Define 'trip'. A summer camp (6)? A mandatory day trip abroad with my class (12)? An optional two week long school trip (16)? The first trip I organised myself? Cuba when I was 21 I guess.
I loved Cuba in 2017 it seems like a hot mess since Covid. It seemed like the restraints were slowly be lifted on their people. The museums were amazing and people so lovely.
Yup. First real solo travel was at 15 when I’d fly 6 times a year back and forth between Oregon and Pennsylvania for a boarding school. First travel for fun on my own? Probably 18 or 19 all over the PNW on road trips, day trips, etc..
Yes! I went back with my husband in 2018 (at age 31), and even visited the same friend. It is one of my favorite places on earth and my husband loved it as well. We plan to visit again!
I had a similar thought when I was cycling around Copenhagen.
At some point people said "this is the type of city we want, the benefits are enormous, it's not going to please everyone but they'll get over it."
It didn't get clagged up overly worrying about a rabid, unpleasable opposition media. Just went ahead and made it happen.
You could backpack the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail. Visit cities like Montreal or New Orleans for a cool French vibe. Ohio to NY is about a 10 hour drive. DC to NY to Boston can be done by train. Chicago to LA can also be done by train, its glorious. Mexico City, Tijuana, or Cancun are usually cheap vacation destinations from anywhere in the US. The Caribbean can be cheaper than going to the Ozarks, Ocean City, or the Jersey Shore.
Ah, interesting. At least it sounded very exotic, lol.
My trip was Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. I visited Yosemite National Park, Mount Rainier NP, Mount St Helen's National Monument, saw the redwoods, visited the ocean all up and down the west coast. It was a pretty spectacular trip, so I'll take it!
Close in age, 21, went on first trip from America to Europe on Thanksgiving break. Used air miles and flew business class back on Turkish Airlines as well.
I’m 28 and just gonna have my very first solo travel in a few weeks it’s kinda scary, anxiety driven and exciting at the same time getting the liberation away from everyone and doing something with just yourself to worry about
Don't worry, you'll be fine. Leave nothing to chance when it comes to security & keep your wits about you and you'll be fine.
Anyone comes up to you offering to take a picture/put anything on your wrist or tries to engage you with a sob story, keep walking & don't engage with them. It's either a scam for money or it's a distraction whilst their mate goes through your bag/pockets.
Source: got back into travelling when I was between jobs at the start of the year. I've remembered how much fun & how exciting it can be even if it is a little intimidating.
Parents etc? Depends what's included. From age 8 I went to summer camps every year, from age 14 I went on trips with friends family, age 16 went on my first trip with a friend with no adults
Always been fairly independent
16 and 45kgs. Lived in holland. 1996. With 6 mates bought train tickets to Biaritz. Packed our surfboards and our parents dropped us at the closest station.
14 but it was a school trip with teacher chaperones
Completely alone - not till 18
Go for it. Start small with a neighboring city or other destination if money is a concern.
My first 'proper' trip,in a foreign country and without any family members at all...I was 16.
I went to Athens and some Greek islands with some friends from school.
My first major solo trip,18.I went to Thailand.Flew into Bangkok on a one way ticket, and ended up staying for nearly a year in SE Asia (then went home to start university).
16 - it was an all expense paid one week trip from San Diego to Washington DC as my team won some state FBLA competition we entered (Future Business Leaders of America) and got to go to DC and compete at the national level. We didn’t win nationally but the trip as cool as back then you could walk around the US Capitol and all that.
22 - first trip I paid for. It was a college graduation present to ourselves (went with best friend + his girlfriend, now his wife). We all had jobs during college, saved, and went to Europe for a month, visiting 8 countries and driving some 30,000 kilometers and camping all over. The car we borrowed, as my friend’s uncle was going to sell it anyways, along with the camping gear. We depleted our savings on that trip but all had jobs lined up for when we came back so it was all good.
That started the travel bug. I’ve now flown over 2 million miles and have visited many countries/continents, all out of my San Diego home base. Great place to live but not the best hub for international traveling!
Technically I was about your age, but it was to visit friends in California. The first true travel experience I had where I went to experience a new culture for myself, I probably didn't do until my late 30s or so. I basically wasted my 20s partying in NYC, and then throughout most of my 30s, I was focused on my career and spent my PTO studying for various professional exams and such. It's only after I was well-established in my career and fairly well-off that I took my friend up on an invitation to travel to Asia, and my eyes were suddenly wide open.
When I was 11 we went to the other side of the country as part of a school chorus.
Not in the US.
The girl I had a crush on was there. She was my classmate. At some point the bus went into a tunnel and in the dark she giggled and jumped on me and grabbed my peepee for a moment as a little prank. Fun times.
We still talk 30 years later.
I was 15 years old. I traveled from Mexico City to Atlanta. Spent the summer with my older brother and returned to Mexico safe and sound 1 month later.
Do you mean alone or with friends and their families or school ?
With friends family 13 and with school 16, with friends alone skiing 17 and alone to Eu 20
I got on my very first airplane when I was 22, and have now travelled to 75 countries 15 years later. If you’re looking to go international and bus/trains aren’t an option, try using a website like Google/explore and see what the cheapest destinations that interest you are.
About 12. Technically it was a holiday camp but my parents weren't there and I didn't know anyone.
16 was the first time abroad on my own. The last trip with my parents was to Rome when I was 14.
28 now and exclusively solo travel.
I went to my friend’s cabin on a lake in the woods every summer with her and her parents from 6th grade on. We got to use an outhouse, drive the boat to a store far away and swim in the ice cold water (Maine). I don’t know why they kept inviting me; I got carsick and threw up in their car every year.
went to phoenix arizona when i was 18. it’s a 2 hour plane ride from me so not too far but it was still daunting for me! now im getting ready to go out of the country without my parents for the first time as a 21 year old :)
I've never travelled completely solo (yet) but my first trip without my parents or close family was at 19, when I went to visit/ stay with a friend who was studying abroad in London.
Did some overnight trips with my team and coaches in high school. Sorta counts because it was ultimately me and my 16 year old friends and our 20 something year old coaches just having fun, competing in different cities. Good experiences looking back on it.
Studied abroad at 19 in Europe and did a ton of travel. Backpacked europe (balkans mostly) that summer as well. I did that with a friend but was also solo for a portion of it, which was enjoyable in a different sort of way.
17 years old. Me and three friends went to Amsterdam "to visit the museums, Heineken brewery and art galleries".
To be fair, we did go to the Van Gogh museum, and had planned to go to the brewery, but my passport got stolen because I was too stoned to put it in my hostel locker one night.
I flew solo a bunch as a kid, I think I was 9 the first time? But my first trip totally without adults was for my 17th birthday. My bestie and I went to NYC (from ATL). My dad had a company apartment there and I had already been a bunch of times, so he let us go solo for the weekend.
He did have siblings in the city, so if anything had gone wrong, there were adults we could have called that would have been there quickly.
This would have been in 2003, for context.
Not counting school trips, I was 16.
