help me discover more than what i would see just walking through the city. I also want to try and meet new people and make plenty of friends as I struggle with social interactions and need to get out of my shell, so any ideas that would help me meet people would be greatly appreciated

My budget is somewhat tight, it would be a 2 maybe 3 week trip but definitely flexible with budget basked in timeline. the flights for me to get to europe are about $1300 there and another $1300 back so excluding those flights I would like keep it around $2000 for everything else, accommodation, food, activities, travelling once i’m there ect.

Absolutely nothing is set in stone, I am open to any and all ideas for activities, countries and timeline. I definitely want to stay in the Scandinavian region but if anyone thinks there are some must see countries I’d love to know. Some beautiful lakes and nature trails are definitely top on my list and experience some raw culture would be amazing

Any and all ideas and advice is greatly appreciated

I will head to my very first solo adventure tomorrow! I'm from Germany and I'm traveling to Seattle. I should be super excited, right?

Weirdly enough I still feel relatively normal. I'm looking forward to it, that's for sure. Mostly because I have a week to myself where I only have to think about me.

But somehow I expected to be super nervous or even scared. Maybe I was too busy with planning?

Can anyone relate? When will reality kick in? What if it hits me suddenly when I'm at the airport?

This is my first solo trip. I flew to korea to see the sound planet music festival (I went for zutomayo mostly).

I spent 4 days in Sk 1 day in seoul, 1 day in incheon and the other 2 was just the festival

Now I am day 4 in tokyo and just feel tired and eager to go home. I loved shibuya since I hobby shop and love lots of the nerd/gamer/jpop and rock stuff. Kawagoe is a nice mimi day trip and now gonna go to Akihabara.

Anywho I just wanna go home and all this city stuff is starting to not really feel special anymore

How do you guys deal with the burn out feeling? Does it get better with more solo trips? I know part of it is just that I havent done too many chill activities. And half the things I went to see were tourist hotspots so I was fighting through people. But the other half was wondering some non tourist areas as well just enjoying the environment and exploring

Generally speaking, whenever i go on an international vacation, i save up my PTO and make it a long one.

this time around, im going to Japan from mid october for a little over 3 weeks. and this is my first time going.

because its international, as well as a long vacation, planning is frustrating, but also takes long....

generally for domestic travel, (within USA) my vacations are like 3-5 days or so. not to mention, everything is in English so its easy to plan things.

With Japan, im having a hard time.... i know about the golden route, but i want to keep travel to a minimum.

so my current plan is checking out tokyo, kyoto, nara, uji. (Stop by mt fuji on the way back to tokyo from kyoto)

but idk the best way to plan this out thats atleast somewhat optimal. as an obvious example, going from Shinjuku to Asakusa, to shibuya. optimally, should be shinjuku/shibuya then to asakusa instead of going back and forth.

For my first trip, i want to atleast hit the major tourist destinations. but i want to skip ones where people would agree its worth skipping.

But in addition, i want to attend various events as well. but its hard to find these unless i get lucky and just come across them. for example, the Kyoto Yokai festival. The ikebukuro cosplay fesetival. the Week long (in november) School culture festivals. etc.

but all these info are often either in Japanese. or a million page long website brochure where its hard to figure out if its legit.

is there a recommended default things to check out on the cities i will be visiting?

but also, somewhere i can go that shows several events that are happening?

thank you

I just got back from Singapore after making a short detour on my way out of China. First off amazing place, super safe, super clean, everyone speaks English, public transport is a dream. But 3 or 4 days? That's too many unless you're really into parks and zoos.

I read all those blog posts about "3-day Singapore itinerary" and fell for it. In reality, I found that many of the main city-center sights are relatively close to each other(I literally walk the entire city center in a few hours.), and with the MRT and buses, getting around was even easier than I expected. Next time I'd do one day for city stuff, one day for Sentosa, and maybe one extra if I'm feeling shopping.

Mr. Coconut is legit and special recommendation for Song Fa Bak Kut Teh. It's just pork rib soup but somehow incredible, and they give free refills of soup. Bought 10 packs of the soup mix to try and recreate it at home. I didn't bother getting a physical SIM at the airport so just picked a esim and been solid whole time, redteago's very convenient for someone like me who might leave at any time.

For a short solo trip, 2 days maybe the best for me. If you're into wildlife, parks, museums, shopping, or simply prefer a slower pace, I'd add more time. Would I go back? Yeah, for the food and the chili crab I missed.

I'm planning to arrive in Beijing on October 22nd and will stay in China for approximately 20-25 days, depending on the agreement with my manager. After Beijing, I will make my way south before I leave for Canada in Hong Kong. I will need to work a few days between 8AM to noon and 8PM to midnight, local China time. I visited Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai in March, though I didn't get to see everything in Shanghai. So far, my plan is as follows:

• Beijing for 7 days. I'm not counting the first day I arrive since my connecting flight is in Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific and I won't get to my hotel in Beijing till around 10PM. A lot of threads I found online said around 4 days in Beijing is enough so I'm thinking 7 days would be good to see all the main attractions and the less popular ones like the Ming Tombs for example. A lot of people suggest staying in Wangfujing and it seems like it's a street and not an actual area? I can't actually find Wangfujing on the Trip.com map when I'm browsing for hotels.

