Solo Travel Archives - Page 3 of 3

How a Pair of Socks in Japan Changed Everything

It was 2PM in Osaka, and I was staring a pair of socks to death from the window of a shop in Tsuruhashi. This was rare for me, as usually whenever I would come down from my friend’s apartment to the shopping alley, I would buy whatever foods tempted me and bring back a whole…

ByNadya WibowoJanuary 14, 2019

Story

A Solo Travel Debut Fail

It’s 15 minutes into my debut of solo travelling, and I’ve successfully sweated through a slimily thick layer of Men’s Sports 48-hour deodorant. I’m crouched in the corner next to the Student Flights booth with my head stuffed between my knees, I’m hyperventilating like a broken fan, and my vision’s sparked out into a swamp…

ByXan CoppingerDecember 20, 2018

Japan Story

Kicking Culture Shock’s Butt in Funky Shoes

Together with a flood of Japanese businessmen on their way home, I leave the train station and embark on a journey through Tokyo's suburbia. It’s a mild summer night and crickets are chirping in one continuous orchestra as I walk by the channel of a small creek framed in green. The moon shines on high…

ByKate DubeNovember 19, 2018

Yarns

I Hitchhiked Around Albania

I sit in the back seat of an old Mercedes-Benz that smells like cheap tobacco and think about what I should say to the mystery man behind the wheel. Squished next to me and buried under our backpacks are Noam and Ziv, two Israeli girls I met in a hostel in Sarandë. Our driver and…

ByCaroline MarcelaOctober 25, 2018

Features

The Astray Guide to Wild Camping in Europe

I’m camping in Europe at the moment. Pitching my tent at rest stops, in the mountains and inconspicuously behind bushes on private land. I’m camping because there are some day hikes I can’t bear to leave after only a few hours. I want to wake up in the fog and sleep amongst all the creatures…

ByRuby ClaireOctober 9, 2018

Greece Yarns Yarns

So You Decided to Sit With the Gods?

You look at the biro-ink peaks of Mount Olympus on the back of your ouzo receipt. The receptionist at your previous Greek hostel made them look more innocent than what was to come. The triangular mountains are dotted with the incision lines of the E4 track; it will lead you to your refuge for the…

ByZoe RidgwayOctober 2, 2018

Yarns

Here Is Good

I stare out the plane window at the twinkling lights in the darkness below. That’s Japan down there. Hitting the ground feels like victory: a life’s dream of coming here fulfilled in the matter of seconds. With a big smile despite my tired eyes, I step out of the arrival gate and drink in the…

ByKate DubeSeptember 26, 2018

Yarns

Tracking the Exchange Rate of my Trust

Content warning: themes of sexual assault In the winter of New Delhi, the birds of prey drew imaginary circles below the smog; they wouldn’t be seeing blue for a long time. The buildings that surrounded my hotel were hungover, power lines strewn over their stocky bodies like streamers at the end of a party. The…

ByZoe RidgwayAugust 17, 2018

Features

Leave Us The Fuck Alone

A mere four days after I set off on an adventure to the other side of the world alone, a woman was killed in her own town. In my town, actually, metres from her home, a few hundred from mine. Before my trip, people kept telling me that I was brave for embarking on a…

ByYaminah WilcoxJuly 2, 2018