When you’re on the road solo or planning to travel alone, quotes can help to inspire and uplift you. These 65 beautiful solo travel quotes from literature, pop culture and history make the perfect solo travel captions for social media.

You only need to search the internet to see there are millions of inspirational quotes about travelling out there. Solo travel quotes have a special ingredient – not only can they ignite wanderlust and stoke passion for the great unknown, they have the added benefit of giving strength and courage to a solo traveller who is facing the world alone.

Solo travel is a life-changing experience. As with all travel, it’s often difficult to find the right words to describe your trip, or to convey how travel has altered your life once you get back home.

To give your confidence and boost and help you share your solo travel experience with the world, I’ve curated this epic list of 65 meaningful and insightful travel alone quotes.

Copy and paste them for your next social media update, or send them to a friend who’s planning their solo trip. However you choose to use these solo travel quotes, they are guaranteed to inspire and delight!

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Short and sweet solo travel quotes

Short travel alone quotes are perfect for social media, including solo travel announcements (that exciting moment when you make your trip official!), or your first travel solo travel update from the road.

These popular and not-so-famous quotations beautifully capture what it’s like to travel alone, with only yourself for company.

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world.”

Freya Stark

“I am never happier than when I am alone in a foreign city; it is as if I had become invisible.”

Storm Jameson

“Loving life is easy when you are abroad. Where no one knows you and you hold your life in your hands all alone, you are more master of yourself than at any other time.”

Hannah Arendt

A woman with a large backpack photographs a cloudy landscape from the top of a mountain.

“A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places.”

Isabelle Eberhardt

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”

Mary Anne Radmacher

“The journey of life is amazingly beautiful if you take it as a fearless adventure.”

Debasish Mridha

“When a thing beckons you to explore it without telling you why or how, this is not a red herring; it’s a map.”

Gina Greenlee

A man walks across a rocky landscape at sunset.

“Don’t be scared to walk alone. Don’t be scared to like it.”

John Mayer

“Some journeys can be only travelled alone!”

Ken Poirot

“If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.”

Maxwell Maltz

A woman in a red beret leans against a glass dome at the Louvre in Paris.

“Keep good company – that is, go to the Louvre.”

Paul Cezanne

“Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone.”

Buddha

“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.”

Henry David Thoreau

“There are some places in life where you can only go alone. Embrace the beauty of your solo journey.”

Mandy Hale

“You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness.”

Diane Von Furstenberg

A woman wrapped in a blanket sits on a sand dune and looks out to the horizon.

“Surely, of all the wonders of the world, the horizon is the greatest.”

Freya Stark

“I wondered why it was that places are so much lovelier when one is alone.”

Daphne Du Maurier

“Always choose the window seat. We often forget there’s magic of flying. But what it brings to our lives is undeniably the stuff of dreams.”

Timi Nadela

“Sometimes the best journeys are those, that start when we do not plan, continue how we do not expect and are taking us places we do not know.”

Aisha Mirza

“Life is a journey with almost limitless detours.”

Ken Poirot

“The inner journey of travel is intensified by solitude.”

Paul Theroux

“I used to be a pedestrian before, now I am the rider on the same road.”

Piyush Paudyal

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.”

Anaïs Nin


Motivational quotes for planning a solo trip

When you’re planning to visit a new country or a foreign city by yourself for the first time, the hardest part can be finding the inner courage to pack your backpack and make your solo travel dreams a reality.

These travel alone quotes speak to the very heart of solo travel – the push and pull between indecision , wanting to do the right thing while also finding freedom and empowering yourself to spread your wings.

You may feel nervous – that’s totally normal – but have faith that a well-planned solo journey is almost always a step in the right direction.

“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.”

Erol Ozan

“This is the journey of your life. Don’t try to explain it to others, because only you can see it.”

Nitin Namdeo

A woman in winter dress walks across a rocky landscape.

“It is pointless to embark on any journey if you do not believe yourself worthy of the destination.”

Anthon St. Maarten

“To travel is worth any cost or sacrifice.”

Elizabeth Gilbert

“Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion.”

Oprah Winfrey

“Adventure should be part of everyone’s life. It is the whole difference between being fully alive and just existing.”

Holly Morris

“A ship is safe in the harbour, but that’s not what ships are built for.”

Gael Attal

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain


Poetic quotes about solo travel

These longer solo travel quotes are nothing short of art.

“Everywhere you go, you shall find dramatic splendour and awe because your majestic soul is part of the vivid whole, and nothing about you is ignoble.”

Kilroy J. Oldster

“The goal of my life is to tie adventure to my feet, stock memories in my pocket, hold imagination in my palms like fairy dust and sprinkle it on my tales.”

Mitali Meelan

“It seemed an advantage to be travelling alone. Our responses to the world are crucially moulded by the company we keep, for we temper our curiosity to fit in with the expectations of others…

“Being closely observed by a companion can also inhibit our observation of others; then, too, we may become caught up in adjusting ourselves to the companion’s questions and remarks, or feel the need to make ourselves seem more normal than is good for our curiosity.” 

Alain de Botton

A motorbike sits in front of snow capped mountains.

“I am of course lost in this journey I’m on, but I do remain confident, though I am lost it will be a great adventure, this adventure will surpass my wildest imagination. So call me a fool, but I’m happy to be lost.”

