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Solo Travel Vs Buddy Travel

I’ve had a fairly mixed bag went it comes to travel arrangements. For the last numbers of years I’ve tried a variety of combinations from going solo to cruisin’ in groups of 2, 3, 4, even 5 people (messy).

Today we’re going make comparisons between:

  1. Going solo
  2. Travelling as a duo (2 people)
  3. Travelling as a trio or quartet. (3 or 4 people)

When it comes to hooking up and having fun, they all have their pros and cons. Let me share some wisdom…

Going Solo

Rollin’ Dolo

Travelling alone requires a little more prep work but if you make the effort there’s no doubt going solo is a great way to get laid or ‘flag‘ while travelling. Firstly, you can pipeline and set up plenty of dates online, spending your nights wooing local honeys. Secondly, you are more flexible on how long you stay in a city, so if the going good you can stick around.

That said, what you gain in flexibility you lose in social proof. It’s harder to game girls at night if you’re riding dolo. This is especially true in the developed world, where your status as a Westerner means nothing. If you hit the ground cold and haven’t pipelined, consider hostelling as you can garner a possie and also pickup horny backpackers. Heading out with your new possie will  increase social proof, allow you to meet more people and have more fun.

Solo travel tends to more expensive. Sometimes it’s lonely and you have nobody to share your experiences with. That said, travelling alone offers you the best possible chances of meeting locals & getting into situations most bizarre, random and rewarding. You become more open to new experiences.

Unique Personal Experiences of Solo Travel:

  • Living in a hut with a Cambodian Marijuana Farmer
  • Couchsurfing in Belarus.
  • Celebrating Kosovo’s first birthday having been dragged there by the Norwegian chick I met in Bucharest.
  • Living in a cute Filipina’s apartment near Manila.
  • Dating different women every night in Moldova.
  • Waking up in a third world country robbed of my possessions and any memory of the night before.

 

Travelling as a Duo

IMPORTANT: Choose your travel buddy wisely! It can make or break a friendship.

Drunk Horsecarting in Myanmar

It’s good to have a friend to share your memories with. A friend is especially comforting if you’re undertaking challenging trips with long journeys, travelling in dry countries with zero nightlife and girls. Pairing up is also cheaper than going solo.

Many would argue two people is the perfect number for pulling chicks. From my experience, this is only true if your travel companion is as chica-orientated as you. Crusin’ with a good wingman can dramatically increase your chances at pulling chicks at night, but if your travel buddy is the type to be bed by 10pm because he’s want to get to the muesum early, you’re going to have problems.

You tend to pipeline and date less when travelling with a friend. Abandoning your friend every night to meet women made strain your friendship (unless he’s doing the same thing). You’re more likely to try pick up at night. If you got decent game, this is more fun than dating anyway. It’s requires no effort before the trip as you can just play in by year. If you must pipeline, consider arranging double dates and share the love with your buddy.

With two people, randomness may be reduced somewhat as comprises must be made. You are less likely to ditch your mate and end up shacking up with a local  for example. On the other hand, if the other person is just as reckless, the synchronised testosterone and false sense of security provided by a companion could lead to a healthy dose of danger and experiences most ridiculous.

Unique Personal Experiences of Travelling as a Duo:

  • Hitch-hiking through the Sudanese desert
  • International Drug Smuggling
  • Illegal Border jumping
  • Entering active warzones
  • Double dating in strange countries and high-fiving the morning after.
  • Again, waking up in a third world country robbed of your possessions and any memory of the night before.

Travelling as a Trio or Quartet

Siegin’ Montenegro

Travelling with three or four people is seriously fun and offers you plenty of variety. You bring the party with you so social proof is through the roof where ever you go. Trios and Quartets work wonders for party destinations, especially in Europe.

If you are arrive somewhere where the nightlife is poor and girls are in short supply, your friends may become competition. That said, the good thing you can date more when travelling with a group then travelling as a duo. You won’t be missed as much… trust me this is a serious advantage.

Travelling with 4 people also as works out really cheap and you can rent your own apartment. All in all, the group experience is priceless for fostering fraternal bonds and offering shared memories that last a life time.

Randomness is lower than travelling solo or as a duo. You are less likely to interact with locals and have an ‘authentic’ cultural experience. However, this can be counteracted by pre-planned calculated randomness.  You need to get creative.

Unique Personal Experiences of Travelling as a group:

  • Constant pranks, laughter and silliness
  • Splashing out on cool apartments and inviting chicks back to house parties.
  • Taking a 4 man dugout canoe and rowing to a deserted island for a session.
  • A 24 night pub crawl dressed as Mexican Pirates in the Balkans.
  • Creating a 4-four-part harmony Barber shop song to introduce yourselves, complete with dance moves.
  • More one night stands from cold approaching.

IN CONCLUSION…

Mix it up!!!

As I mentioned, any more than 4 can get messy. To be honest, I think the best thing one could do is try every possible combination and see what works for you.

My friend and fellow adventurer Danny boy insists a duo offers the best comprise.

For me, I value the crazy experiences and personal growth offered by solo travel, but love the sheer enjoyment of a non-stop partying with a group. I still get laid either way, but I’ve had to learn how to adjust my game accordingly.

Life is about balance.

Every year I make sure I do one solo trip, one duo and one group. And you know what – it’s all good!!!

What’s your experience of Solo vs Buddy Travel?

