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Travelling solo: a safety plan that doesn't spoil the trip

About 5 minutes to read · Last reviewed 4 October 2026

Travelling alone is one of the best things you can do, and the vast majority of solo trips go without a hitch. The extra risk of travelling solo is mostly one thing: if something goes wrong, there is nobody beside you to notice, help or raise the alarm. A good plan replaces that missing travel companion with a few habits and one person at home who knows what to expect.

1. Before you go: the paperwork that saves you later

• Read the official travel advice for each country you'll visit. Australians can use Smartraveller, which also lets you subscribe to updates for a destination; most countries' foreign ministries publish something similar.
• Travel insurance that covers medical evacuation and the activities you'll actually do. Read what it excludes — motorbikes and adventure sports often are — and save the emergency assistance number in your phone and on paper.
• Copies of documents. Photograph your passport, visas, insurance policy and cards, and store them somewhere you can reach from any device. Leave copies with your contact at home too.
• Two ways to pay, kept in different places, so losing a wallet doesn't leave you stranded.
• Medicines in original packaging with a copy of the prescription, plus a little more than you need for the trip.

2. Choose one "home base" person

Pick one person at home who agrees to be your contact for the trip. Give them your itinerary — flights, accommodation addresses, and rough plans for each day — and update it when plans change. Then agree a rhythm:

• A daily check-in at a time that works across the time difference.
• Extra check-ins on travel days, when you're most likely to be delayed, lost or exhausted: departure, arrival, reaching the accommodation.
• What "no check-in" means. For example: if nothing by midday their time, they message; if nothing by evening, they contact your accommodation; if nothing the next morning, they call your insurer's assistance line or the consulate.

Write the escalation down for them. A worried person at home with a plan acts calmly; one without a plan either panics or waits too long.

3. Stay connected

Most travel safety habits depend on your phone working. Sort out data before you leave — an international roaming pack, or a local or travel eSIM bought in advance — so you aren't hunting for Wi-Fi when you land. Download offline maps for each city, carry a power bank, and write the address of your accommodation in the local language on a card you can show a driver.

Learn the local emergency number for each country. 112 works from mobile phones across Europe and in many other countries, but not everywhere; the US and Canada use 911, Australia 000, and the UK 999 or 112. Save the number of your country's nearest embassy or consulate too.

4. Arriving somewhere new

Arrival is when solo travellers are most exposed: tired, carrying everything, unfamiliar with the place and visibly new. Make it easy on yourself:

• Plan the first leg from airport or station to accommodation before you arrive, and use official taxi ranks or booked transport.
• Try to arrive in daylight, especially somewhere you've never been.
• Check in with your home base when you reach your accommodation, not when you land.
• If someone you don't know offers help unprompted — with directions, bags or a "better" hotel — say no politely and keep moving. It is the start of many common scams.

5. Where you stay

Read recent reviews from solo travellers specifically. Once there, locate the fire exits, keep the door locked and use the chain or door wedge if you have one. Don't announce your room number aloud at reception, and if a room feels wrong — a broken lock, a ground-floor window that won't close — ask to move.

6. Out and about

• Carry a day's worth only. Leave the passport and spare cards locked away, and take one card and some cash.
• Tell someone local where you're going for anything remote — a hike, a day trip — and when you'll be back.
• Drinks: watch your drink being made and keep it with you. Drink spiking happens everywhere.
• Share less online in real time. Post the beach photo after you've left the beach. Announcing where you are right now, alone, is an invitation you don't need to send.
• Trust your instincts. Leaving a bar, a tour or a conversation because something feels off needs no justification.

7. If something does go wrong

For a medical emergency or crime in progress, call the local emergency number first. Then call your insurer's assistance line, which can arrange hospitals, interpreters and payment, and tell your home base. For a lost passport, contact your embassy or consulate. If you are arrested or seriously hurt, consular staff can help you contact family. Keep every document and receipt for insurance claims.

How Zone Tick fits

Zone Tick is a supplementary safety tool, not an emergency service, and it works anywhere your phone has mobile data or Wi-Fi.

• Check-ins give your home base a one-tap daily "all good", with optional reminders, so a missed one stands out.
• Live location lets them see you reached your accommodation without staying up for a message across a time difference.
• One-tap SOS alerts your family circle with your location. Text messages to emergency contacts are sent from your own phone and number, so roaming charges and local coverage apply.
• Low-battery notices tell your family your phone is running low, so a sudden silence has an explanation.

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This guide is general information. Zone Tick is a supplementary safety tool, not an emergency service: in an emergency, call your local emergency number.