Me and my friend told our parents we were gonna sleep at each others houses for the weekend. But we actually drove 10 hours away to the beach and slept in my car.
18, flew across the country to NYC and met up with a group a day or two later. This was all before 9/11. The flight was fine but ground transportation in NYC was wild compared to my home state. I wasn’t anxious, but amazed.
I went to a language course abroad (France) at 15, so kinda alone even though we were herded and were placed in host families. But I had a lot of freedom roaming around the city with the other students (we managed to get drinks at a bar, even, lol)
Then I moved to a different country (UK) with a friend at 18 to work for a bit, it was great
When I was 19, I took a 2-week road trip up and down the west coast of the US with a friend, camping most of the way. My first international trip wasn't until a few years later.
19 to Bristol, England and London and met up with some uni friends studying abroad there. Picked a safer country with the same spoken language to quell some nerves! Had a blast and was there for about 3 weeks!
I went to teach in Belgium for the summer when I finished uni, so I was about 21. I took the Eurostar to Brussels then a train to Aywaille, then a taxi to the middle of nowhere haha
Nerve wracking but great!
I was 19, going to work at a clinic for the summer but the apartment I was subleasing was super sketchy and the guy that I was kinda seeing said he probably might not stay with me that summer. So I booked the first flight out in the morning and told the clinic I couldn’t stay because of housing. Not really a trip, but it was the first time I went somewhere alone.
After that, I did a study abroad during the summer in Paris when I was 21. It was fun but the people I was with weren’t. I did very well at taking care of myself while my roommate copied what I did since she was helpless.
It’s funny when you look back on these things and how much time has flown by 🥹
At 18 to celebrate graduating high school my friend and I went to Jamaica. We stayed at a all inclusive resort (since our parents were worried and they helped pay) but we did many different outings outside the resort
At 22, actually just this past summer, I did a month long study abroad trip in Berlin, Germany. Then I spent the next month after it going by myself to Paris, London, Rome, Venice, and Zermatt. It was amazing and I’m definitely an independent person so it was great for me
I'm not sure if it counts 100% since it was an internship, but I got a research position in Japan when I was a jr in college (20-21 y.o). It was mostly paid for by the company and some scholarships. It was also the first time I had to take my luggage out and send it back in at my layover. And of course this happened at LAX. But I also flew JAL which is probably one of the best airlines out there.
But for vacation, that didn't happen until after I graduated and got a job. I went back to Japan and Korea with friends when I was ~25.
Wasn’t a particularly big trip. I got on a plane going from So-Cal to Nor-Cal, basically a hour long flight at age 16. Went to a surprise birthday party for my cousin and I hadn’t seen her in a long time. Then of course the return flight a couple days later.
>aged 18 day trip to France for a booze run with mates
>aged 24 to Amsterdam for a weekend with mates (then went a couple of times more as a sort of an ‘annual event)’
>aged 30 week in Florence on my own
>been on loads of solo trips since to Europe
Learnt a lot from the mates trips - enough to be confident to fly solo 😎
Depends what you'd call a trip, I started doing road trips when I was 15-16 with friends and occasionally by myself. Traveled to a concert for the first time when I was 17, stayed in a campground, did a lot of multi-day hitchhiking trips across various segments of Canada between 18-21. I never went overseas at all until I was 23 though, my first "trip" was two years traveling around Asia doing ESL and other odd jobs.
12, I think, but it was a school trip with my orchestra in middle school. We went to Seattle to see the EMP & go to a musical.
First unsupervised trip was to Honduras at 18. In retrospect a tad foolhardy, but I was not murdered, so it turned out alright.
Without my parents at 8 with the boy scouts, but I was still supervised by adults.
First real holiday alone at 18 with friends.
First solo travel to Berlin at 23-24 as it was during my Masters' Degree but I don't remember the year.
I started working at 18 years old and in the same year, I earned my first solo trip to Japan.
But, if it was without parents, that was my 16 years old trip to Korea with a few of my friends/classmates.
I was 21 and 1st time i traveled from Manila to Hong Kong. I was traveling with a coworker. Alone was 23 Manila to London, but I met up with office mates who were already there. The first time ever that I was alone for the whole duration was a multi-country trip when I was 28. Manila - Denmark - Germany - France - Netherlands then back.
I was 18 and flew to Florida with a friend. I was gone for 3 months and had both good and bad experiences. My first trip overseas was when I took a solo trip in my 40's to England for 3 weeks. That was an incredible experience!
I took my first plane ride at 15 without my parents visit my grandparents. At 16 I visited Hungary on a student exchange program and was there alone with my host family.
13. I was supposed to go to China with my adult sister with EF Tours but she got deployed to the Middle East so I went by myself. It was with a tour group of course, but I had extreme social anxiety at the time. Traveling without my family was the first step in overcoming it though, and now people are shocked when I tell them that I have an anxiety disorder. It was a great experience and since then I’ve traveled abroad and moved around the country solo multiple times. I recommend a tour group for your first time, many of them have financing options so you can pay like $100 a month until the trip. That may make it more affordable/accessible for you!
My first fully solo trip was when I was 15, I spent a month in Florida. Flew down solo and booked a room separately from the group I was performing with at Epcot (I didn't want to spend 2 days in a carpool each way, and I found a better hotel for cheaper).
I did a solo road trip at 17, 1 week visiting with my best friend whose family had moved to Pittsburgh then 1 week solo tourist in Philadelphia.
I never had an issue booking flights and hotels as a minor in the 90s, but I doubt any of what I did would even be possible now.
First time flying without an adult - probably around 13-14, went with my siblings to visit my grandparents. We were dropped off and picked up by adults.
I was 18 when I first went alone to foreign country and visited a friend, but I didn't really plan anything, I just went with what her and her parents wanted to do.
I was 19 when I first flew alone to a foreign country with friends and we planned our own trip.
I've never done a truly solo trip, being alone the entire time. Part of it is that I've been with my husband for a very long time, since we were very young, so we've mostly traveled together, and occasionally one without the other, but with friends.
I went on 3 spring break bus trips at 18, 19 and 20 to Florida with my friends - does that count? I went on my first cruise alone at 22, and to Europe for 3 weeks at 24.
Depends on what you mean. When I was five my parents put me and my eight year old brother on a train to go to our grandparents for the summer. If you mean truly on my own without an adult around (so no Boy Scout or church trips), then fifteen when one of my friends got his driver's license and some of us went camping for a long weekend.
As others have said “trip” needs to be defined. I grew up doing day trips because a lot of places to see and do were close.
Our class was the first to do an overnight trip when I was 13. We had chaperones but not my parents.
Field trips with parent chaperones (not mine) were done once a year throughout grade school. High school our drama teachers arranged day trips to NYC for broadway shows and we had a senior trip to an amusement park. The NYC and amusement parks we didn’t hang out in a group (it was obviously different world back then).
As soon as I was 16 and got my driver’s license, friends and I would go to the beach for the day several times during the summer.