Micheline Jean Louis

“It’s not getting from A to B. It’s not the beginning or the destination that counts. It’s the ride in between…This train is alive with things that should be seen and heard. It’s a living, breathing something – you just have to want to learn its rhythm.”

David Baldacci

“To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown.”

Freya Stark


Solo female travel quotes

Solo female travel is becoming more and more popular. I’ve done a few solo trips in recent years, and it never ceases to amaze me how different my travel experience is when I’m alone rather than with my partner or friends.

These quotations capture the independent spirit of solo female travellers.

“Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.”

Mae West

“When a woman becomes her own best friend life is easier.”

Diane Von Furstenberg

A woman in a floral dress looks out over a foggy gorge.

“Looking in the mirror, I saw a joyful face. And this happy girl was just about to go on a trip, with a one way ticket in her bag. Life was a never ending journey.”

Nico J. Genes

“She remembered who she was and the game changed.”

Lalah Delia


Quotes that prove solo travel makes you stronger

Solo travel often starts with taking a leap of faith. If it’s your first solo trip, you must actively work on believing in yourself and trusting your instincts.

Sometimes in travel (and in life), the only certainty is uncertainty. Things won’t always be easy, things wont’ always go to plan. Barriers and hurdles are almost guaranteed – but these experiences are likely to make you stronger and more resilient.

These travel alone quotes are all about testing your limits.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

Neale Donald Walsch

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s OK. The journey changes you; it should change you.

“It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”

Anthony Bourdain

A woman sits on a rock looking out to a distant landscape of mountains.

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion with one’s courage.”

Anaïs Nin

“It is in all of us to defy expectations, to go into the world and to be brave, and to want, to need, to hunger for adventures. To embrace the chance and risk so that we may breathe and know what it is to be free.”

Mae Chevrette

“Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively, unless you can choose a challenge instead of a competence.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

“On the path to greatness, life teaches you to walk with stones in your shoes.”

Matshona Dhliwayo

“Life is a journey with big rocks to climb, little ones to trip over, and milestones to mark where we have been.”

David Cuschieri


Quotations that prove solo travel changes your perspective

I’ve never met anyone who decided to solo travel and came back the same person. Travel changes you – that’s undeniable – and often travel alone can shape you in ways you never could have anticipated.

One of the greatest lessons travel can teach you is to be humble. Travel helps you find your place in the world. A solo trip can give you the tools you need to tackle all of life’s adventures – and misadventures, too.

These solo travel quotes refer to self-discovery, breaking through your comfort zone, and seeing travel as a motif for the journey of life.

“A person susceptible to ‘Wanderlust’ is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation.”

Pico Iyer

“Adventure can be an end in itself. Self-discovery is the secret ingredient.”

Grace Lichtenstein

“I have traveled many roads in my life. Some were imbued with pain and I needed to avert my gaze. Others were so beautiful that I would have remained there forever. But always, at some point in these routes, I reached a place where I encountered myself.”

Pablo Holmberg

A person walks across a barren landscape.

“Travel doesn’t become adventure until you leave yourself behind.”

Marty Rubin

“Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.”

David McCullough Jr.

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”

Gustav Flaubert

“The best trip is the journey you take in finding yourself.”

Angela Vallely

“Mapmaking: You’re on the path and have already begun to morph – so has the road. The journey has chosen you. The only way out is forward and through.”

Helen S. Rosenau

Remember, your trip might start out as a solo adventure but it might not end that way! It’s the bonds you form along the way that often make travel truly memorable.

For more inspiration, check out these beautiful quotes about travelling with friends.

“Traveling solo does not always mean you’re alone. Most often, you meet marvellous people along the way and make connections that last a lifetime.”

Jacqueline Boone


Coming home: Solo travel quotes to mark the end of a journey

All good journeys must come to an end! It feels like just yesterday friends and family were wishing you a safe journey, and now it’s time to go back to the people you love.

These quotes sum up the bittersweet feeling of coming home after a solo trip.

“It’s a long ride home with nothing but me for company. I bore myself sometimes. Not often. Just now and again.”

A.J. Hartley & David Hewson

“It’s amazing how many different roads we can take, but they all lead home.”

Jewel E. Ann

A person rows a small boat across a river at dusk.

“Some journeys take you farther from where you come from, but closer to where you belong.”

Ron Franscell

“The real work of an expedition begins when you return.”

Louise Arner Boyd

“This life is an enduring and complex journey, but finally I have reached the point in my story where I am appreciative of where I’ve been, proud of where I am, and excited about where I have yet to go.”

Becca Lee

A man sits on a jagged rock looking up at stars in a night sky.

“I, too, once journeyed beyond the stars.”

Elizabeth Lim

“Maybe happy endings were real, as long as you understood that they weren’t endings, but steps on the road.”

Katharine McGee

“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.

I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”

Mary Oliver


That’s a wrap! I hope these 65 travel alone quotes have made you see solo travel in a new light, or perhaps motivated you to take the leap into solo travel.

Do you have any more inspiring quotes to share? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

7 Comments

  1. “Challenges are opportunities for growth and learning. Embrace them and see how far you can go.”

  2. Thanks for the in-depth wonderful article you turned out here Very Informative Loved It Thankyou Soo Much For Sharing It.

  3. This quotes make people strong to take decision and travel alone. Thanks for sharing such types of motivating quotes.

  4. These quotes will definitely encourage anyone to go for solo travelling. Everyone will be inspired by these. Thank you.

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