Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So Ive just been presented with a wonderful opportunity to go to Rome, Italy, for an international emergency medicine conference in Italy in a few months.
I have an old med. school buddy who's going to Italy. Due to our scheduling conflicts at work, she will be leaving ahead of me and she wants me to meet her at our conference hotel.
I don't travel often, but when I do, it's usually just to my home state in the South. I've only been to Europe once (Spain), but I was traveling with a group of 5 other females and safety was never a question.
This time alone, it would be me all alone, up until I meet with my friend at the hotel.
While I would love, love, love, to go to Italy (as it's a once in a lifetime experience!), I'm very nervous about traveling alone. In fact, I'm scared. Just the thought of traveling for 8+ hours on a plane, by myself, and then landing in a foreign land alone, is overwhelming. I feel inundated with so many "what ifs."
But I so want to go!
Has anyone had a similar experience with being fearful about traveling internationally alone?
For those who have traveled to Italy (specifically Rome), is there anything I should look out for or be worried about?
Any and all helpful advice would be greatly appreciated .
While it might feel like it, you are NOT really traveling alone
You will always be surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds of other individuals, from the time you check-in at your departure airport, until you arrive at your hotel.
You want to talk about traveling ALONE.........
Check out this video from last summer when I took a 17 ft Boston Whaler skiff, 30 miles offshore, solo, to a prestine sandbar in the Bahamas, where there was NO ONE within 25 miles to help me if something went wrong (weather, mechanical problem, injury etc)!!
While it might feel like it, you are NOT really traveling alone
You will always be surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds of other individuals, from the time you check-in at your departure airport, until you arrive at your hotel.
The vast, VAST majority of whom would never even think about hurting you or harming you in any way. And who will happily step in to assist you if you need help, just as you'd help a foreign tourist in your city who was lost or confused. I very much doubt that if you came across a bewildered foreigner in your town, your first impulse would be to rob him or to deliberately give him directions to the wrong side of town just for lulz. Well, most people are just like you in that regard. You're surrounded by allies every step of the way, so relax!
And remember, any problem that comes up when you're in Rome is likely to be identical to the problems that can come up when you're traveling back to your home state in the US, and you'll solve it in exactly the same way you would at home. The only real added complication is the language barrier, and a good English/Italian phrasebook goes a long way there.
Now go buy your plane tickets and a good guidebook, and go have fun!
You will be fine and have the best experience of your life. Eat some of good Italian food and embrace all that Roman Empire history. I recommend booking some group tours before leaving the U.S.
What are you afraid of, specifically? I've travelled alone abroad many times and have never had a problem. It sounds like you won't even be alone when you are there, you just need to get to Rome alone? It's really not much different than flying somewhere in the US.
You will be fine I have done Rome twice solo and had a blast . Rome is an awesome city and as someone else on here said most Italians speak English . I found the people to be some of the nicest I have ever encountered . I think I would second it to Ireland and the nicest people . Just think of the all experiences you will have for the first time in your life . I have flown solo many times and I am doing a trip with a friend to Isreal and I hope to enjoy seeing the river Jordan and many other things that country has to offer .
You will be fine in Rome. I navigated it as a naive 16-year-old some 20+ years ago. There are other parts of Italy that I have heard horror stories about, but they are again, over 20 years old and were not any of the mainstream locations. I have a friend who travels there alone frequently as a single woman in her 30s, and she wanders all over the country without problem.
Watch out for pickpockets and scams, but otherwise you should be fine.
So Ive just been presented with a wonderful opportunity to go to Rome, Italy, for an international emergency medicine conference in Italy in a few months.
I have an old med. school buddy who's going to Italy. Due to our scheduling conflicts at work, she will be leaving ahead of me and she wants me to meet her at our conference hotel.
I don't travel often, but when I do, it's usually just to my home state in the South. I've only been to Europe once (Spain), but I was traveling with a group of 5 other females and safety was never a question.
This time alone, it would be me all alone, up until I meet with my friend at the hotel.
While I would love, love, love, to go to Italy (as it's a once in a lifetime experience!), I'm very nervous about traveling alone. In fact, I'm scared. Just the thought of traveling for 8+ hours on a plane, by myself, and then landing in a foreign land alone, is overwhelming. I feel inundated with so many "what ifs."
But I so want to go!
Has anyone had a similar experience with being fearful about traveling internationally alone?
For those who have traveled to Italy (specifically Rome), is there anything I should look out for or be worried about?
Any and all helpful advice would be greatly appreciated .
It's a first world country, it'll be simply
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