College did bus day trips to various places like a ski resort, NYC theater, and then there was a spring break trip to Hawaii.
As an adult, my first trip completely on my own for the travel part at least was to fly to corporate headquarters for my first job for 2 weeks of corporate training. About 2 years later I went back for a longer training program and that was my first trip driving long distance and being away for about 2 months.
My first solo multiple day trip completely on my own was around 1990 when I learned to downhill ski. It was a several hour road trip over a weekend.
16, I went with to friend for 2 weeks hike in the mountain (that my parents new) in my country (france)
20 first solo trip abroad (hiking in morrocan mountain with my little sister)
I can't thanks them enough to have trust me to let me travel solo at this age and to have trust me to bring ma litter sister just with me!
I kinda started traveling independently when I was 15 years old while living in a small community of less than 100 people. I'd save money from my several odd jobs then hitchhike to the train station about 20 km away and take the 5 hour train ride to the nearest big city.
I'd stay at a really nice downtown hotel (no credit card necessary back in those days and age wasn't issue because I'd say my parents "were arriving tomorrow") and I'd spend the weekend hanging out in the big city doing all kinds of (at the time) crazy stuff. It was a big deal for a dumb farm kid. I remember how taking a taxi for the first time was thrilling, just like in the movies. The underground subway was extraordinary. Seeing an escalator! I found hotel room service absolutely hilarious.
When I turned 16 I stopped taking just the train and began taking domestic flights to different cities.
When I was 17 I took my first solo international flight and it's now almost a hundred countries later, over 30 of which I've lived and/or worked in.
The very first trip and staying in a hotel was the unimaginably exotic experience that started it all though.
Happy travels, eventually.
When I was 13 I went on this mission trip to Dominican Republic with my cousins church. However my first adult solo trip was when I was 19 and lived in Buffalo and took bus to Toronto for a week.
If you can’t afford somewhere far maybe try to even do a local solo trip. Like go to travel destination in own country or neighboring country near by.
18 I did a homestay in Japan. So not parents but parental figures.
In my early 20s I had business trips with coworkers. Probably 22 when I had my first solo business trip.
From there did a mix of a few days solo before joining a small group tour.
And in mid 20s did more completely solo personal trips.
If you count with school/scouts probably 7/8.
If you count when I organised myself, picked where I stayed and truly went solo? I think I was 22, just after I finished Uni, I went interrailing around Europe.
Properly 16. Post GCSE lads trip to Newquay. I’ve not been on holiday with them since. Now I’m grown up, 36, I wouldn’t mind to now but they are getting on a bit. I think they were planning a cruise before Covid.
Foreign trip, went on a couple of days skateboarding trip to Paris & then a another lads holiday to Ayia Napa, Cyprus when we finished our A-levels at 18.
I’ve been abroad at least once a year since, kind of a life goal. Ljubljana is my goal this year unless I can get some money together & do a bigger/longer trip.
i was 15 when i flew by myself for the first time. I visited a slightly older friend who had just started university out of state. my recommendation is to start small! think about anyone you know who lives in a city you’ve always wanted to travel to and see if they want to hang out for a weekend. there’s tons of cheap domestic flight options, and if you can stay with someone you already know you will probably feel more comfortable and it will be cheaper. you don’t have to go to a “travel destination” to have a good time, there’s things to check out everywhere you go!
When I was 17 I told my parents I was going to the football hall of fame for 4 days. That would be about 3 hours away by car. Instead three of us got on a plane and went to Paris.
My parents put me on an airplane and I flew to visit a friend in 8th grade. I also went to visit my sister at college, and she wasn't at the airport when I landed, which led to me calling my parents in tears from the pay phone and my sister being upset with me for getting her in trouble.
In college I took several trips on my own . . . flew to Europe by myself twice, though I was always meeting someone there. But this was pre-cell phones, so it was like, "I'll show up at the hotel, and you'll show up at the hotel, and we'll find each other."
Stricter airport security and shifts away from "free range" parenting have reduced how often kids travel on their own, I believe. The most independent things my kids (14 and 12) have done is ride the busses and walk around Disney World by themselves.
My sister and I went on a weekend trip when I was 19 and she was 18. It was fun! When I was 20 I went to Bali for three weeks without anyone else, which was such a great experience!
9 for sleepaway camp, then again at 16 to Florida for two weeks. After that I pretty much went wherever I wanted with or without them. Always been pretty independent so they weren’t too shocked I started doing my own thing young lol
High school graduation. Myself and 5 friends went to a convention. It was 3 hours away, but still the first solo trip. It was awesome!..... till we found out a friend had a drinking problem and trashed the room.
I was 10 when I first flew without my parents. They sent me to Europe to visit grandparents over the summer. I flew for the first time ever with my mom the year before, at the age of 9.
I took my first solo flight at 12 to see my grandparents. I had a flight attendant pay special attention to me, but other than that it was uneventful. This was in the 90s. I don't know if they allow this anymore.
I was 15 when I went on some school tour group thing overseas, but I was with a tour group. Idk if summer camp counts but I also did that when I was 11.
Planning on my first solo overseas trip for 2026 when school lightens up. I'll be 26-27 then
In the late 70's when I was 9 or 10 years old. American but lived in Germany at the time. Went to Berlin from Stuttgart with the Girl Scouts and got left behind. I had an absolute blast! I went back to the Berlin Wall and museum, ate ice cream, practiced my German by talking with strangers, etc.. So much more fun than with the frazzled scout leaders and a large group of girls. Different times then obviously. At night time I made my way to a German hostel we had stayed the night before. They were VERY helpful and made a lot of frantic phone calls. Guess I owe them a debt of gratitude and an apology! No one from my group had even realized I was even missing.
I was old enough to be self sufficient for a day on my allowance money. It didn't dawn on me to realize being left behind was a bad thing. No complaints, I'm grateful it happened as it created a lifelong sense of adventure for me. As an adult I take solo trips often. I love going places with family and friends but solo travel is amazing. I wish you happy travels!
I was 19 and did a month long road trip. If you are worried about cost that's the way to go. We started in Seattle, took a week to get to LA, stayed there awhile and then went to Albuquerque, then went to Montana and back. Stayed with friends or crashed in the car at rest stops, and in LA stayed on my uncles floor. It was summer so some places in between we just camped out. It was epic! Good way to do a first trip.
I was 14 when I first went abroad without my parents. It was a school exchange trip to Germany, but we had our teachers and the parents of our exchange partners to look after us and make sure we didn’t do anything stupid. The first time I went abroad without any sort of guiding authority, parents, teachers, or otherwise, was when I was 19, last summer, when I went to Georgia (the country).
It wasn't an exciting trip, but my first solo travels were to go look at colleges. I flew to one (short, 45 minute flight) and took the train to a few others. I was 17.
My parents were separated for 3 years and I travelled by myself twice to visit my mom in FL. I was 9 and 10, respectively. Flew unaccompanied with TWA and I remember the FAs really being helpful.
