How do you spend your nights as a solo traveler? (14 fun ways to spend your nights alone)

Carnival rides at a local’s Laotian night market in Vientiane

I’ll admit, there are times being a solo traveler at night can feel like… well, a single gal alone on a Friday night!

All the world is aglow with friends and drunken laughter.  Meanwhile, you’re either standing outside in the cold envying the social fun indoors or in your guesthouse painting your toenails the color of ‘wishful thinking’!  Times like this, it’s hard not to occasionally feel… lame.

Well, nuh-uh! It doesn’t have to be this way.

In fact, would you believe that when I travel alone, I often don’t return to my pad until midnight? That’s right.

You see, being a solo traveler, can occasionally feel like having a gimp leg. The last thing you want is to envy others’ fun, feel pathetic or like you’re missing out on “living”!   As such, I’m challenged to be more creative and resourceful with my leisure time.  I shoot for fun experiences, unique adventures and local variety, which will let me experience a lot of what the culture has to offer.

Here’s 14 ways to have fun when you’re alone: 

1.   Take a romantic stroll through the city

Maybe it’s not always the safest venture, but at night I like to romance the city and fall in love.

Whether shops are open or closed, a place takes on a magical face in the evening, as it’s veiled in light and shadow. Explore streets lined with lights and crowded sidewalk cafes, observe how locals come out to play, let crickets be your background music and unwind through the smells wafting from restaurants and homes. 

Romance isn’t only for couples, but are for soloists too. Go ahead, make a date with the city! 

Walking the streets of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

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2.   Make your own city bus tour at night

Some tour agencies and cities offer city bus tours at night and these tours are like cheap all inclusive holidays, taking you around the city to all the major landmarks lit by light. But if you can’t find one, go ahead and make your own! I’m a big fan of D.I.Y. (aka do-it-yourself) tours.

Public transportation services such as city buses, ferries and monorails make perfect and cheap way to see the city lights at a slow pace. (Read my post on Bangkok’s transit options to get an idea of ways to see a city through its transportation)

Tour boat through the waterways of Malaysia’s artsy town of Melacca

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3. Sightsee, sightsee, sightsee!

When I lived in New York City, friends often suggested walking to places (vs taking the bus, cab or subway); meanwhile, I’d respond with a look saying- “Why don’t you jump off the Brooklyn Bridge!”  I resented walking everywhere, but somehow, travel changed me and my shoes developed a mind of their own.

Who says everything closes when the sun goes down? Museums, theme parks and government attractions typically clock out when it hits sunset, but temples,  churches, shopping malls, night markets and shops are open. 

As long as there are things to see, these shoes will go until it closes the town down. 

Visiting the main wat in Chiang Mai

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4.   Explore night markets and indulge in street fairs 

These are by far my favorite evening pastimes!  Night market, night bazaar, walking streets, block parties, street fairs… they’re all pretty much the same fun. Haggle for cool local craftwork and souvenirs or dive into the local foods and snacks, watch street performers jangling for change or fuel up with local cuisine at an outdoor restaurant.

Night markets for local folk can get a little more gritty, less sparkly with a feeling more foreign. Foods are authentically made for local taste and shopper’s items are aimed at more practical and household variety. Interesting nonetheless!

Watch your money though, it’s sure to drain fast.

(above) Night market in Siem Reap, Cambodia Night Bazaar in Luang Prabang offers tourists a chance to buy local Hmong tribe crafts and souvenirs from rows of local vendors.    Street fairs, Melacca, Malaysia

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5. Dinner shows and cultural performances

Did you know that Vietnamese water puppet shows originated as a form of entertainment in villages, when rice fields got flooded? …Or that in Bali, Legong dancers are played music, while still in the womb and taught the hand gestures before they can walk? I saw a Legong dinner show on the beach and it was included on an all-day sightsee- snorkel- and-beach tour package I got…for $40. Snap, don’t you love great budget tour deals!

A culture’s art is very indicative of  its people’s history and many places offer engaging dinner shows and cultural performances to showcase their local talents and give tourists a vibrant understanding of who they are.

Balinese Legong dance performance

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6.   Follow your curiosity and go off-the-grid 

It pays to be curious and open-minded to things. Even if at first glance it looks… too grassroots for your taste!

Just when I was scraping the barrel for ideas of evening activities  in the small Indian town of Gokarna, I came across a community theater blasting Bollywood music in a shoddy dirt lot. I dismissed it on several passes.It looked to… how do I say this… local. But finally, out of boredom and curiosity, I gave in.

