There’s no way around it - traveling on your own is more expensive than traveling with friends and partners. Perhaps the only thing more expensive is traveling with kids.
While I think the travel industry should do more to encourage solo travelers, the current state of affairs means going at it alone means paying double which is a big road block to people who are curious about a solo adventure.
I wanted to share a realistic breakdown of my one week road trip through Southern Utah - personally, I think it was worth it, but I do still get quite annoyed when I realize how much I could have saved traveling with another person!
TRANSPORTATION COSTS: $471.45
$337.28 Rental Car
$134.17 Gas
My flights to/from Vegas were covered by work
Food COSTS: $293.02
$109.18 - Grocery Shopping / Snacks / Coffee
$183.84 - Meals Out
LODGING COSTS: $570.34
$339.61 - Kanab Airbnb (4 Nights)
$230.73 - Land Beyond Zion Glamping (2 Nights)
HIKING RELATED COSTS: $161.50
$101.50 - Permits (America the Beautiful Pass ($80), Buckskin Gulch Permit ($6.50), Valley of Fire Entry ($15.00)
Microspikes - $60 (I didn’t use these and might end up returning to REI)
SOUVENIR: $50
$50 (A ring and three stickers for my water bottles)
TOTAL COST AS A SOLO TRAVELER: $1,546.31
SAVINGS WITH SECOND TRAVELER: $571.65
TRIP TOTAL WITH SECOND TRAVELER: $974.66
So now that you’ve seen the math, what do you think? Worth it to go solo? And what do you think the travel industry could do to incentivize more solo travelers? Leave a comment below :)
