I remember strapping into these hard, pain-in-the-ass boots, not knowing what I was doing as I headed to my first ski lesson. Afterward, I was nervous about skiing and exploring the rest of Blue Mountain Resort, but I did. And the year after that, I rejoined the ski club. Once in a while, the other popular kids did join me, but mostly, I adventured around the mountain, praying I would not injure myself.

Since then, I have buckled my ski boots up in Pennsylvania and Colorado as I skied solo. Now, I will be honest: I stay on mostly double greens and blues in CO and sometimes a couple black diamonds in PA.

I am not a super fantastic skier, but it doesn't matter. Because I firmly believe that you should try solo skiing, check out my reasons why!

If you google "how to ski alone," you will see the advice: don't do it. And I will say, “I call bullshit on that.” I will call bullshit on that because if you follow the tips below in a ski resort, I think you will be perfectly fine.

Here are my top ten tips to ski solo….

In my series Important Things I Have Learned from Solo Traveling, I mentioned the concept of dating yourself. I FIRMLY believe we must take ourselves out on a solo date, even if we are dating another person. And I am not talking about just one date; I am speaking about dating yourself just as you would as another person.

Over time, I developed one issue about solo traveling that most travelers don't discuss. It's not the airport delays, language barriers, or spending too much money. 

The issue I have is that we are NOT solo when traveling.

So, since I desperately needed some grounding in the form of a date night for myself, I got into my car and drove about an hour to King Spa in Chantilly, Virginia, on a cold, rainy November Friday.

If you plan a date night with yourself at King Spa, below are my tips to make things go smoothly.

Before I took my first solo trip to Canada in 2011, I did an old-fashioned Google search. Yes. I had social media. But I had no idea I could use it to research trips . . .

Fast forward to 2023.

Half the time, I pick out the next place I want to wander via Instagram. I will still do my research, but it’s nice to see stunning photos of camping spots or little towns in a random country. But just like you, I have fallen victim to seeing these unique places with happy, wander-lusting people enjoying the “good life.”

But social media lacks one thing when it comes to traveling . . .

Rawness.

When I first started to travel, I didn’t know there was a community of travelers. I only traveled once a year if I was really lucky, and I made shit up as I went. All I knew was I wanted to travel and find somewhere I belonged. Fast forward to years later, and I finally found a place I belonged: my yoga and aerial community. I never had that level of support from a group of people before that.

Until I started to travel more…..

When I was writing 7 Lessons I've Learned Since Creating Wandering Bel, I needed to add one more lesson, so I turned to my cousin and asked him. A few days later, I got a text:

"You can't expect yourself from other people."

I loved his suggestion, but it was a bit late to add it. It got me thinking about adding that lesson to this series, though. I mentioned this quote briefly in the “Important Things I Have Learned from Solo Traveling: How to Date Yourself” post, but let’s go over it more in-depth now.

I love the concept of dating yourself because people typically need to spend more time with themselves to know who they are. We are so hyper-focused on other people that we don't give ourselves the time of day.

I have a highly complex relationship with the word trust to the point that it is tattooed on my arm as a daily reminder. If you want to hear the crazy story about this tattoo, check out my post “Why It's a Great Idea to Get a Tattoo with a Random Stranger in Denver, Colorado.”

I am one of those people who used to trust everyone at a younger age . . . until I realized I couldn't. I learned the hard way multiple times, opening up to "friends" about my life to discover they judge, spread rumors, or disclose personal information to others. Every time I opened up, my ass was handed to me, to the point that it was hard for me to trust at all.

I started traveling solo because I had no like-minded friends and was fed up with myself for always waiting for someone to do something with me.

I have previously mentioned that you should NEVER wait for a person to travel with you. Take that trip!

"But Bel, I don't want to go alone!"

But baby, you aren't alone; you have yourself. She wants to go on that trip and learn, see, do, and experience new things. She also wants to know about you, and she wants you to learn about herself too. I learned this lesson in my late 20s or early 30s, and I wish I had known this much sooner.

We resumed hiking again but then stopped. It was getting too sketchy to hike, at least for me. When I sat down again, I saw these teens wearing white Nike sneakers, crop tops, and no water trying to hike through the snow we had been hiking in.

A strange feeling came over me, and a voice came to me saying, "Keep looking both ways." I wasn’t sure what that was about, but I slowed down even more (I was doing 30 before but was now doing about 15-20).

To my right was Yellowstone Lake. The waves were choppy and coming into shore at a pretty good clip. To the left was the woods with trees covered in white from the snow. I listened to the voice and kept looking both ways every 5 seconds. It was like watching a tennis match without a ball going back and forth.

Every hike, I bring a day bag filled with the items below. It doesn't matter if the trail is just 3 miles or a full fifteen.

It's interesting how life happens and how people come into your life. For the last three years, I have wondered about the events in my life, from my heartbreak, to the pandemic, and life in general. Initially, I had a long post about the rise and fall of my ex and me and wondered what his purpose in my life was.

My tips and tricks I have learned from solo traveling. How you can start solo traveling.

We tend to forget we are a person, too. We don't take enough time to learn who we are. I believe it’s because we don't want to face ourselves. This is where solo traveling, or solo fill-in-the-blank, can help. For example, I thought I needed a big group of friends to feel complete, or I needed people to go on a hike or a paddleboard adventure, but I don't. At times I think that if I keep doing things on my own, I will never want someone to come with me.