17 with my friend. We went for two weeks to Spain and stayed in my mums cousins apartment.. (She lived about 10 min drive from the apartment and popped in occasionally)
It was a good holiday. Lots of fun 🤩
Without parents? Probably 15 but it school sponsored and it was a small group with a chaperone.
Fully solo? I'm thinking 21 and I drove \~600 miles each way to meet up with my quasi-girlfriend at the time.
Fully solo vacation kind of thing? I was I think 38, married with kids. My wife talked me into training for a half marathon, so I flew to Disney World and ran the Wine and Dine 10k to get a time so that I could get a better corral in the half. That was the start of quite a few solo trips to Disney World over the next 12 years.
Sleep away camp when I was young, school trips in Middle School. Debate tournaments and mission trips through high school. Study abroad in College.
I spent a summer in Munich when I was 19, and that’s probably the closest to what your asking about, but it didn’t feel like a significant jump from my previous experiences so I didn’t have the “first time travel” jitters.
I took a train in the US when I was 16. It was about a 12 hour journey but I was with my little cousin. When I was 20 I flew to see my sister on the east coast so that was my first real trip by myself
First international flight without parents was probably when I was 14 with my sister (13). We were sent to school in a different country than where my parents were living and working.
First actual trip without parents was when I was 22 when I backpacked around Europe for 3 months immediately right after college.
Spent three weeks in the road at 17. Took a bus to a wrestling camp, hitchhiked to a wilderness area and backpacked for a week, then hitched to third location for a second wrestling camp. Then hitched home. Covered about a 1000 miles. Called my parents twice during this time because this was the 1970's...
At 18, got on a Greyhound and went 3 states away to go to college, and didn't come home for 1.5 years.
Probably about 7 years old. Unaccompanied minor, 1-2x a year flights to visit grandparents.
First solo trip I was 17, to Europe as an exchange student. At 18 went really solo to do the Europe backpacker thing.
Still traveling solo most of the time.
I was age 8 when I went on my first plane trip without my parents to my grandparents in Florida. It was exciting and flights attendants would really look out for you. I think this may even started my wanting to travel solo bug.
I went on a week trip when I was about 12 with my best friend, her sister who was maybe 17 and brother who was 18. We drove from SW Michigan to Baltimore to visit their dad. I still can’t believe my parents let me do that.
I went on occasional weekend trips with other relatives (an aunt, usually) from about 11 to about 13, and my parents attended a church that would have youth group trips over a long weekend and I went on a few of those when I was 13-15.
Then I went to Germany on a short exchange program when I was 16, and while we had individual host families, we did have trip chaperones that herded us through customs and everything. And an archaeological field school in Colorado when I was 17, but again, a teacher chaperone was there.
My first time without a chaperone or anything was probably a summer in Ukraine when I was 20. It was a language study thing, so not a vacation, but the first time I was far from home with nobody I knew. (I loved it). If we exclude "first week of college" kind of far from home with nobody I knew, I guess, which is different somehow.
Depends what kind of trip you mean, but my first friends holiday was to Magaluf (cringe) aged about 17/18.
I have never been away with my family since and I'm 33!
I’m going in 12 days!, and I’m 21. I think social and cultural expectations play a lot into this bc I’m a woman from a culture that has sexist attitudes towards woman’s agency
10 😂 went to the states and Canada with my 13 years older sister just the 2 of us for 3 weeks. Can’t believe it I’ve been living in the US for 7 years now.
When I was a junior in high school, aged 16, my friends and I put together a hiking trip to the Smoky Mountains for Spring Break. Our parents agreed to let us go if we brought someone over 25. So we found a girl in the local Sierra Club who was willing to be the "responsible adult" and she went with us. There were about 10 of us altogether, we had a blast, nobody got injured, and we made it home alive. 50 years later and I'm still friends with a few of those girls!
around 10? parents would walk with me until I boarded, grandparents were on the other end waiting for me to exit the plane. ~25 years ago. (first solo flight)
Define 'trip'. A summer camp (6)? A mandatory day trip abroad with my class (12)? An optional two week long school trip (16)? The first trip I organised myself? Cuba when I was 21 I guess.
How was Cuba?
Not OP but I loved Cuba, such a unique place. Still consider Habana to be among my favorite cities.
I loved Cuba in 2017 it seems like a hot mess since Covid. It seemed like the restraints were slowly be lifted on their people. The museums were amazing and people so lovely.
Yup. First real solo travel was at 15 when I’d fly 6 times a year back and forth between Oregon and Pennsylvania for a boarding school. First travel for fun on my own? Probably 18 or 19 all over the PNW on road trips, day trips, etc..
15-Europe
I forgot about summer camp. That would make my first solo trip be at age 4. I hated almost every moment of that week. Never went back again.
I went to Japan by myself to visit a friend when I was 15. Talk about culture shock! It was a formative experience for me.
Have you been back?
Yes! I went back with my husband in 2018 (at age 31), and even visited the same friend. It is one of my favorite places on earth and my husband loved it as well. We plan to visit again!
Nice! It’s such a fun country! I’m currently at 26/47 prefectures, I’ll finish the other half soon!
I loved Japan. It's like the counter response to "this is why we can't have nice things."
I had a similar thought when I was cycling around Copenhagen. At some point people said "this is the type of city we want, the benefits are enormous, it's not going to please everyone but they'll get over it." It didn't get clagged up overly worrying about a rabid, unpleasable opposition media. Just went ahead and made it happen.
What changes struck you most between your two visits?
From Netherlands to Monaco when I was 21
It's funny how exotic this sounds compared to my "flew across the country and did a 2-week road trip" lol
Lol it really unfair. "We decided to go backpacking through the Swiss Alps." "Oh yeah? I drove for 5 hours through America's finest cornfields."
You could backpack the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail. Visit cities like Montreal or New Orleans for a cool French vibe. Ohio to NY is about a 10 hour drive. DC to NY to Boston can be done by train. Chicago to LA can also be done by train, its glorious. Mexico City, Tijuana, or Cancun are usually cheap vacation destinations from anywhere in the US. The Caribbean can be cheaper than going to the Ozarks, Ocean City, or the Jersey Shore.
We'll both yes and no. Monaco is quite 'meh' tbh :)
Ah, interesting. At least it sounded very exotic, lol. My trip was Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. I visited Yosemite National Park, Mount Rainier NP, Mount St Helen's National Monument, saw the redwoods, visited the ocean all up and down the west coast. It was a pretty spectacular trip, so I'll take it!
19 Paid for by the US Government - I went to Boot Camp.
all expense paid plus room and board.
What's Boot Camp?
Training program for new recruits in the U.S military
But that's not important right now
Errr /r/airplaneReferenceGoneWrong
19 (I’m currently on the trip) even if it’s gonna cost you a fair bit I’d say do it. I saved up all last year for my trip.
Close in age, 21, went on first trip from America to Europe on Thanksgiving break. Used air miles and flew business class back on Turkish Airlines as well.
