The Girl Who Goes

independent, intentional travel

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How To Deal With Post-Vacation Depression or Sadness

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Share your trip photos with family and friends to help work through post-vacation depression.

I remember the first time that post-vacation depression came for me.

It was Saturday, just a couple of days after Thanksgiving in 2017, and I had just returned home from my second-ever solo trip. I’d gone to Thailand and Cambodia for two weeks and had such a magical time. After 30 hours of travel — flying from Bangkok, to Tokyo, to Chicago, to Kansas City — “bedraggled” would have been an understatement as I returned home. The mattress on the floor at my parents’ house gave me a warm welcome and I plunged into blissful slumber.

I spent the following day, Sunday, with my family — cheerful, though perhaps a bit quieter than usual. (I was recovering from a 13-hour time difference, after all.) We put up the Christmas tree, and it was a good day.

And then Monday happened. [Read more…]

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How to Pack for Two Weeks in a Backpack

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Think it’s not possible to pack for two weeks in a backpack? Think again.

It was July 2011. At the tender age of 18, I was preparing for my first international adventure — a two-and-a-half week trip to Germany to visit my then-boyfriend. Never having packed for something like this, and obviously wanting to impress my boyfriend, I packed almost everything I owned. I rolled up to the luggage counter to check my gigantic suitcase, tipping the scales at just barely under the 50-lb limit. Sigh of relief.

As the years passed, I continued to follow this same, pack-more-than-you-could-possibly-ever-need model every time I took a trip to Europe. But when I took my first solo trip in 2016, I decided to change my tactics. Knowing I would be constantly on the move, traveling around the country without staying in one place for long, it didn’t seem very appealing to lug that 50-lb rollerbag around with me.

So how did I, the former serial overpacker, manage to pack for two weeks in a backpack (and still have room for souvenirs)? Here are a few of my best tips. [Read more…]

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How to Practice Self-Care While Traveling

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Relaxing with a dessert and a warm beverage is one of my favorite ways to practice self-care while traveling.

We travel because it’s what we love to do. It’s exciting and it’s challenging. But for independent travelers, it’s not all fun and games. There are trains to catch, new places to explore, and decisions to be made. For whatever period of time we’re traveling, we feel like we have to be on all the time. We sometimes feel like any time not spent doing is time wasted. It can be exhausting.

Because of this, it’s easy to get burned out. But this is your trip, and yours alone. You’re in charge, so it’s up to you to ensure you don’t get burned out. It’s not always easy, but it is possible. Here’s a list of my favorite ways to practice self-care while traveling. [Read more…]

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Trip Planning 101: How to Start Planning Your Trip

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My favorite way to start trip planning is with good-old fashioned books.

One day, I was living my life like normal. And then it hit me: my trip to Thailand was suddenly just over a month away. And besides booking my flights, I hadn’t done any trip planning. Considering it was my first time traveling to Asia, I really needed to get things together. Fast.

The good news is that after so many trips, I have the whole trip planning thing down to a science. (Which is great! Because having things officially planned makes it seem so much more real, and super exciting.) So… when you find yourself with a trip sneaking up on you and no plans, here are a few of my favorite trip planning tips. [Read more…]

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How to Not Look Like a Tourist in Europe

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Wondering how to not look like a tourist in Europe? It starts with your clothing.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with looking and acting like a tourist. You are a tourist. But in some situations, looking like a tourist can make you a target for pickpockets, scammers, and other crime — a chance that only increases if you’re traveling alone.

Luckily, if you’re traveling alone, you also have a unique advantage — one that I think is lots of fun. When you’re alone, you can pretend you’re a local, just doing local things. I know I’m succeeding at this when someone comes up to me and asks for directions in the country’s native language 🙂

Here are a few of my best tips on how to not look like a tourist in Europe.

[Read more…]

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Solo Travel Packing List: 5 Things You Need

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My hot take: a journal should be on every solo travel packing list

Some people don’t like packing, but I have to admit that I kind of do. There’s the excitement of deciding what to bring on the trip (and ordering new things from Amazon), the thrill of seeing whether it all fits, and the sheer hope that you didn’t forget anything. Packing is a drama and an art form.

Based on my experience, here are 5 things that should be on every solo travel packing list.

[Read more…]

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5 Safety Tips for Solo Travelers: Before You Leave Home

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Safety tips for solo travelers are essential

Hello everyone! Let’s talk a little bit about safety. Now, as you may remember, my parents weren’t super thrilled with the idea of me going to another country alone (especially since they haven’t traveled abroad themselves). I wanted to share a few safety tips for solo travelers that I take before I even leave home — which helps give them peace of mind.

Keep reading to find out my top 5 safety tips for solo travelers.

[Read more…]

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7 Things To Know About Staying in Hostels

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The first time I learned about hostels, I was in middle school, taking a standardized test. It was the Reading section, where you’re supposed to read a short paragraph and answer comprehension questions. The paragraph was about the reasons why the author liked staying in hostels.

“Hostels?” I thought to myself, a kid with an above-average vocabulary and knack for finding typos in everyday life. “Do they mean hotels?” But as I continued reading, I realized that the experience the author described was unlike any hotel I’d ever stayed in, rooms full of people from every walk of life. I conceded to the idea that there were some things that my 12-year-old self did not know. [Read more…]

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Hotel, Hostel, or Airbnb: Pros and Cons

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Traveling can be exhausting! After the end of a long day, where will you finally get that much-needed shut-eye? Hotel, hostel, or Airbnb?

When I was growing up, lots of road trips meant we would usually stay in hotels. It also meant that we didn’t always know where we would end up at the end of the day. Since we didn’t have advance reservations, I remember my parents stopping at different hotels, trying to find one that still had a vacancy — while my sister and I hoped it would have a swimming pool. [Read more…]

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