Whether you’re traveling alone across the country or to the other side of the world, you’ll find you have a lot of downtime during your journey.
And after a day of sightseeing, you’ll probably want to unwind in your hotel room or catch up with friends back home.
However, there will be times when you get bored while on the road—planning what you’ll do when you have nothing to do while traveling will make your trip more pleasant.
From waiting for connections at the airport to long bus rides, you’ll likely have a lot of time on your hands.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled this list of things you can do to beat boredom while traveling alone.
Top Ways to Beat Boredom While You’re Traveling Alone
Play Mobile Games
As any seasoned traveler will tell you, not every second of your trip will be filled with fun and excitement.
Whether you’re waiting for a connection at the airport or hanging out in your hotel room, playing games on your mobile device is one of the best ways to keep yourself entertained.
Casino-style games are an excellent option for anyone who enjoys slots or table games.
You can find a range of games in an online casino like Chumba Casino; with titles like the Last Empress, Better Wilds, and Stampede Fury, this activity will keep you occupied as long as you’d like.
Puzzle games like Monument Valley and Gorogoa are also great choices when you have downtime while on the road. The most important thing is choosing games you enjoy – this will ensure you have a good time.
Plan Your Travel Playlist
While games can keep you entertained whilst traveling, sometimes music is the best company. So, it’s a good idea to take your headphones and your favorite tunes when traveling solo.
You can choose an app like Spotify, Deezer, or Tidal to use to compile a travel playlist with your favorite songs.
If you think you’ll want to listen to music on a flight or when an internet connection isn’t available, you may want to splurge for a premium package so you can download songs for offline listening.
It is important to plan ahead and create a travel playlist that will keep you entertained throughout your journey. The playlist should be a mix of your favorite songs, movies, TV shows, and books.
It should also be long enough to last the entire trip. This way, you’ll never have to worry about being bored while traveling again.
Join a Facebook Travel Group
If you’re traveling alone, it’s easy to get bored. One way to combat this is to join a Facebook travel group.
This way, you can connect with other people who are interested in traveling and exploring new destinations together. You can also use the group to find travel buddies for future trips.
Facebook travel groups are an excellent way to meet like-minded people and connect with others traveling to your destination.
Many of these groups cater to solo travelers and organize meet-ups for those traveling alone. If you’re looking for a travel partner or a local to show you around, you may meet your match in one of these groups.
Even if nobody’s available on the dates when you’re traveling, these groups are brimming with information and tips so you’ll have no trouble finding recommendations for where you’re going.
Travel Phrasebook
If you’re traveling to a part of the world where you don’t speak the language, it’s a good idea to know a few words in the local lingo.
While you’ll be able to speak English in most places you travel to, locals always appreciate tourists who know a few phrases in their native language.
Be sure to learn how to say things like greetings, please and thank you, and excuse me. Memorizing words from a travel phrasebook during your downtime will make your trip smoother.
Most phrasebooks teach learners how to ask for directions and essential words like airport and bathroom. If you don’t want to lug a phrasebook with you, there are many apps with the same information.
In a pinch, Google Translate is helpful too.
Catch Up on Some Reading
There’s nothing like escaping to another world in the pages of a book, and traveling is the perfect time to do so. If there’s a book you’ve been dying to read, now’s the time to read it.
Instead of carrying heavy books, you can download the books you think you may read in e-book format.
Whether you bring along a physical book or download some e-books onto your phone or tablet, reading can help you to pass the time, learn something new, and even escape from your current surroundings for a little while.
Immerse Yourself in the Culture
When you’re traveling alone, it can be easy to feel anxious and want to stay inside of your comfort zone as much as possible.
However, the whole purpose of traveling is to keep an open mind and see new things, so you should definitely want to immerse yourself in this new culture!
There are many ways you can do this- by opting to stay in a hostel instead of a hotel, you can get to know locals and other travelers more up-close and personal.
You can also look online for some local restaurants- and don’t feel shy about dining alone! Think of it as spending the time to nurture yourself and give yourself a little TLC.
Don’t be afraid to get out and walk around! Make sure you have a map and always pay attention to your surroundings when you’re traveling alone.
Overall, immersing yourself in the culture of the place you’re traveling alone to might help you really get to experience more. Who knows, you may meet new friends!
Take a Class
This pairs well with immersing yourself in the culture when you’re traveling alone. The easiest way to get to know the culture, as well as beat boredom, is to take a class!
This can be in anything that might interest you and connect to your hobbies- cooking, pottery, photography, painting, you name it. There are so many options when it comes to classes! You can even take a dancing class.
This way, you’ll meet new people, get familiar with the culture, and perhaps learn a new dish or dance move!
Conclusion
Overall, traveling alone can be an overwhelming experience. It isn’t always easy to jump out of your comfort zone. However, boredom can quickly suck the fun out of any traveling escapade.
We discussed a few different ways to beat boredom: catch up on a good book, dust-up on some travel phrases, play mobile games, and take a class!
Facebook travel groups are also extremely helpful for networking while you’re out traveling alone. They can help you find useful information as well as groups to hang out with!
To conclude, whether this is your first time traveling alone or your hundredth, boredom can strike anybody at any time. As stated before, it can really dampen your plans and make you feel lonely.
This doesn’t have to be the case. As long as you stay open-minded to new experiences, you’ll be golden and ready to go!