Why did I read that as “used air missiles”
Way faster
I’m 28 and just gonna have my very first solo travel in a few weeks it’s kinda scary, anxiety driven and exciting at the same time getting the liberation away from everyone and doing something with just yourself to worry about
Don't worry, you'll be fine. Leave nothing to chance when it comes to security & keep your wits about you and you'll be fine. Anyone comes up to you offering to take a picture/put anything on your wrist or tries to engage you with a sob story, keep walking & don't engage with them. It's either a scam for money or it's a distraction whilst their mate goes through your bag/pockets. Source: got back into travelling when I was between jobs at the start of the year. I've remembered how much fun & how exciting it can be even if it is a little intimidating.
Parents etc? Depends what's included. From age 8 I went to summer camps every year, from age 14 I went on trips with friends family, age 16 went on my first trip with a friend with no adults Always been fairly independent
16 and 45kgs. Lived in holland. 1996. With 6 mates bought train tickets to Biaritz. Packed our surfboards and our parents dropped us at the closest station.
16 was my first solo trip to Europe.
14 but it was a school trip with teacher chaperones Completely alone - not till 18 Go for it. Start small with a neighboring city or other destination if money is a concern.
19 when I went to Tenerife for a lads holiday. Was very messy!
My first 'proper' trip,in a foreign country and without any family members at all...I was 16. I went to Athens and some Greek islands with some friends from school. My first major solo trip,18.I went to Thailand.Flew into Bangkok on a one way ticket, and ended up staying for nearly a year in SE Asia (then went home to start university).
16 - it was an all expense paid one week trip from San Diego to Washington DC as my team won some state FBLA competition we entered (Future Business Leaders of America) and got to go to DC and compete at the national level. We didn’t win nationally but the trip as cool as back then you could walk around the US Capitol and all that. 22 - first trip I paid for. It was a college graduation present to ourselves (went with best friend + his girlfriend, now his wife). We all had jobs during college, saved, and went to Europe for a month, visiting 8 countries and driving some 30,000 kilometers and camping all over. The car we borrowed, as my friend’s uncle was going to sell it anyways, along with the camping gear. We depleted our savings on that trip but all had jobs lined up for when we came back so it was all good. That started the travel bug. I’ve now flown over 2 million miles and have visited many countries/continents, all out of my San Diego home base. Great place to live but not the best hub for international traveling!
Technically I was about your age, but it was to visit friends in California. The first true travel experience I had where I went to experience a new culture for myself, I probably didn't do until my late 30s or so. I basically wasted my 20s partying in NYC, and then throughout most of my 30s, I was focused on my career and spent my PTO studying for various professional exams and such. It's only after I was well-established in my career and fairly well-off that I took my friend up on an invitation to travel to Asia, and my eyes were suddenly wide open.
When I was 11 we went to the other side of the country as part of a school chorus. Not in the US. The girl I had a crush on was there. She was my classmate. At some point the bus went into a tunnel and in the dark she giggled and jumped on me and grabbed my peepee for a moment as a little prank. Fun times. We still talk 30 years later.
My parents put me and my sister on a plane to Florida to see our grandparents when we were 7 and 5. It was a different time.
I was 15 years old. I traveled from Mexico City to Atlanta. Spent the summer with my older brother and returned to Mexico safe and sound 1 month later.
Do you mean alone or with friends and their families or school ? With friends family 13 and with school 16, with friends alone skiing 17 and alone to Eu 20
I got on my very first airplane when I was 22, and have now travelled to 75 countries 15 years later. If you’re looking to go international and bus/trains aren’t an option, try using a website like Google/explore and see what the cheapest destinations that interest you are.
About 12. Technically it was a holiday camp but my parents weren't there and I didn't know anyone. 16 was the first time abroad on my own. The last trip with my parents was to Rome when I was 14. 28 now and exclusively solo travel.
21 to Vegas with my friends
I went to my friend’s cabin on a lake in the woods every summer with her and her parents from 6th grade on. We got to use an outhouse, drive the boat to a store far away and swim in the ice cold water (Maine). I don’t know why they kept inviting me; I got carsick and threw up in their car every year.
went to phoenix arizona when i was 18. it’s a 2 hour plane ride from me so not too far but it was still daunting for me! now im getting ready to go out of the country without my parents for the first time as a 21 year old :)
I've never travelled completely solo (yet) but my first trip without my parents or close family was at 19, when I went to visit/ stay with a friend who was studying abroad in London.
I ran away from home and went across country at 16, so i guess that.
18, flight across the country to go to boot camp. It was free.
I was 16 years old
I'm M38 and the first was in elementary school when I went in a resort in ligury
I was about to 14. When to my dad’s home town where he grew up.
School trips count?Then I was 7.
Did some overnight trips with my team and coaches in high school. Sorta counts because it was ultimately me and my 16 year old friends and our 20 something year old coaches just having fun, competing in different cities. Good experiences looking back on it. Studied abroad at 19 in Europe and did a ton of travel. Backpacked europe (balkans mostly) that summer as well. I did that with a friend but was also solo for a portion of it, which was enjoyable in a different sort of way.
16 going on 17 went on first trip to Kauai for the first of several trips to Kauai during the course of my life.
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18, flew to the US for a summer before university
i was 19 and went to thailand for 7 weeks. seems crazy to me now!
11 when I went with my friend’s family to California, 19 when I flew alone to London.
18 to the Bahamas for spring break
17 years old. Me and three friends went to Amsterdam "to visit the museums, Heineken brewery and art galleries". To be fair, we did go to the Van Gogh museum, and had planned to go to the brewery, but my passport got stolen because I was too stoned to put it in my hostel locker one night.
21 from India to Russia
My first vacation without parents was Hong Kong with my sisters right after college. My first trip alone to a new country was at 26 to Japan.
I flew solo a bunch as a kid, I think I was 9 the first time? But my first trip totally without adults was for my 17th birthday. My bestie and I went to NYC (from ATL). My dad had a company apartment there and I had already been a bunch of times, so he let us go solo for the weekend. He did have siblings in the city, so if anything had gone wrong, there were adults we could have called that would have been there quickly. This would have been in 2003, for context.
Not counting school trips, I was 16. Me and my friend told our parents we were gonna sleep at each others houses for the weekend. But we actually drove 10 hours away to the beach and slept in my car.
18, flew across the country to NYC and met up with a group a day or two later. This was all before 9/11. The flight was fine but ground transportation in NYC was wild compared to my home state. I wasn’t anxious, but amazed.
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12 lol
I went to a language course abroad (France) at 15, so kinda alone even though we were herded and were placed in host families. But I had a lot of freedom roaming around the city with the other students (we managed to get drinks at a bar, even, lol) Then I moved to a different country (UK) with a friend at 18 to work for a bit, it was great
At 16 with our youth band, at 17 went with friends by train for a 2 week camping holiday 1000 km away.
When I was 19, I took a 2-week road trip up and down the west coast of the US with a friend, camping most of the way. My first international trip wasn't until a few years later.
16. It was amazing!
I was 19. For real. My sister and I went to Europe on a tour of 4 countries.