That theater was the best surprise! It  shed insights on how small town Indian artisans pull off original entertainment for the local masses! (click here for an inside peek of what I experienced)

Always keep an open mind and follow your curiosity. It may lead to adventures that most tourists don’t think to try.

Gokarna local community theater in India

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7.   Brave creepy crawlers on a night safari

Flashlights out everyone and don’t forget to hit yourself with insect repellent before you start!  Night safaris lead you on tours of the jungle, to point out the type of animals and critters that come out after dark.  It’s fun, eye opening and enough to give you the heebie-jeebies!

Night safari in Malaysia’s oldest rainforest, Taman Negara.

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8.   Dine alone

There’s a myth that many soloists hold around solo dining; and it’s that others will see you as lonely or pathetic. Well, have you ever noticed someone dining alone? Likelihood is… not really, unless you’re another soloist or the only person in the joint. But ordinarily, our eyes are drawn to movement and activity (i.e. many vs. one).

Sorry soloist, hate to burst the bubble, but you’re not exciting enough to catch attention. In a busy restaurant, you’re actually wallpaper! So lose the self-consciousness. 

Alternate ways to get over the fear of dining alone:

•   Look for other solo diners in the restaurant. They’re immediate validation that you’re not an anomaly and if you have the fortune of getting seated next to another soloist, use it as an opportunity for possible conversation.
•   Ask for a table near a window or outside, so you can people-watch and experience your surroundings.
•   Bring a book, magazine or journal to occupy yourself as you wait for your food to arrive.

Riverside restaurants in Vientiane, Laos

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9.   Eat on the streets 

The marvelous thing about travel is the variety of ways you can sample street dining. Eat standing up, sitting on a plastic stool on the sidewalk as motorbikes zip past you or amidst the cluck of foreign chatter. It’s real dining just the way locals do it:  authentic food and cheap prices!  Next time you visit a place, dare to step outside the tourist box and experience it local style.

Eating street food from a hawker stand in Butterworth, Malaysia.   
  Outdoor street market restaurants in Bangkok (near Victory Point)

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10. Explore the local shopping experience

Do you like like visiting a Mc Donalds in each country just to see the menu and how it changes to draw the local palette? I do. 

So this is very similar…

I absolutely love exploring grocery and convenience stores when I travel.   I ooh and aaah at unique products, raise my eyebrow at strange ones and even pick up souvenirs for friends, which might have them guessing…  I’m always curious about how a country is different from my own. For example, in Asia, you can get a lot of skin care products with whitening in it (even underarm deodorant!), in India they sell a lot of Ayurvedic products. 

Or sometimes, I find a country sells similar brands, but either place a different importance on them or have different choices available to their country that I don’t have in mine.  

Spam by the gift box sold in Korea  
 
Pringles in Vientiane, Laos

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11.   Hang out at your hostel and find travel friends

I’ll never pooh-pooh hostels and guesthouses. They can be a soloist’s salvation and these days, it’s not just for the young, but for the budget-minded in general!   Some joints host nightly events, book budget tours and often it attracts open-minded and friendly compadres, who are willing to share advice and recommendations. You may even find a dinner companion or group of friends to go to a bar with.  (Read about my experience in finding friends to go to Bangkok’s X-rated ping pong shows).

Returning to Cat’s Hostel with new travel companions (Madrid, Spain)

12.  Hitting an internet café

Skype your family, update your Facebook status, write a new post on your travel blog and… unload your photo card so you have something new to work with the next day.  

An extremely unflattering photo of me on Skype to my family (Pai, Thailand)

13.    Spend quiet time reading a book or writing in your journal

We all need downtime to rest and absorb our day. Reading a book about (or inspired by) the country you’re visiting, helps you open your eyes and notice more of what’s going on around you.  In India, I found a copy of Superstar India: From Incredible to Unstoppableby my favorite Indian writer, Shobha De (you wanna read about India from a gal with razor grrrit, Shobha’s your dame). 

Journalling is also great for taking notes on your observations and putting all your experiences into perspective. 

sunset hampi

14.   Do take long-distance journeys at night

If you haven’t heard about it yet, you can maximize your sightseeing in a place, by scheduling your long-distance travels for night. Some buses and trains accommodate comfortable sleeping, while others may challenge your make-shift abilities.

Sleeper train in Thailand  Me, crashed out on a train to Madrid, Spain

What are some ways you spend your evenings as a solo traveler?