Checklists

My aunt helped me deconstruct my adventure, and I realise now that I made lots of mistakes. So here are my suggestions for lone female travellers:

1) Go well equipped. If you are in a place where you don't speak the language, you may find yourself in a hotel room where your only link with home may be BBC News. You will need books/a kindle with everything you want loaded on it. Make sure you have music to listen to; if possible take a portable DVD player and some films you want to catch up on. Yes you might need a bigger case to carry a laptop, but it might just keep you sane.

2) Be prepared to talk to everyone you meet. Look for conversation opportunities on trains and transport in general. On my first flight from Inverness to Gatwick I met a Harvard lecturer who was writing a study on the proposed 3rd runway at Heathrow. He'd been staying with his granny near Tain. I very much enjoyed the conversation with the American family on the train from Florence to Pisa.

3) In an ideal world you don't want to be a lone traveller. If you have nobody to go with, try to plan your journey to meet up with friends and family en route. Keep a diary or a blog- and Facebook can be your best friend. Tell your contacts online about what you've done and seen, and post loads of pictures.

4) Do your research. If you are signing up to an activity holiday, find out as much as possible about where it will be held- who you will be with, and what exactly you will be doing. Is it all inclusive? if not, budget for what you will need each day.

5) Luggage is never going to be about that one small cabin bag- especially if you are going somewhere for more than three days. its worth booking that case into the hold just to avoid taking two big bags home, as I did , and wrecking your shoulder muscles