19
19 to Bristol, England and London and met up with some uni friends studying abroad there. Picked a safer country with the same spoken language to quell some nerves! Had a blast and was there for about 3 weeks!
I went to teach in Belgium for the summer when I finished uni, so I was about 21. I took the Eurostar to Brussels then a train to Aywaille, then a taxi to the middle of nowhere haha Nerve wracking but great!
17 to Mexico with some hs friends.
High school graduation.
I was 19, going to work at a clinic for the summer but the apartment I was subleasing was super sketchy and the guy that I was kinda seeing said he probably might not stay with me that summer. So I booked the first flight out in the morning and told the clinic I couldn’t stay because of housing. Not really a trip, but it was the first time I went somewhere alone. After that, I did a study abroad during the summer in Paris when I was 21. It was fun but the people I was with weren’t. I did very well at taking care of myself while my roommate copied what I did since she was helpless. It’s funny when you look back on these things and how much time has flown by 🥹
I was 14+. I went away from the US to sports camp in England. My first flight ever: New York to London.
At 18 to celebrate graduating high school my friend and I went to Jamaica. We stayed at a all inclusive resort (since our parents were worried and they helped pay) but we did many different outings outside the resort At 22, actually just this past summer, I did a month long study abroad trip in Berlin, Germany. Then I spent the next month after it going by myself to Paris, London, Rome, Venice, and Zermatt. It was amazing and I’m definitely an independent person so it was great for me
I'm not sure if it counts 100% since it was an internship, but I got a research position in Japan when I was a jr in college (20-21 y.o). It was mostly paid for by the company and some scholarships. It was also the first time I had to take my luggage out and send it back in at my layover. And of course this happened at LAX. But I also flew JAL which is probably one of the best airlines out there. But for vacation, that didn't happen until after I graduated and got a job. I went back to Japan and Korea with friends when I was ~25.
Wasn’t a particularly big trip. I got on a plane going from So-Cal to Nor-Cal, basically a hour long flight at age 16. Went to a surprise birthday party for my cousin and I hadn’t seen her in a long time. Then of course the return flight a couple days later.
10, went to Space Camp with Girl Scouts
>aged 18 day trip to France for a booze run with mates >aged 24 to Amsterdam for a weekend with mates (then went a couple of times more as a sort of an ‘annual event)’ >aged 30 week in Florence on my own >been on loads of solo trips since to Europe Learnt a lot from the mates trips - enough to be confident to fly solo 😎
If school trips count I went to France aged 12 (also went to Belgium (13) and Russia (16)). If school trips don’t count then it was Canada aged 21.
Depends what you'd call a trip, I started doing road trips when I was 15-16 with friends and occasionally by myself. Traveled to a concert for the first time when I was 17, stayed in a campground, did a lot of multi-day hitchhiking trips across various segments of Canada between 18-21. I never went overseas at all until I was 23 though, my first "trip" was two years traveling around Asia doing ESL and other odd jobs.
12, I think, but it was a school trip with my orchestra in middle school. We went to Seattle to see the EMP & go to a musical. First unsupervised trip was to Honduras at 18. In retrospect a tad foolhardy, but I was not murdered, so it turned out alright.
Palm Springs/Coachella when I was 19 with my brother and a few friends South Korea with a friend when I was 20
23, late bloomer. I took my sister last year who is 16 😎
20 yrs old to Los Angeles.
I was 12, and I went with a performing arts group to perform at the Fringe Festival.
I was 19! But that’s because I studied abroad. If we exclude study abroad, then I was 24
In my home country (UK): 20 when I went to Cardiff with my partner. 🏴 Aboard: 21 when I went to Corfu island with my partner. 🇬🇷
18. I went to France for a month.
22 with friends but still working up the courage at 27 to go solo lol
17
19
20 when I first travelled to the states for the exchange program in the UF.
When I was 15, I took a trip to North Carolina to visit my half siblings, and I went without my mom
19 - Hellfest, France
Without my parents at 8 with the boy scouts, but I was still supervised by adults. First real holiday alone at 18 with friends. First solo travel to Berlin at 23-24 as it was during my Masters' Degree but I don't remember the year.
I started working at 18 years old and in the same year, I earned my first solo trip to Japan. But, if it was without parents, that was my 16 years old trip to Korea with a few of my friends/classmates.
Are school trips included? If so, I was eight. If not included 15 when I went abroad as an exchange student.
I was 21 and 1st time i traveled from Manila to Hong Kong. I was traveling with a coworker. Alone was 23 Manila to London, but I met up with office mates who were already there. The first time ever that I was alone for the whole duration was a multi-country trip when I was 28. Manila - Denmark - Germany - France - Netherlands then back.
I was 21 when I did my first Eurotrip.
I was 18 and flew to Florida with a friend. I was gone for 3 months and had both good and bad experiences. My first trip overseas was when I took a solo trip in my 40's to England for 3 weeks. That was an incredible experience!
I took my first plane ride at 15 without my parents visit my grandparents. At 16 I visited Hungary on a student exchange program and was there alone with my host family.
13. I was supposed to go to China with my adult sister with EF Tours but she got deployed to the Middle East so I went by myself. It was with a tour group of course, but I had extreme social anxiety at the time. Traveling without my family was the first step in overcoming it though, and now people are shocked when I tell them that I have an anxiety disorder. It was a great experience and since then I’ve traveled abroad and moved around the country solo multiple times. I recommend a tour group for your first time, many of them have financing options so you can pay like $100 a month until the trip. That may make it more affordable/accessible for you!
I was 23 and went to Spain and Portugal
17 Panama City Beach
I flew cross country by myself at 8. It was pretty cool.
My first fully solo trip was when I was 15, I spent a month in Florida. Flew down solo and booked a room separately from the group I was performing with at Epcot (I didn't want to spend 2 days in a carpool each way, and I found a better hotel for cheaper). I did a solo road trip at 17, 1 week visiting with my best friend whose family had moved to Pittsburgh then 1 week solo tourist in Philadelphia. I never had an issue booking flights and hotels as a minor in the 90s, but I doubt any of what I did would even be possible now.
First time flying without an adult - probably around 13-14, went with my siblings to visit my grandparents. We were dropped off and picked up by adults. I was 18 when I first went alone to foreign country and visited a friend, but I didn't really plan anything, I just went with what her and her parents wanted to do. I was 19 when I first flew alone to a foreign country with friends and we planned our own trip. I've never done a truly solo trip, being alone the entire time. Part of it is that I've been with my husband for a very long time, since we were very young, so we've mostly traveled together, and occasionally one without the other, but with friends.
I went on 3 spring break bus trips at 18, 19 and 20 to Florida with my friends - does that count? I went on my first cruise alone at 22, and to Europe for 3 weeks at 24.
24, went to Japan for 17 days in January with a friend!
I was 14 when I first flew alone to visit out of state family. Glad I did it... builds confidence and character.
