How to choose your next dream destination most easily and quickly?

What is the easiest and quickest way to find the next destination that best suits your dreams and preferences? A nice and pleasant possibility is to sit in front of a map and explore the given possibilities with your finger or mouse pointer. For this purpose you can use our neat interactive Solo Travel Map:

Tips for your destination search using the map:

1. First, zoom vertically to the correct position :

• If you prefer it cool in summer in the northern hemisphere of the earth (e.g. in Europe or the USA), you should choose a higher latitude towards the North Pole (latitude +90°), for example (e.g. Sweden or Canada)

•   If you want to escape the cold winter in the north into warmer climes, you should choose a latitude near or south of the equator (latitude 0°) (e.g. the Caribbean or Southeast Asia)

•   If you want to ski and build a snowman during the summertime in the northern part of the world, you should zoom in to a latitude far down in the southern hemisphere – unless you want to go far north to explore the Northpole! In Australia, for example, you can indulge in winter while people go swimming in Europe or the US.

2. Next select a destination of your choice by moving the map horizontally.

3. Finally, check your dream destination for simple, inexpensive and safe feasibility:

• Costs and infrastructure: Are there good and cheap flights to the land of dreams? Are there nice and affordable hotels, hostels or other preferred accommodations available? How expensive or cheap are transfers or rental cars?

•   Visa requirements (entry regulations, length of stay, application, etc.): if entry and stay regulations or certain rules of conduct are not taken into account at the time of entry, in some countries you may have to return home immediately after arriving at the airport or you may even be detained for illegal ( eg. too long or unauthorized) stay. So: familiarize yourself in time with the requirements for entry and stay and, if necessary, get a tourist visa in time!

•   Cultural circumstances (dress codes, liberality, tolerance, etc.): some countries – even modern ones like the USA – are considered to be relatively strict and “prudish” and there are sometimes severe penalties for relatively minor offences against local laws, including long prison sentences or even the death penalty in some countries. Also manners are very important and special in some countries like e.g. Japan, which can easily lead to unintended insults or misunderstandings. Some countries or cultures are quite tolerant with tourists, but you should still consider the feelings of the local population (e.g. in Thai everyday environment preferably dress with more than bikini).

•   Check security conditions (natural disasters, armed conflicts, riots, criminality, diseases, dangerous animals, etc.): current travel advisories can be found on the websites of the US Department of State or the British Government, for example (US travelers can enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to receive security messages and to make it easier to locate them in an emergency). Also follow vaccination recommendations or regulations and rules of conduct for your own safety (e.g. regarding swimming – dangerous ocean currents etc., regarding crime dangerous areas or fraudulent practices, encounters with wild animals etc.).

There are of course other details that can influence your holiday enjoyment (or your financial situation) significantly (e.g. age regulations for clubs or rental cars, if you want to go on a party holiday or a road trip, costs of a potential hospital stay – can be exorbitant in the USA, for example!). So: as soon as you have considered a desired destination and clarified the rough conditions for easy feasibility of a trip, it is best to get an up-to-date travel guide book, read up on cultural, technical, political and legal circumstances as well as natural security risks (e.g. rainy seasons with possible floods or landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, infectious diseases, etc.) and do not forget to get a travel insurance in time.

A simple guideline could be this: in places with many tourists it may sometimes be overcrowded and “touristy”, but the chances that infrastructure and other conditions are suitable for travellers are higher! There are also often special security measures in tourist areas to protect holidaymakers. In addition, the probability of meeting other solo travellers is higher. If you prefer to explore a less travelled country, preferably choose a politically and technically modern country or clarify mentioned points as well and early as possible.

Despite all the points to be considered and all the necessary caution, it remains to be said in the end: anyone who has traveled already several times knows that people in most places (and often especially the poorer and sometimes wrongly regarded as potentially more dangerous ones) are very cordial and helpful! Also, concerns expressed in forums (fortunately) often turn out to be untrue or far exaggerated compared to travel reality. To take precautions for one’s own safety is good and appropriate, but you should not let the joy of travelling be diminished too quickly and not renounce the very probable travel happiness – and the experiences gained from it for later everyday life – because of exaggerated fear!