Figure out where you want to go in the world and there will be a tour group company to take you there. Most of them are aimed at solo travellers so won't charge you any extra to travel alone, a lot of them are also aimed at your age group so you will be with like minded people for example 18-35's.
I've travelled many times with TrekAmerica who run tours across North America, Canada and South America. Also look into G adventures who run tours across Asia, Oceania.


2. Find your Flights & Accommodation

I will do a post on finding cheap flights I'm pretty good at that! But keep your eye on flight prices they fluctuate so much so it might be worth waiting it out before snapping up your seat. Use comparison websites such as Kayak, Sky Scanner and Hopper.

Accommodation, if you've booked a tour this will be taken care of during the trip but you may need to find pre and post tour accommodation, id recommend the night before you stay in the hotel the tour departs from, they often leave early so saves any stress on the morning trying to find it also a lot of your tour buddies will be here aswell and you may meet before the tour. Quite often many tours with the same company may leave from the same hotel so there will always been like minded people to chat to. Here's a tip they offer accommodation the night before and after with the tour company and often you can choose a twin room in which you will be paired with someone of the same sex who will also be going or coming back from a tour. If you fancy your own room rather than doing this don't feel obliged to purchase through the tour group. Again use comparison websites to find a cheaper price and cut out the commission made through the tour group. This has always worked well for me and I've got my own room cheaper than sharing.

3. Staying before or after the tour

Most tours depart from major cities such as L.A or New York but don't actually take you there, it's just where you meet and leave from. Id always recommend booking some night before and perhaps after time, you may want to even carry on travelling. If your unsure of exploring cities on your own I'd recommend you book into a hostel. This way you may share a dorm with others and make friends to go and explore, if you don't want to do this many hostels offer private rooms. This way you can still take advantage of what the hostel has to offer, many provide daily activities which are often free such as walking tours and bar crawls. I've stayed in some really nice hostels and some well not so much! But if you do your research and read up on them you should find some really good places a lot of them may even offer free breakfast. Check out HI International 

4. The Airport

Quite often than not when travelling alone I've always found someone to talk to right from the check in! If your alone then similar people will often chat to you, you may notice someone who looks similar to you, alone and armed with a backpack. Yes they will perhaps be doing a tour too! I've found people on my tour and other times on a similar tour. This is great then you have a friend to find your accommodation with or spend some days exploring the location when you land. This has helped me find negotiating Los Angeles a lot easier!!
Now the airport on the other side. Landing in somewhere like lax can be pretty scary alone! Do your research and plan ahead how your going to find your accommodation. My advise when travelling alone is to always be clued up and plan so you don't look like such an easy target wondering around lost. You can be lost but just act like your in the know! Many airport hotels will have free shuttle services outside the airport just tip them for helping you with your bags. Other than that the cheapest way of getting into the city is to use public transport so research your route in advance. I often print out maps or have a app downloaded on my phone.  For example Newark airport NYC will be cost of a train ticket straight into penn station for less than $10. Or Miami airport to south beach cost me less than $5 using the bus. Much cheaper than a taxi.  There is also coach services such as super shuttle that do hotel drops so plan and book in advance.

I hope that helps and perhaps gives you a bit of confidence to take the plunge! I started my first solo trip in my first year at university when i was about 21 but i wish i could have started sooner!

I thought i'd share some of my travelling experiences with you, 3 years ago i finally decided to follow what i really wanted to do and go travelling across the USA, I didn't have anyone who would have done it with me at the time, i know people who would have loved to but i just wanted to commit to making of my dreams happen, i decided to take the plunge. Alone.

Truth is i never really felt alone, I joined a tour group with a company called Trek America who where absolutely amazing, i never really knew who i would be joining in my group but its aimed at 18 - 32 like minded individuals. The first tour i choose was a western usa adventure which started in LA went around to vegas, grand canyon, Yosemite national park and finished in San Francisco.

The part i feared most about doing this was getting there safe and finding my hotel in LA on my own. I'd say i'm a pretty organised person, i have good common sense. When i got to the airport in the UK queuing to check in, i met a girl who was also travelling along as it turned out she was in the same boat as me also doing a Trek America trip, fantastic! Although she was on a different tour we happened to be both staying in the same hotel in LA so when i made it to LAX airport i had someone to find the hotel with. I must admit, it wasn't as simple as i thought and i'm glad there was 2 of us. When i arrived to my hotel room, i instantly didnt like it, my room wasn't the best it was so high up and overlooked what i can describe as LA's not so nice district, furthermore my mobile wasn't working properly, it was really uncomfortable to not even be able to get online and say i'm ok, i slept that night thinking what have i done i'm completely on the other side of the world to anyone!. I found a pc in the hotels lobby and managed to get things sorted. I had a day spare before my tour started so i agreed to meet the girl i met and some other people who she had met going on her tour and to spend a day sight seeing in LA.

We started the day with a true american style breakfast at iHop. I had french toast, it defeated me. Then we decided to head to Santa Monica and the beach. LA is so so big, and has one of the worst transport links throughout the city i have experienced. It was a case of changing a few buses to get where we wanted to go. It was worth it in the end, we spent the day walking down the famous pier then down the beach towards venice. Unfortunately  i never spoke to any of the girls after this day we never could get back in contact.


The following day was when the trek started, I met in the hotel lobby to meet my group and the group leader for the first time. There was about 14 of us in total, everyone was really nice and i can't say i didnt get along with anyone. We spent the morning driving around LA, the famous beverly hills and getting our first team photo with the hollywood sign. That day we drove a few hours across California to 'Lake Havasu' where we would spend the night. I can't say there was much there, Theres the original London bridge being rebuilt there, it was just a stop over on our journey to the Grand Canyon..  Part 2 to follow!