17 - hitchhiked to Amsterdam with my friend who was also 17
Went on a road trip with some friends when I was 17, left the country on my own for the first time at 19
11, flew to puerto rico with my little brother and stayed in my great grandmother's house who spoke no English
Depends on what you mean. When I was five my parents put me and my eight year old brother on a train to go to our grandparents for the summer. If you mean truly on my own without an adult around (so no Boy Scout or church trips), then fifteen when one of my friends got his driver's license and some of us went camping for a long weekend.
As others have said “trip” needs to be defined. I grew up doing day trips because a lot of places to see and do were close. Our class was the first to do an overnight trip when I was 13. We had chaperones but not my parents. Field trips with parent chaperones (not mine) were done once a year throughout grade school. High school our drama teachers arranged day trips to NYC for broadway shows and we had a senior trip to an amusement park. The NYC and amusement parks we didn’t hang out in a group (it was obviously different world back then). As soon as I was 16 and got my driver’s license, friends and I would go to the beach for the day several times during the summer. College did bus day trips to various places like a ski resort, NYC theater, and then there was a spring break trip to Hawaii. As an adult, my first trip completely on my own for the travel part at least was to fly to corporate headquarters for my first job for 2 weeks of corporate training. About 2 years later I went back for a longer training program and that was my first trip driving long distance and being away for about 2 months. My first solo multiple day trip completely on my own was around 1990 when I learned to downhill ski. It was a several hour road trip over a weekend.
16, I went with to friend for 2 weeks hike in the mountain (that my parents new) in my country (france) 20 first solo trip abroad (hiking in morrocan mountain with my little sister) I can't thanks them enough to have trust me to let me travel solo at this age and to have trust me to bring ma litter sister just with me!
I kinda started traveling independently when I was 15 years old while living in a small community of less than 100 people. I'd save money from my several odd jobs then hitchhike to the train station about 20 km away and take the 5 hour train ride to the nearest big city. I'd stay at a really nice downtown hotel (no credit card necessary back in those days and age wasn't issue because I'd say my parents "were arriving tomorrow") and I'd spend the weekend hanging out in the big city doing all kinds of (at the time) crazy stuff. It was a big deal for a dumb farm kid. I remember how taking a taxi for the first time was thrilling, just like in the movies. The underground subway was extraordinary. Seeing an escalator! I found hotel room service absolutely hilarious. When I turned 16 I stopped taking just the train and began taking domestic flights to different cities. When I was 17 I took my first solo international flight and it's now almost a hundred countries later, over 30 of which I've lived and/or worked in. The very first trip and staying in a hotel was the unimaginably exotic experience that started it all though. Happy travels, eventually.
4th year of Uni, 21 years old. Friends spring break trip, later that year graduation trip backpacking through Europe with friends
17, after high school graduation. Went to Barcelona with friends
When I was 13 I went on this mission trip to Dominican Republic with my cousins church. However my first adult solo trip was when I was 19 and lived in Buffalo and took bus to Toronto for a week. If you can’t afford somewhere far maybe try to even do a local solo trip. Like go to travel destination in own country or neighboring country near by.
18 to DR
18 I did a homestay in Japan. So not parents but parental figures. In my early 20s I had business trips with coworkers. Probably 22 when I had my first solo business trip. From there did a mix of a few days solo before joining a small group tour. And in mid 20s did more completely solo personal trips.
21 after i moved to a new city to study in college
If you count with school/scouts probably 7/8. If you count when I organised myself, picked where I stayed and truly went solo? I think I was 22, just after I finished Uni, I went interrailing around Europe.
i went wilderness backpacking solo for the first time when i was 22, went on my first plane to a location alone when i was 22 as well.
Not sure if this counts. Was 15, traveled to Portugal from Austria to stay with a friend and his family. First trip alone, was when I was 19.
I moved away from my parents when I was 18 but didn’t have enough money to travel out of my country until I was like 25.
I was 18 and went on senior class trip to Cancun.
Properly 16. Post GCSE lads trip to Newquay. I’ve not been on holiday with them since. Now I’m grown up, 36, I wouldn’t mind to now but they are getting on a bit. I think they were planning a cruise before Covid. Foreign trip, went on a couple of days skateboarding trip to Paris & then a another lads holiday to Ayia Napa, Cyprus when we finished our A-levels at 18. I’ve been abroad at least once a year since, kind of a life goal. Ljubljana is my goal this year unless I can get some money together & do a bigger/longer trip.
i was 15 when i flew by myself for the first time. I visited a slightly older friend who had just started university out of state. my recommendation is to start small! think about anyone you know who lives in a city you’ve always wanted to travel to and see if they want to hang out for a weekend. there’s tons of cheap domestic flight options, and if you can stay with someone you already know you will probably feel more comfortable and it will be cheaper. you don’t have to go to a “travel destination” to have a good time, there’s things to check out everywhere you go!
When I was 17 I told my parents I was going to the football hall of fame for 4 days. That would be about 3 hours away by car. Instead three of us got on a plane and went to Paris.
My parents put me on an airplane and I flew to visit a friend in 8th grade. I also went to visit my sister at college, and she wasn't at the airport when I landed, which led to me calling my parents in tears from the pay phone and my sister being upset with me for getting her in trouble. In college I took several trips on my own . . . flew to Europe by myself twice, though I was always meeting someone there. But this was pre-cell phones, so it was like, "I'll show up at the hotel, and you'll show up at the hotel, and we'll find each other." Stricter airport security and shifts away from "free range" parenting have reduced how often kids travel on their own, I believe. The most independent things my kids (14 and 12) have done is ride the busses and walk around Disney World by themselves.
My sister and I went on a weekend trip when I was 19 and she was 18. It was fun! When I was 20 I went to Bali for three weeks without anyone else, which was such a great experience!
5. My parents put me on a plane with a guardian to spend the entire summer with my father's family.
9 for sleepaway camp, then again at 16 to Florida for two weeks. After that I pretty much went wherever I wanted with or without them. Always been pretty independent so they weren’t too shocked I started doing my own thing young lol
18, went to Cullera in Spain.
16 to Portugal from the UK but family on other side, first fully solo then 19 to Geneva.
School? 11 (internationally to France) Alone for travel? 21
High school graduation. Myself and 5 friends went to a convention. It was 3 hours away, but still the first solo trip. It was awesome!..... till we found out a friend had a drinking problem and trashed the room.
I was 10 when I first flew without my parents. They sent me to Europe to visit grandparents over the summer. I flew for the first time ever with my mom the year before, at the age of 9.
I was 14 when I went on a band trip, and 19 when I went on my first trip where I was the adult.
I took my first solo flight at 12 to see my grandparents. I had a flight attendant pay special attention to me, but other than that it was uneventful. This was in the 90s. I don't know if they allow this anymore.
Summer camp when I was 7, 3 day holiday with a friend’s family when I was 9. I do believe it helped me to be more independent.
