Solo
International
Travel
Life
Goals
01
Rites
of
Passage
5
goals
01
Book
the
first
one
-
way
ticket
Somewhere
more
than
four
hours
from
home
.
Window
seat
,
one
carry
-
on
,
and
no
return
date
you
are
genuinely
ready
to
commit
to
.
02
Travel
a
full
month
out
of
a
40-
litre
pack
You
find
out
what
you
actually
use
by
day
nine
.
Mail
the
rest
home
,
then
forget
you
ever
owned
it
.
03
Sleep
on
an
overnight
train
A
couchette
bunk
,
a
border
crossing
at
three
in
the
morning
,
and
the
specific
pleasure
of
waking
up
in
another
country
without
having
packed
a
thing
.
04
Eat
dinner
alone
where
you
don
'
t
speak
the
language
No
phone
on
the
table
,
no
translated
menu
,
no
apology
at
the
door
.
Point
,
nod
,
thank
them
,
and
stay
for
dessert
.
05
Fill
a
passport
you
had
to
renew
in
order
to
fill
Not
stamps
collected
on
layovers
.
Stamps
you
went
out
of
your
way
to
earn
.
02
Geography
&
Extremes
5
goals
06
Stand
under
the
aurora
inside
the
Arctic
Circle
Tromsø
or
Abisko
,
late
February
,
four
nights
minimum
.
One
clear
sky
is
all
it
takes
.
07
Cross
the
Equator
on
land
Overland
through
Ecuador
or
Kenya
,
so
the
crossing
happens
on
a
road
rather
than
as
a
cabin
announcement
somewhere
over
the
Pacific
.
08
Climb
to
Everest
Base
Camp
5,364
metres
,
twelve
days
up
,
two
nights
spent
at
altitude
.
You
do
not
need
to
be
a
mountaineer
.
You
do
need
to
train
.
1 / 5
09
Cross
an
ocean
without
flying
A
repositioning
cruise
,
a
cargo
-
ship
berth
,
twenty
-
one
days
of
nothing
but
water
,
weather
and
strangers
at
the
same
table
.
10
Reach
the
southern
tip
of
a
continent
Ushuaia
,
Argentina
.
Stand
at
the
end
of
the
road
and
read
the
sign
that
points
to
Antarctica
.
03
Overland
&
Epic
Routes
5
goals
11
Ride
the
Trans
-
Siberian
end
to
end
Moscow
to
Vladivostok
. 9,289
kilometres
,
six
time
zones
,
seven
days
,
and
one
samovar
per
carriage
.
12
Drive
a
real
stretch
of
the
Pan
-
American
Highway
The
whole
route
is
30,000
kilometres
and
most
of
a
year
.
Three
months
through
Central
America
counts
,
and
will
change
you
.
13
Walk
the
Camino
Francés
780
kilometres
from
Saint
-
Jean
-
Pied
-
de
-
Port
to
Santiago
.
Thirty
-
three
days
,
one
pair
of
boots
,
and
an
entire
town
'
s
worth
of
strangers
.
14
Take
the
Kandy
to
Ella
train
across
Sri
Lanka
Seven
hours
through
the
tea
hills
,
second
class
,
doors
open
,
feet
out
over
the
edge
.
15
Hitchhike
one
long
,
unglamorous
road
Georgia
'
s
Military
Highway
,
Iceland
'
s
Ring
Road
,
a
quiet
stretch
of
rural
Ireland
—
in
a
car
you
did
not
rent
.
04
Language
,
Culture
&
Craft
5
goals
16
Learn
a
language
well
enough
to
argue
in
it
Not
to
order
coffee
.
To
disagree
,
land
a
joke
,
and
be
understood
at
full
speed
by
someone
who
is
not
being
patient
with
you
.
17
Live
with
a
host
family
for
a
month
One
meal
a
day
at
their
table
,
in
their
language
,
at
their
pace
.
The
fastest
route
from
visitor
to
guest
.
2 / 5
18
Attend
a
festival
that
isn
'
t
built
for
tourists
Thaipusam
in
Malaysia
,
Semana
Santa
in
Antigua
,
a
village
celebration
you
were
somehow
invited
to
.
Go
as
a
guest
,
not
a
spectator
.
19
Study
a
craft
where
it
was
invented
Soba
in
Nagano
,
tango
in
Buenos
Aires
,
block
printing
in
Jaipur
.
Six
weeks
minimum
,
or
it
stays
a
workshop
.
