Sightseeing in Norway: Tips and Advice From My First Time Solo Traveling

About three weeks ago, I did something very scary and only slightly impulsive. I bought a ticket to Tromso, Norway. This was one of those places I had been wanting to go to ever since I started thinking about my time abroad. I’ve always loved the scenery of the Scandinavian countries, was eager to learn more about the culture, and of course the thought of seeing the Northern Lights was an absolute dream. An important thing to keep in mind about the Northern Lights though is that (according to Google at least), the best time to see them is between late September and late March. I had this fact in the back of my head, but soon enough school started up, life got busy, and ultimately the fears and hesitations I had somehow always stopped me from taking the plunge and clicking “purchase” on the plane ticket.

Prior to this trip, I had never traveled by myself before (with the exception of when I arrived in London). So naturally, I was very doubtful about whether or not I was even ready to take such a step. I knew I was running out of time too, seeing as if I were to go, I would’ve wanted it to be by the end of March. The moment that changed it for me though was incredibly simple, but also a very important lesson for me. It was simply seeing an Instagram story from one of my fellow study-abroad peers of none other than the Northern Lights. It was small, but it made me realize the only person holding me back was me. And while I definitely wouldn’t endorse doing things you’re not comfortable with just because others are doing them, for me this was different. It was about doing something I really wanted to do and not letting fears stop me. And so, I bought the ticket. Now came the really scary part.

There’s a lot of things to take into consideration when you’re traveling, but most especially when you’re traveling alone. From the few days I spent there, Tromso seemed like a very friendly and safe place – but sometimes the most intriguing and captivating places that we want to visit the most don’t exactly scream “friendly.” Ultimately, deciding where to go and the level of safety you feel comfortable with in going to that place is a personal decision. But it certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly when you’re traveling alone. This idea of safety can be such a hard thing to rectify sometimes; we often want to only feel pure joy and excitement about the upcoming travel plans, the same way we might’ve felt when we were kids going on vacation with our parents, knowing everything was taken care of, that there was nothing to worry about, that we were safe. Unfortunately, as adults, that’s not always the case. While we still want to feel that same joy, at the same time we also have to, in a sense, be weighed down by the realities, the scary possibilities, and the anxieties that naturally accompany a solo experience.

It’s a hard line to balance because while you never want fear to be the primary feeling on such a memorable trip, you don’t want to completely ignore taking certain precautions and safety measures either. It may not necessarily have to be grandiose, but here are some basic tips to ensure a more safe traveling experience:

1. Always Carry a Portable Charger

   Especially if your phone is where you keep most of your important documents and payment options, the last thing you want is to find yourself stranded with a dead phone battery.

    

2. Try to Stay in a Hotel/Hostel Closer to the City Central

   It could be a little pricier, but if you really want to see the most you can of a city and stay out later into the evening, ensuring your hotel/hostel is in a location that you know you can return to safely is important.

    

3. Try to Stick to Busier and Well-Lit Roads

   A little more of a basic tip, but always important to keep in mind when exploring a new city!

    

4. Keep in Touch with Family/Friends and Keep Them Updated

   Your friends and/or family are probably harboring some of the same fears or anxieties you are (even if they don’t say it outright). Keeping them in the loop about where you are and how you’re doing can do wonders for relieving both them and you! And of course, having someone who knows where you are when you’re alone in a new place is definitely never a bad thing.

    

5. Know Your Necessary Numbers

   Admittedly, this is something I didn’t think much about beforehand, but knowing what emergency numbers to contact if something were to happen is very important in case of an emergency. Not only IES emergency numbers, but also looking up what the equivalent to 911 is for the country you’re in is something I would definitely recommend – just in case!

    

I’ve always known that I loved traveling, but I don’t even think I knew why until I started doing it more and to places I had never really thought to go to even a year ago. More than just the beautiful sights, there’s so much to learn in all of these places. The history, the culture, the language, the food. It’s incredible just to see people living their normal, everyday lives in so many different corners of the world. Looking at the sky and seeing the northern lights really was a dream come true, but seeing the college kids going out on a Friday night amidst the cold wind and snowy mountains was something I had never even thought of before. And while the differences between you and them are amazing to appreciate, the similarities you end up finding are an incredible reminder of how alike we all really are.

One of the great things about studying abroad in Europe (as a student from the U.S.) is being closer to so many places that always felt so incredibly out-of-reach. And though it certainly wasn't an inexpensive trip, nor one I would ever take for granted the privilege of being able to take, being in London certainty made it a lot cheaper to travel to than it would’ve been from my hometown – which is just another bullet point on the list of why I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to study abroad, and why I’m so happy I did it. I think part of the reason so many people say studying abroad is a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” is because there are so many opportunities to have little memorable experiences within the bigger experience. And to think I never would have created such an amazing memory had I listened to my fears and not taken the leap into something new.