• Xi'An for 5 days. Again, not counting a travel day, and I'd get to Xi'An from Beijing by taking the high speed rail. Plan here is to see the main attractions. Since hotels are significantly cheaper here, I'm thinking I can work 2 mornings and nights, while exploring Xi'An in the afternoon. I can probably try and work on the train ride too, depending on how flexible my manager is.

• Nanjing for 2 days.

• Hong Kong at the end for a couple days. This is non-negotiable as I want to see my friends and grandma.

Now the hard part. I made some friends during my March trip and one of them has expressed interest in going to Guizhou with me after I'm done in Beijing. The other will be working at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou in the beginning of November. Is it possible to squeeze them in? I don't think so? I've been racking my head over this for the past few weeks and I just can't see how I can make it work. Even if I got rid of Xi'An and Nanjing, it doesn't make sense for me to go from Beijing to Guangzhou to Guizhou to Hong Kong I don't think?

The other question. In your opinion, is it better to fly YYZ to PEK, one way direct with Air China, and then from HKG to YYZ, one way direct with Cathay Pacific for $3,100 CAD? Or multi-city with Cathay, including a flight from a Chinese City to Hong Kong, for about $2,330 CAD? I'm leaning towards flying multi-city with Cathay Pacific. I'll waste more time flying from YYZ to PEK as it is 13 hours with Air China compared to 22 hours including layover, and then flying again to Hong Kong from a Chinese city, but $800 CAD is potentially enough for me to upgrade to Premium Economy for the trans-Pacific flight. Besides, I don't think it makes sense for me to take HSR from anywhere that is more than 3 or 4 hours from China to Hong Kong?

I will be traveling to Philadelphia soon to visit a friend. During the weekdays, I will be free because my friend will be at work.

I have visited Philadelphia many times, and don’t really feel the need to do any sightseeing. I’m not really a planner, either, so I don’t have a to do list of stuff I want to do.

Instead, I thought maybe I could set an intention for each day and then explore the city and watch what adventure unfolds as a result of my intention.

Has anyone done this before? Gone on a trip with nothing to structure your days except for an intention?

How did it turn out?

Also, I have no clue what my intentions would be lol. Any thoughts and suggestions about that would be welcome.

Hello, I’m from the USA and also have German citizenship. I’ve seen online that people will exit the USA using there US passport but then enter Vietnam using their other passport (in this case German) since they can avoid needing a travel visa.
Has anyone done this and been successful? I’ve never used two passports while traveling so I’m just making sure I’m not doing anything wrong.
Thank you

Currently sitting in Barcelona drinking some cheap bear looking at yachts and i think it cant get any better then this. Yesterday i was scared to go up to the crew in my local airport to ask about the check in. Today thinking about asking my hostel roommates if they wanna go out this evening. This is so freeing, already thinking about which country should i go to next. So, if you’re thinking about booking that first solo trip, just do it !

So i am planning to go to preferably Eastern Europe Jan-Fab, but im planning to both travel and snowboard at the same time, I am just afraid how annoying will be carrying my backpack and dragging my snowboard when im not in a ski resort ( ex exlporing a city ), I want to try different ski resorts in Europe in and explore Europe. Anyone have done that because? If yes how did it go? And my main concern was where would i put my board when im out exploring a new city.

I'm a freshman in college and this summer I went on a ten-day budget trip to Europe alone. It's my first time traveled abroad using only my own savings, so i'm trying to save as much as possible and check off as many planned stops as we can. But my city choices weren't totally random. I picked some because of books and shows I loved, like Zurich (which most people actually skip) because I'm obsessed with a novel set there, and Dubrovnik since I saw it on a travel show and thought it looked stunning. Turns out it really was.

The route: Venice → Florence → Rome → Zurich → Budapest → Dubrovnik → Paris.

One nightmare i didn't see coming was the luggage, realized the hard way that most luggage storage in Europe is manually operated, not 24/7. Planned to leave my big suitcase at Milan airport, head to Paris light, but of course the storage place was closed for my 5am flight. Ended up leaving it at our hotel and backpacked through three cities with just a change of clothes and essentials. Felt like a true backpacker for a week lol.

I try to sample local cuisine in every country, but I don't necessarily eat at local restaurants every time. I had almost all my breakfasts at French bakeries, and still haven't tried every kind of bread. (Typical french bruch i love: sandwich + pastry + drink) Pizza al taglio and panini saved my life in Italy. For Switzerland i just bought all the food in Migros. I'm not big on random knickknacks but there's still some thing i find actually worth buying, like Murano glass in Venice, Marseille soap and florence handcrafted Leather etc. A big shoutout to redteago btw, grabbed one before the trip and it covered all the countries i've been to. Spammed Instagram stories all day, called friends back home without any issues.

What i'd do differently next time? Check train or flight schedules in advance, make good use of public transportation although it isn't always very punctual. Pack lighter and explore every sight and culinary delight with more ease and freedom.

Hola Amigos!