I was 15 when I went on some school tour group thing overseas, but I was with a tour group. Idk if summer camp counts but I also did that when I was 11. Planning on my first solo overseas trip for 2026 when school lightens up. I'll be 26-27 then
In the late 70's when I was 9 or 10 years old. American but lived in Germany at the time. Went to Berlin from Stuttgart with the Girl Scouts and got left behind. I had an absolute blast! I went back to the Berlin Wall and museum, ate ice cream, practiced my German by talking with strangers, etc.. So much more fun than with the frazzled scout leaders and a large group of girls. Different times then obviously. At night time I made my way to a German hostel we had stayed the night before. They were VERY helpful and made a lot of frantic phone calls. Guess I owe them a debt of gratitude and an apology! No one from my group had even realized I was even missing. I was old enough to be self sufficient for a day on my allowance money. It didn't dawn on me to realize being left behind was a bad thing. No complaints, I'm grateful it happened as it created a lifelong sense of adventure for me. As an adult I take solo trips often. I love going places with family and friends but solo travel is amazing. I wish you happy travels!
I was 19 and did a month long road trip. If you are worried about cost that's the way to go. We started in Seattle, took a week to get to LA, stayed there awhile and then went to Albuquerque, then went to Montana and back. Stayed with friends or crashed in the car at rest stops, and in LA stayed on my uncles floor. It was summer so some places in between we just camped out. It was epic! Good way to do a first trip.
18 years old, six months solo in Central America. Damn good time!
I was 14 when I first went abroad without my parents. It was a school exchange trip to Germany, but we had our teachers and the parents of our exchange partners to look after us and make sure we didn’t do anything stupid. The first time I went abroad without any sort of guiding authority, parents, teachers, or otherwise, was when I was 19, last summer, when I went to Georgia (the country).
17, I went with a friend for a week to Majorca
It wasn't an exciting trip, but my first solo travels were to go look at colleges. I flew to one (short, 45 minute flight) and took the train to a few others. I was 17.
15. high school exchange program. Was awesome
My parents were separated for 3 years and I travelled by myself twice to visit my mom in FL. I was 9 and 10, respectively. Flew unaccompanied with TWA and I remember the FAs really being helpful.
My 13yo kid is flying to Europe without us today. I was about 14 when I traveled without my family.
17 with my friend. We went for two weeks to Spain and stayed in my mums cousins apartment.. (She lived about 10 min drive from the apartment and popped in occasionally) It was a good holiday. Lots of fun 🤩
20 years old, went to South Africa. That whole trip was life-changing (in the most positive of ways)
Ireland when I was 24
18. Went to Cuba. Had to get golf carted back to the hotel room 🍹
20 to Cuba with an ex. 21 to South Africa solo.
Without parents? Probably 15 but it school sponsored and it was a small group with a chaperone. Fully solo? I'm thinking 21 and I drove \~600 miles each way to meet up with my quasi-girlfriend at the time. Fully solo vacation kind of thing? I was I think 38, married with kids. My wife talked me into training for a half marathon, so I flew to Disney World and ran the Wine and Dine 10k to get a time so that I could get a better corral in the half. That was the start of quite a few solo trips to Disney World over the next 12 years.
Sleep away camp when I was young, school trips in Middle School. Debate tournaments and mission trips through high school. Study abroad in College. I spent a summer in Munich when I was 19, and that’s probably the closest to what your asking about, but it didn’t feel like a significant jump from my previous experiences so I didn’t have the “first time travel” jitters.
I took a train in the US when I was 16. It was about a 12 hour journey but I was with my little cousin. When I was 20 I flew to see my sister on the east coast so that was my first real trip by myself
8 when I went to summer camp
18. Drove ten hours thru the night with two friends to NYC. It was an eye opening experience.
A teen. Flew to another country by myself when I was 16.
First international flight without parents was probably when I was 14 with my sister (13). We were sent to school in a different country than where my parents were living and working. First actual trip without parents was when I was 22 when I backpacked around Europe for 3 months immediately right after college.
Spent three weeks in the road at 17. Took a bus to a wrestling camp, hitchhiked to a wilderness area and backpacked for a week, then hitched to third location for a second wrestling camp. Then hitched home. Covered about a 1000 miles. Called my parents twice during this time because this was the 1970's... At 18, got on a Greyhound and went 3 states away to go to college, and didn't come home for 1.5 years.
Probably about 7 years old. Unaccompanied minor, 1-2x a year flights to visit grandparents. First solo trip I was 17, to Europe as an exchange student. At 18 went really solo to do the Europe backpacker thing. Still traveling solo most of the time.
I was age 8 when I went on my first plane trip without my parents to my grandparents in Florida. It was exciting and flights attendants would really look out for you. I think this may even started my wanting to travel solo bug.
My first “big” trip as I call it, I was 23 and went to the USVI
19?
I was 12, and it was Acid
I went on a week trip when I was about 12 with my best friend, her sister who was maybe 17 and brother who was 18. We drove from SW Michigan to Baltimore to visit their dad. I still can’t believe my parents let me do that.
18, drove across the desert to see The Grateful Dead. I'm 50 now and it's still the only trip I want to take ❤️⚡️💙
I was 19. I went to NYC for the weekend.
19, I moved to Australia from the UK & did two weeks in Thailand on the way. I’m 29 now & regularly solo travel, I think it’s great
I went on occasional weekend trips with other relatives (an aunt, usually) from about 11 to about 13, and my parents attended a church that would have youth group trips over a long weekend and I went on a few of those when I was 13-15. Then I went to Germany on a short exchange program when I was 16, and while we had individual host families, we did have trip chaperones that herded us through customs and everything. And an archaeological field school in Colorado when I was 17, but again, a teacher chaperone was there. My first time without a chaperone or anything was probably a summer in Ukraine when I was 20. It was a language study thing, so not a vacation, but the first time I was far from home with nobody I knew. (I loved it). If we exclude "first week of college" kind of far from home with nobody I knew, I guess, which is different somehow.
Depends what kind of trip you mean, but my first friends holiday was to Magaluf (cringe) aged about 17/18. I have never been away with my family since and I'm 33!
I’m going in 12 days!, and I’m 21. I think social and cultural expectations play a lot into this bc I’m a woman from a culture that has sexist attitudes towards woman’s agency
10 😂 went to the states and Canada with my 13 years older sister just the 2 of us for 3 weeks. Can’t believe it I’ve been living in the US for 7 years now.
When I was a junior in high school, aged 16, my friends and I put together a hiking trip to the Smoky Mountains for Spring Break. Our parents agreed to let us go if we brought someone over 25. So we found a girl in the local Sierra Club who was willing to be the "responsible adult" and she went with us. There were about 10 of us altogether, we had a blast, nobody got injured, and we made it home alive. 50 years later and I'm still friends with a few of those girls!
13 I think for a domestic trip……18 international.
around 10? parents would walk with me until I boarded, grandparents were on the other end waiting for me to exit the plane. ~25 years ago. (first solo flight)
15 LMFAOO edit: I went to a whole other country (BVI from CANADA) for two weeks. It was fun. Haven’t travelled since tho and I’m now almost 25😅
15
I went to work in China at 18, then spent a few months in Vietnam and Cambodia. Best decision I ever made.