20
Spend
a
major
holiday
somewhere
it
'
s
the
whole
city
Ramadan
in
Istanbul
,
Lunar
New
Year
in
Taipei
,
Diwali
in
Varanasi
.
Not
observed
from
a
hotel
window
.
05
Solitude
,
Water
&
Wild
5
goals
21
Learn
to
dive
,
then
dive
somewhere
you
have
all
to
yourself
Certification
first
,
somewhere
warm
and
shallow
.
Then
a
site
where
yours
is
the
only
boat
on
the
horizon
that
morning
.
22
Do
a
multi
-
day
trek
alone
with
a
tent
and
a
stove
The
W
in
Torres
del
Paine
,
the
Laugavegur
in
Iceland
,
or
a
route
you
plan
yourself
and
carry
in
full
.
23
Swim
in
three
oceans
Pacific
,
Atlantic
,
Indian
.
A
cold
plunge
counts
.
A
hotel
pool
does
not
.
24
Sit
a
ten
-
day
silent
retreat
Vipassana
:
no
phone
,
no
eye
contact
,
no
talking
.
Followed
by
the
loudest
dinner
of
your
life
.
25
Climb
a
mountain
in
the
dark
and
watch
the
sun
come
up
alone
Pick
one
you
can
reach
by
headlamp
.
The
summit
is
incidental
—
the
hour
after
sunrise
is
the
point
.
06
Slow
Living
&
Working
5
goals
26
Live
in
one
city
for
three
months
without
a
job
there
Supermarket
,
laundromat
,
a
regular
table
at
a
café
,
a
name
the
post
office
recognises
.
Travel
stops
being
an
itinerary
.
27
House
-
sit
a
home
in
another
country
One
dog
,
one
garden
,
one
month
of
somebody
else
'
s
life
while
they
are
away
.
3 / 5
28
Take
a
work
-
exchange
stay
Free
bed
and
board
for
four
or
five
hours
a
day
—
on
a
farm
,
at
a
hostel
desk
,
in
a
vineyard
at
harvest
.
29
Take
a
bus
to
a
town
you
picked
at
random
No
research
,
no
reviews
,
no
saved
pins
.
Arrive
,
find
a
room
,
work
out
what
the
town
does
on
a
Tuesday
.
30
Journal
every
single
day
of
one
trip
Including
the
bad
hostel
,
the
food
poisoning
,
and
the
afternoon
you
did
nothing
at
all
.
07
Money
&
Logistics
Mastery
5
goals
31
Fly
long
-
haul
on
points
you
earned
entirely
Business
class
if
you
saved
for
two
years
.
The
lie
-
flat
seat
is
the
reward
,
not
the
achievement
.
32
Do
thirty
days
on
a
$
40-
a
-
day
budget
Without
cutting
the
one
thing
you
actually
came
for
.
Cheap
is
a
skill
,
not
a
punishment
.
33
Complete
a
ten
-
day
international
trip
with
carry
-
on
only
Two
climates
,
one
bag
,
no
checked
luggage
,
no
regrets
at
the
carousel
.
34
Handle
a
real
travel
crisis
alone
A
missed
connection
,
a
stolen
card
,
a
hospital
worth
of
paperwork
.
You
only
find
out
what
you
are
made
of
when
there
is
no
one
else
to
call
.
35
Renew
a
visa
in
a
third
country
without
a
fixer
Paperwork
,
queues
,
a
language
you
don
'
t
speak
,
and
a
stamp
at
the
end
of
it
that
you
earned
yourself
.
08
People
&
Return
5
goals
36
Make
a
friend
you
'
re
still
texting
five
years
later
The
real
measure
of
a
trip
is
not
the
photographs
.
It
is
who
still
answers
.
37
Get
invited
to
a
stranger
'
s
home
for
a
meal
Say
yes
to
the
invitation
you
would
normally
deflect
.
Bring
something
for
the
table
.
4 / 5
38
Go
back
to
a
place
you
loved
,
five
years
later
,
alone
See
what
changed
,
what
you
misremembered
,
and
what
you
only
notice
now
.
39
Travel
solo
somewhere
you
previously
ruled
out
The
country
you
were
nervous
about
.
The
season
you
were
told
to
avoid
.
The
city
everyone
said
was
not
for
you
.
40
Bring
someone
on
their
first
solo
-
style
trip
Teach
the
skills
,
then
step
back
and
let
them
navigate
the
transfer
on
their
own
.
5 / 5