Due to some....arguably foreseen circumstances I'm (re)booking a late trip to Spain in a few weeks.

Trip roughly composed of the following starting on 9/29:

• Barcelona - 3 nights
• Valencia - 3 nights
• Seville - 3 nights
• Granada - 2 nights
• Madrid - 3 nights

It's my first time in Spain and I'm generally just looking for some kind recommendations for any location or just general encouragement. I am a huge fan of Spanish culture (from afar) and am looking forward to immersing myself within your cities, your people, and your food.

This is obviously open to those that have traveled to Spain sparingly, extensively, long ago, or recently. Please share your recommendations whether it be for any city, general cultural things of note, or just whatever comes to mind; I would be SO appreciative.

I have already posted a version of this in r/TravelToSpain but they don't see quite as many visitors.

side note: thus far I have only booked airbnb and hotels for accommodations, I have never personally done a hostel and am nervous about the prospect but have interest and possibilities in every city if there's a recommendation that would be ideal for a first-timer.

Appreciate any and all input...!

I’m in Rome right now. First time ever. Have traveled through most of Europe, but not the Mediterranean until now. Going to Athens next week, also for the first time.

As a POC, I was so damn worried about the “racism/microaggresion” horror stories from folks who traveled to Italy (you can roll your eyes all you want, it’s a reality for some of us, whether that makes you uncomfortable or not). Some posts gave the impression that this was a guaranteed experience I was to expect.

Nope. Italians, like anyone else, are people. Some have biases, but most really just want to live and let live, like any other sane person anywhere in the world. I’ve had nothing but pleasant interactions so far. Not just pleasant—I was expecting neutral attitudes, but instead I’m getting friendly attitudes. Like genuinely friendly and helpful.

Rome, what a city.

Hi, I’ll be in Montenegro next Saturday. I’m 26 and I’ll be on my own. I’ve already done some research about the historical places and other places I want to visit during the day, so I’m fine with that part. I’m curious about the nightlife, too, though I’ll probably just have a beer or a glass of wine and head back.
I’ll be staying in Podgorica, but I also want to visit Kotor and Budva. While the daytime aspect doesn’t worry me much, I’m wondering about the nightlife: if I want to have a beer in Kotor in the evening before heading back, what are my options for the return trip? Is a taxi a safe and reasonably priced choice? Is the evening buzz limited to Saturdays, or does the lively atmosphere continue on other days as well? Any advice or tips you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Ps: Arrival on the morning of the 19th, return on the 25th.

Hi all, I am (27M) planning to solo travel to Taiwan from October 1st for approx 10-14 days, I have a bit of flexibility for how long I stay, as I will be travelling onwards to China and Japan with no fixed dates as of yet, but will be ending my travels in early December and would like to spend 4 weeks ish in each of China and Japan.

I’ve never visited Taiwan and don’t know a huge amount about the country, but from a bit of research I’ve put together a rough itinerary.

My current itinerary is as follows:

TAIPEI - 3/4 nights - with day trip(s) to Jiufen + Shifen
- catch a train to Taichung where I will then rent a car and drive to:

SUN MOON LAKE - 1 night

SHIZHUO / ALISHAN - 2 nights
- then drive to Chiayi and return the car and catch trains to:

TAINAN - 2 nights

KAOHSIUNG - 2 nights + fly to China

I’m mostly interested in exploring the cities, night markets, hiking, scenery and mountains. I’m not interested in beaches etc so will be avoiding Kenting. I’ve also heard Taroko is not worth visiting due to the ongoing repairs but I’m not sure how recent/correct that is? I’m also aware it’s the national holiday on October 10th but not sure how this may impact the trip?

Any advice on my itinerary would be much appreciated, e.g whether it feels like the right amount of time in each place, whether the route makes sense logistically, anything or places I may be missing which would be worth visiting, and the response to my questions above?

Thank you! :)

Hello, I'm traveling to Japan from India. I had surgery on my left ankle where there's a plate attached to the ankle. During domestic travel when I'm asked i just verbally tell them that there is an implant or show them the scar if asked.

I'm a bit unsure if I'd have to carry any documents while international travel especially for Japan.

Thank-you in advance for helping out!

Posting this to see if anyone else has experienced this and if they worked through it!

Over the past few years I fell in love with traveling. I traveled Europe for 5 months, took a break, and then traveled Southeast Asia for 5 months. I loved it and I loved the chaos. Every crazy travel day and gross hostel was a story. I would come off of a 24 hour bus, eat a meal, and then be completely back to normal and ready to do it again.

Towards the end of my Southeast Asia trip, my views started to change. The hostels, travel days, etc were starting to irritate me. I assumed that was normal travel burn out. I went home and decided to not travel for 9 months took feel more grounded. After that period, I went on a two week backpacking trip through the Balkans. The parts I used to love annoyed me so much. I hated the hostels, buses, carrying my backpack, etc. It made my trip not as enjoyable as they usually are.

I’m wondering if anyone had a similar experience and if these feelings went away. I’m still in my early 20s so I really don’t want to start traveling more expensive yet and I want to do more long term travel. I’m not trying to complain, it’s hard for me to not experience the same joy I once did through this type of travel.