Although the advice here is essentially 'don't worry and just do it', it's not fair to gloss over this subject in such a manner as it's enormously difficult to give an accurate picture of the experience of travelling alone, since it can vary significantly and is almost always filled with highs and lows. There are a number of factors to take into consideration, from luck to the time of year and most importantly destination and personality.

Nonetheless, honestly speaking the best advice to those who are worried about being alone abroad or feel not having anyone to go with is preventing them from travelling is to remember that travelling alone is far, far better than not travelling at all and that there are many lone travellers, both male and female, all over the world right now (certainly it is seemingly a much more popular option with Japanese and Korean travellers than with westerners). Pick an easy country to start with (say, Singapore or New Zealand) and one where you speak the local language (social interaction with locals really helps) and go. It will be the best thing you ever do - consider it the advantage it can be and not the disadvantage many see it as. The thing is you won't be alone all the time as making friends, chatting with locals and teaming up with people is often easy. You will, when alone, meet and talk to far more people than if with a partner and especially locals, who are much more likely to invite you into their lives.

The flip side is not every day is great: you will undoubtedly find yourself in a situation where things don't go so fantastically and not having someone to share those frustrations with or to lend a helping hand can be a little depressing. Getting sick whilst travelling is the perfect example. You will also have days when you won't have a significant conversation with anyone which can certainly get you down. Finally luck plays a big part with who you meet - you might meet some great people to travel with in a remote destination (interesting people are found in interesting places) and then on hitting a backpacker hub like Thailand find yourself isolated despite hordes of other travellers (or the opposite can happen). Signing up for local day tours is a great way to meet people, as is approaching others to share taxis from airports, bus or train stations. Both are easy to do and in the case of the latter very handy since this is when you feel your most alone. In developed countries, staying in hostels and using shared transport aimed at backpackers puts you in touch with a lot of people. To many this advice is unnecessary as they may well be confident in themselves and well travelled, although that's not everyone. It does take courage to head off alone, but you won't be the only one and if you have doubt as to just how you will fare at least find out. Most of the world is yours to explore and not, as the media would have us believe, some big bad dangerous entity that will eat you alive the moment you step off the plane.

For single women the question of whether to go solo is of course, a much more difficult question. Certainly it's worth thinking more carefully about travelling without previous experience alone in places like Northern India or Arab/Muslim countries, since men can give you somewhat more attention than you require. Lone females do sometimes attract such attention and it can be frustrating, annoying and at its worst, quite scary, although a lot of it is fairly harmlessly, derived from the fact that a lot of males (South Asians in particular) have warped ideas about women.

It can't be totally prevented, any more than it can be in your home country, but it can be minimised with general common-sense such as dressing conservatively, having a more planned route with a few advanced bookings and being assertive when required. What is nice to know is that in many, many destinations women won't get any hassle and where such hassle can occur you will find women only queues and seating areas on trains and buses, and that you are generally looked after by locals who often take you under their wing. If heading off as a lone female you probably don't need to be told, but all the advice about staying safe on this site needs following to the tenth degree, particularly that about walking in secluded areas after dark.

All this said, lone female travellers are not uncommon and such a venture is quite manageable and far, far from being unnecessarily dangerous given the correct attitude. Travelling alone, whether male or female you are going to have to be generally more on your guard (read this). In less travelled countries (like Central Asia or West Africa) unless you are outgoing, travelling alone can be miserable with fewer creature comforts, possible language barriers and fewer travellers to meet. To summarise: your feelings regarding the outcome of your trip are probably going to be mixed. Guaranteed will be some great experiences and a sense of fulfilment and confidence, but you are probably going to also recall a day or two when you were down in the dumps... all in all you're going to remember the good bits.

For those contemplating travelling alone just remember the advice above: alone is always better than not at all. What's more, it beats the pants off taking a totally organised tour and more often than not it opens doors to the very best experiences travel has to offer. Let's not forget there can also be many negative issues when travelling with friends, partners or relatives!

Travelling alone, whether male or female you are going to have to be generally more on your guard (read this). In less travelled countries (like Central Asia or West Africa) unless you are outgoing, travelling alone can be miserable with fewer creature comforts, possible language barriers and fewer travellers to meet. To summarise: your feelings regarding the outcome of your trip are probably going to be mixed. Guaranteed will be some great experiences and a sense of fulfilment and confidence, but you are probably going to also recall a day or two when you were down in the dumps... all in all you're going to remember the good bits.

 For those contemplating travelling alone just remember the advice above: alone is always better than not at all. What's more, it beats the pants off taking a totally organised tour and more often than not it opens doors to the very best experiences travel has to offer. Let's not forget there can also be many negative issues when travelling with friends, partners or relatives!

When travelling to a new country it's useful to learn who the country's leading football players, movie stars or cricketers are. It's a great way to start a conversation in any bar and if you have some knowledge of their sporting or film stars, it will endear you to the locals (well the male half at least).

All the above advice also applies to older travellers. Don't be put off - again just like couples and single travellers there are many older travellers enjoying life in exotic places around the world. Age is no major hindrance to independent travel on a budget and it is easy to make friends and to pay a little bit extra for luxury when required.