The big 3-0; I’m turning 30 this year! I truly can’t believe it. It seems like only yesterday I was just turning 21. Later on in 2024, I’m entering into a whole NEW DECADE. My 20’s have been filled with a lot of ups and downs, rough times and pleasant moments. However, I’m beyond ready to start a new decade and a new chapter in my life.

To celebrate my birthday this year, I’ve decided to take a solo trip to a country I’ve never been to before! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve visited a new country and it’ll be almost a year since my last solo trip (Seattle in November 2023). I contemplated doing a birthday trip with my boyfriend, friends, or family, but in the end my heart and soul kept pulling me towards the solo option. Ultimately, I decided to go with what I truly wanted to do and that is solo travel.

Related Post: 4 Day Solo Trip Itinerary to Seattle, Washington

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Brainstorming Locations

The first step in planning a solo trip, or any trip for that matter, is trying to figure out where you want to go. There’s a lot of thought and consideration that goes into picking a location.

This is especially true when you have a full-time job(s). While taking a 2-3 week trip to the Maldives would be a lovely birthday trip, for some people it’s just not realistic as they might not have the finances or PTO for 2-3 weeks. You get what I’m saying. So, it makes picking a location a bit more difficult.

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After asking my X (Twitter) travel community for some suggestions, I’ve narrowed down my location preferences to countries in Central and South America. For me, being located here in the USA, it’s a bit easier to travel to one of the other Americas with limited PTO, as opposed to trying to fly to Thailand or somewhere else on the other side of the world.

Some contenders for my trip are Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. There’s still a few more locations that are on the list as well, but these are the ones that seem a bit more doable because they seem a bit cheaper to travel to.

Related Post: 8 Day London Itinerary as a Solo Female Traveler

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Doing the Research

Speaking of research, the next step in the process of planning a solo trip is doing the research. With a list of several locations in mind, now, I have to do some research to see which location is the best fit for my needs and wants for a solo birthday trip.

My initial research consists of looking up things like:

• flights
• accommodation
• transportation (within the country)
• activities/excursions
• solo female travel friendly

This gives me a better idea of how much it’s going to cost to travel to, and within a specific country. Especially given the fact that I’m not going to go for too long (having 2 full-time jobs with limited PTO), I need a better picture of which country is financial cheap for me to travel to, in a short amount of time, while still offering a lot of activities and things to see and do, all on a relatively cheap budget.

It’s a challenge sometimes trying to tick off all the boxes. But I love a challenge and that’s why I’m doing the search 9 months in advance of my actual birthday.

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Creating Rough Itineraries

Next, and this comes later on after I’ve decided on a place and booked flights and activities, is creating a rough itinerary. I like creating rough itineraries in advance just so I have an idea of what I’m able to see and do withing a given time frame.

If you have a job and are traveling on PTO, this is definitely something I recommend you do. If you’re only able to travel for a week, minus 2 days for traveling to and from a location, you only have about 5 days to pack as much as you’d like to see and do at that location.

Depending on what your interests are, this might include things like free walking tours to full on day trips to other areas. So, it’s better to plan ahead, do your research, and see what you’re able to get done in a day so you’re not so unprepared. The last thing you want to do is overbook yourself or book things on the same day, then find out later that you can’t do one or all of them because they overlap with one another.

I haven’t gotten to this section yet, like I’ve mentioned. However, just know that it will happen once I’ve decided where I want to go.

Related Post: 7 Day New England Road Trip Itinerary

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Final Selection

After all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into planning my birthday solo trip, do you want to know which location I’ve decided to go with? Well, the answer IS…still up in the air.

I’m going to try to wait until March to truly decide on a final place to visit. Then, and only then, will I truly start the process of putting my plan into action. In the meantime, this is still the planning/rough ideas phase.

Generally speaking, when I plan of a location I want to potentially visit, I put time and energy into researching the cost of taking that trip. It’s not meant to be an “end all, be all” type of plan. Rather, it’s meant to serve as a rough guide or estimate on how much a solo trip to another country could cost from beginning to end.

After I’ve seen the numbers, did some calculations, I have a better idea on budget. That way, when it’s time to decide where I want to go, I have a good idea based on my initial plans and research.

I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go based off what I’ve looked up thus far. I can’t wait to make a final decision so I can finish the rest of the planning!