v_nod

Hi guys, this is my first time posting here. Hello! I was thinking of doing a first time solo trip in early January, for 8 days. I have travelled with friends and family before, but never alone. I will be leaving from Singapore and want to go to a place where English wouldn't be a problem. Are there any places you guys recommend? Hoping to go on a trip that boosts confidence of travelling alone! Thanks in advance!

november_moon

English is widely spoken in most of western Europe, which is also an easy place to travel. January will be pretty cold in most places in Europe that time of year and the days will be short though. Still, if you enjoy museums and hanging out in cafes drinking coffee, the weather won't affect your plans. If you want to be outside a lot, it may be too cold to be comfortable, especially since you are from a warm country.

The United States is another option - we speak English here Lots and lots of options in the US. For more temperate weather, stick to the southern portion of the country - California, the southwest, Florida, etc. You didn't say if you were interested in renting a car or not - there are parts of the US where you can get away without a car, or even where it is better to be without a car - San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington, DC, Boston, etc. - mostly larger cities. Much of the US though is better if you have a car.

Thinking about Central America - they speak English in Belize - I haven't been there (yet), but everybody I know who has gone there has a lot of good things to say about the country. In Costa Rica you can do pretty well with English too - Spanish is their official language, but they have enough international tourists that a lot of people speak English too. Same with Mexico, especially in the resort areas.

november_moon

Hit post too soon Of course there is also the whole of Australia and New Zealand too.

thursdaysd

I don't speak anything other than English and bad French and never had trouble traveling in Asia. Southeast Asia is a lot closer and a lot cheaper than Europe, and you would have no trouble traveling solo there with just English.

suze

Don't let language stop you. I travel solo often (to Mexico) but have also been to Europe and have never had a problem traveling those places without speaking the local language.

Melnq8

Western Australia! We're just a hop and a jump from Singapore (relatively speaking - it's a five hour flight).

We speak English (well, sort of).

January is bloody hot though.

v_nod

Hi, thanks all for the replies

I was thinking of Europe, but I wasn't sure if there are any countries I could cover in a week..

I've been to Australia a couple of times (Thanks Melnq8!)and travelling alone in other parts of Asia as my first seems a tad frightening!

november_moon

With just 1 week, you could make a good visit to a city and plan to take day trips. So if you wanted to visit The Netherlands, you could base yourself in Amsterdam and then make a few day trips to other towns. This would simplify your travel planning since you would only need one hotel and wouldn't have to worry about moving. Or you could divide your time up between a main city and a smaller town.

If you wanted a bit better weather, you could try Spain - a week in Madrid with day trips would be nice. Madrid is a very interesting city and it has good train connections to nearby towns - within about an hour, you can get to quite a few places.

thursdaysd

No, you can't cover a country in a week - well, aside from places like Luxembourg or Monaco. You can cover a city and surrounding area, as november_moon says. However, early January is a horrible time to visit Europe, especially northern Europe, unless you want to spend all your time in museums. It will get dark early, and is likely to be cold and damp.

If you are actually in Singapore, why would traveling in Asia be frightening? I'm not suggesting India - that's graduate level and needs much more than a week in any case - or even China - wrong time of year in most places unless you want to see ice sculptures, lol. But Malaysia is right next door with good trains and excellent buses, and plenty of English spoken. Bali is a short flight, and overrun with tourists. Southeast Asia - Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, even Cambodia - is nearby and dead easy.

janisj

>>However, early January is a horrible time to visit Europe, especially northern Europe, unless you want to spend all your time in museums. It will get dark early, and is likely to be cold and damp.<<

It is cold - but certainly not a 'horrible' time to visit Europe. One would need warm clothing/gloves/scarves - but any city in Europe - whether London or Paris or Rome or Barcelona or others would be a great for a solo traveler.

Not of course if you want warm weather and a shorter flight. But if those aren't a problem -- you can have a great holiday for a week in any of those cities.

thursdaysd

I grew up in Europe - southern England to be specific. I do not voluntarily visit northern Europe in January.

janisj

I lived in the UK for several years -- I voluntarily visit it every chance I get

v_nod

Thanks november_moon, I will take up your advice and check out cities in Europe that I can travel to for a week

And thanks thursdaysd, I know Asia should be an obvious choice, but I seemed to have been swayed by friends and travel blogs that claim solo travelling in Asia to be terrifying for first-timers.. But, nonetheless, I shall look at them again

v_nod

Ooh thanks janisj for the heads up on the weather!

thursdaysd

What have you been reading? And Asia is a big place, India might well be scary for a first timer, Thailand, for example, not so much. And take look for Lonely Planet or Rough Guide's books for first timers in Asia.

MellisaTurner

I would suggest you to explore UK, that would be really interesting for you and it is the best platform for exposure.

thursdaysd

"best platform for exposure" - what on earth does that mean?

november_moon

My guess is that it means the same thing as "wading into the shallow end of the pool". Basically that the UK is an easy place to travel so it makes a good first solo trip for someone who is nervous about travelling alone.

silverlex

If you have only one week, I'd recommend Japan. They don't speak much English their but they are the most helpful people you can experience. I don't speak Japanese and yet I have never gotten lost/cheated/harassed/threatened in Japan. I suggest trying out Tokyo and do a few days in Hakone. Or if you like to ski, then try Hokkaido. Be brave!

november_moon

Japan was my first trip out of the US. Granted, I went for work with a group of coworkers, so it was a bit different - but I found it to be a very easy place to travel. And yes, people are helpful, it is a safe place, and very interesting. I found that a lot of people where pretty good at written English, but not so great at spoken English, so I carried around a little pad of paper and a pencil - and had many "conversations" with people by writing little notes back and forth People drew me maps, wrote directions, etc. and I got along great. I also always got a business card from the hotel I was staying so no matter where I went, I could show someone the card and get directions back to my hotel - or just hop in a taxi and show the driver the card.