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20 Responses to Solo Travel Vs Buddy Travel

  1. Peter Phoenix January 11, 2011 at 2:07 pm #

    Travelled as a quartet. Picked up 3 flags in a month. One of the best travel experiences of my life.

  2. Latin Stylez January 11, 2011 at 10:35 pm #

    I’ve usually traveled solo or with two people. I have found traveling with another person is more fun. I’d like to get a group of 4 people sometime I think that could be even more exciting. I like the pirate idea 😉

  3. Heartbeat January 12, 2011 at 11:24 am #

    Personal circumstances mean I usually go solo but it is ideal for day game – particularly outside Europe. The flamboyant Mexican Pirate style outfits don’t work but a couple of interesting trinkets with cool back stories are invaluable.

  4. Atlas Al January 14, 2011 at 5:20 am #

    Agreed, good wingman is key for a good trip, not only for the ladies but for the trip itself.

  5. NomadicNeill February 27, 2011 at 10:02 pm #

    I usually travel on my own. You don’t ever have to be alone when hanging out in hostels etc.

    Although if you are travelling for a long time it can get lonely in the sense that you don’t have anyone to share the experiences with.

  6. Rick March 15, 2011 at 11:29 pm #

    I am going on a one month Interrail trip solo in 2 weeks. I choose to do it that way and am going to meet up with friends in most of the cities I will visit. For the rest I think of hostels or Couchsurfing…

    PS: GREAT blog !
    PPS: Any recommendations on Llublijana ?

    • Naughty Nomad March 16, 2011 at 2:09 pm #

      @Rick: Slovenia is the ONLY country in all of Eastern Europe I haven’t visited yet! Have fun on your trip.

      • profo July 7, 2014 at 1:05 pm #

        Slovenia is actually central europe.

  7. Rick March 19, 2011 at 5:37 pm #

    Ahh that´s too bad.

    Anyways are you still going to be in Eastern Europe in the next 4 weeks? I would like to buy you a beer and hear some stories or so ..

  8. Charlie June 14, 2011 at 5:50 pm #

    I also like both. When you travel alone you’re forced to meet people. it’s pretty easy when you so solo to a bar to grab a couple temporary wingmen for the evening- guys are trying futilely to get laid all around the world. Big groups of guys are death for game and are ruining large parts of the tourist world.

    http://www.singledudetravel.com/2011/01/a-plea-to-stag-parties/

  9. Charger August 17, 2011 at 6:57 am #

    Solo hands down.
    Did a quartet through India. Everybody want to go in different directions all the time. Hassle.

  10. Africascott September 19, 2011 at 7:29 pm #

    For me it’s definitely solo. I have traveled plenty (38 countries for months at a time ) and Nomad’s right on all points but here’s why solo works for me:

    1. It makes you think for yourself and therefore you learn to become more creative.
    2. You become much tougher and stronger both mentaly and physically.
    3. You get to do what you want to do but are forced to make all the choices so you can’t blame anyone else but yourself for bad choices.
    4. It forces you to talk to strangers therebye making many more new friends both locals and other travellers.
    5. You will definitely get laid more—much more.
    6. I don’t like sharing a room with anyone I’m not fucking.
    7. I can go when and where I want to.

    So man-up and go it alone, Africascott

    • Naughty Nomad September 19, 2011 at 7:42 pm #

      Here here!

  11. Bill From LA November 18, 2011 at 1:43 am #

    I,ve done them all and here’s my take. Summer party places ( Ibiza, Split, Sydney, Odessa, Honolulu, Phuket, ect are fun with a small group while Eastern European cities in winter are awesome with a dou as long as your wingman can stumble home on his owm)))

  12. an_aussie_nomad March 4, 2012 at 2:50 am #

    Going solo in 5 weeks to SE Asia for x amount of time and super pumped. I’ve definitely found travelling solo let you be as spontaneous as you want. Me personally don’t like being by myself for too long so I just make conversation with who ever. Long bus rides I’ve found on past trips in SE asia are a good ways to meet other single lads if you need a wingman for a night or two at your next destination.

  13. Ruxman January 11, 2013 at 5:05 am #

    I find that there’s certainly a lot of guys who desire to travel and go somewhere but don’t have anyone to go with, or worse had a travel partner who bailed or couldn’t save for it. In this case you gotta just got solo! You’ll garner so many more cool experiences. What’s more who’s to say that your wingman is even into game? If he doesn’t have the drive to go out each night and hunt for pussy like you do then there’s going to be conflict, conflict you wouldn’t have to worry about if you went solo.

  14. Ian Felming June 10, 2013 at 3:27 am #

    Travel in large groups is definitely MESSY!!! On my birthright trip to Israel, with 40 people, the group couldn’t even get through the head counts in a reasonable amount of time. I couldn’t understand why a simple head count could be so difficult, but then again I was the only American Jew on that trip who had been to jail before. We missed several activities due to the group’s dilly-dallying and hooking up was not an option (although lying about it reached epidemic proportions)!!

  15. Steve June 28, 2018 at 3:18 pm #

    I definitely travel solo, especially through developing countries. You’ll never be allone exept you want to. You can easyly make local friends hanging around with, sharing stories with, dragging off chicks with, visiting places with …

    Nothing in life is more gorgeous than waking up and the day is yours, only yours and you can do with it whatever you want to: Sleeping off your hangover, getting up early to visit something, go to the beach, smoke some weed with the locals, checking out chicks or just move on.

    Just wonderful!

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