These are not the obvious things. Not “book early” or “pack light” — you know those already. These are the habits I have developed over many years of long solo trips that have quietly made each one go more smoothly than the last.
1. Screenshot everything
Booking confirmations, hotel addresses in the local script, the phone number of your first accommodation, your visa reference number, the name of the taxi company you pre-booked. All of it, screenshotted and saved to a dedicated album on your phone. Not in email, not in a PDF that requires an app to open. Screenshots. They load instantly, work offline, and are findable in three seconds when you are standing at immigration at 2 AM with a queue forming behind you.
I also forward all booking confirmation emails to a single folder and share the folder with my daughter. She has never needed to use it. That is the point.
2. Research the area around your first hotel
Not the whole city. Just the immediate neighbourhood: where to get breakfast, which direction the main street is, whether there is a convenience store within walking distance. Arriving somewhere unfamiliar is tiring enough without also having to orientate yourself from scratch. Ten minutes on Google Maps the evening before departure means you can walk out of the hotel on the first morning with somewhere specific to go, rather than standing on the pavement looking uncertain.
This also applies to transport from the airport. Know in advance whether you are taking a taxi, a train, or a bus, what it should cost, and roughly how long it takes. The airport taxi queue at midnight is not the moment to start researching this.
3. Carry small local currency from the start
Not a large amount. Just enough for a taxi, a meal, and a bottle of water on the first day. Exchange it before you leave, or at the airport on arrival if the rate is reasonable. The alternative — arriving with nothing and hunting for an ATM while jet-lagged and carrying luggage — is manageable but unnecessary. A small amount of local cash in your pocket when you land costs almost nothing and removes one variable from an already complicated first few hours.
In Asia, I aim for the equivalent of around $20 in local currency. In most places that covers the first day comfortably and leaves something over.
4. Tell your bank
Some banks no longer require this. Many still block foreign transactions without warning. A two-minute call or app notification before you leave means your card works when you need it, rather than declining at the hotel desk while the receptionist watches with polite concern. Also worth checking: does your card charge foreign transaction fees, and what is the ATM withdrawal fee abroad? These numbers vary considerably between cards and are worth knowing before you spend two weeks paying them without realising.
5. Build in a recovery day at the start
If you are flying more than six hours, plan to do very little on the first full day. Not nothing — a short walk, a meal out, some orientation. But nothing that requires being sharp, punctual, or enthusiastic. Long-haul travel is more tiring than it appears while you are doing it, and the effects arrive on a slight delay. The traveller who packs the first day with museums and excursions is the same traveller who spends the second day feeling inexplicably flattened.
A gentle first day costs you very little. It sets the pace for everything that follows.