Should you go alone on your first trip to India? Upgraded to Economy, January 12, 2025January 12, 2025 Earlier this year, I made the decision to go to India when I found tickets for a really great deal and quickly booked them. Even though I invited some of my Indian friends to come with me, nobody ended up accompanying me. With comprehensive preparation and sufficient support from my friends who were originally from India, I ventured to India alone. Since returning from India, many folks have asked me about how my experience solo traveling India was. Whether they were of Indian heritage or not, all of them were surprised to hear I went alone, as they believed India is not an easy destination for Americans to travel solo for their first trip. I don’t personally know anyone other American who has visited India unaccompanied for their first trip, so I wanted to share my experience and thoughts on whether I’d recommend others do the same. Should an American go solo for their first trip to India, especially when the U.S. government recommends its citizens avoid traveling alone to India? The short answer is probably not. However, this is not a blanket no, and this in no way implies anyone should avoid going to India. In fact, many Americans visit India alone every year, whether for business or pleasure, and almost everyone gets back safely. In the rest of this post, I’ll explain why I felt comfortable going alone, why everyone who can and wants to go should go, and how anyone can make their dream of visiting India possible. Why did I go alone? Apart from the fact that I booked my plane tickets before asking anyone else about their interest or availability to go to India together, there were several reasons I ultimately felt comfortable going, even in light of all of the cautionary points shared by Indians and Indian Americans. First, I spent a year learning Hindi in college. This class met for five hours a week, Mondays through Thursdays, throughout both semesters. At the end, I felt like I had the grasp of foundational grammar, so I would be able to understand all common tenses and voices of Hindi (such as past, present, and future for the former). Vocabulary, albeit not my strong suit, was acquirable through practice speaking with others and consuming Hindi-language media such as Bollywood movies and songs. I’d say my fluency level of Hindi is conversational. Second, I’m a decently experienced traveler. Before I traveled to India, I had already visited over a dozen countries on three continents, most of them more than once, and most of which do not speak English as a native language. My experiences backpacking (and when I say backpacking, I really mean “suitcasing”) through Europe and East Asia gave me sufficient practice in the art and science of navigating through foreign countries. If I were to revisit these countries, I would already be well-versed in using local transportation options, payment methods, customs, and practices. In other words, I’ve learned the art of acclimating to new environs and it’s helped me learn to get around no matter which of those countries I was in. Third, and perhaps the most subjective of them all, I feel a connection to India closer than most Americans (who are not of Indian origin) would have. At a basic level, I have many Indian friends and Indian colleagues. At a deeper level, I have been steeped in Indian culture for over a decade now. Taking the time to learn Hindi required lots of dedication. Being surrounded by Indian culture (and enjoying it) really got me thinking, “when so many of the people in my life have a connection to India, and I’ve learned so much about India just by being in the United States, then I should go visit and see for myself what it’s really like”. Fourth, from a practical standpoint, my friends were able to give me a lot of support before and during this trip. The sheer number of conversations I had about my upcoming trip helped me be very prepared for my trip. The amount of advice I was given covered most of the bases. And my close Indian friends being there for me every day of my trip (from 10,000 miles away) made me feel much safer when I was in India, even if I was traveling. Fifth, and I really hate saying this, but I am male. While the U.S. government’s official stance is that no American should go to India alone, they further emphasize this for female travelers. Unfortunately, the reality is that women, whether Indian or not, need to take additional precautions in India for reasons of their own physical safety. (Thankfully, there are female-only public transportation services and airport security screening lanes, but I digress.) The international travel information page on travel.state.gov draws special attention to the safety of women travelers in India: The U.S. government cautions citizens, especially women, not to travel alone in India. Please observe stringent security precautions. When traveling without known and trustworthy companions, use public transport specifically designated for “women-only” travelers, which is a free service offered by the Indian government in many metropolitan cities including Delhi and Hyderabad. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/India.html So, in summary, I could get by with speaking some Hindi, I had enough prior experience with foreign travel, I had enough motivation and passion to make the trip happen, and I had plenty of support from friends. Very few Americans not of Indian heritage can say they have all four of these. If you can, and you read the rest of this post and still think you’re prepared, you may wish to consider going even in light of the U.S. government’s cautionary message. Otherwise, even if you don’t speak Hindi, haven’t traveled too much, etc., I’ll share later in this post how you can still make your trip possible. What was my experience? First of all, I was physically safe the whole time in India. While I made a few stupid decisions here and there, I didn’t get mugged or anything like that. India in general is still relatively safe for tourists. Scams do exist, but they usually don’t involve physical violence; they are more subtle so that the police don’t get involved. My health, on the other hand, unfortunately was affected at times. If you don’t live in India, some of the food might not be safe to eat for your digestive system. Despite taking all the precautions I could, including eating at reputable places and only drinking bottled water, I still got food poisoning. The lesson I’ve learned is to be very, very cautious and stay at a few select hotels. You can eat at nice restaurants in big cities, but in the countryside, you’ll need to be a lot more careful. Apart from the essential life safety precautions I took, and excluding the food poisoning and scamming I experienced, I generally had a good time. There are plenty of fun and beautiful places to visit in India. I visited quite a few historical palaces in Rajasthan built by the princes who lived there half a millenium ago. I found Udaipur’s lake to perhaps be the prettiest natural attraction I visited, the Taj Mahal as the prettiest landmark (perhaps unsurprisingly), and the Pandav Leni Caves in Nashik, Maharashtra to be the most interesting historical site I visited. The more I left the big city though, the more street smart I had to get. Speaking Hindi became a practical necessity in states like Rajasthan, even in its capital Jaipur. Whenever I traveled somewhere without a guide, I had to try my best to avoid getting hounded by people along the streets trying to sell me things or become my tour guide. If you don’t look Indian, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb and there’s no way to avoid people taking one look at you and seeing you as an easy target to make money from. Therefore, it’s best to arrange a private tour guide ahead of time, as I’ll describe later in this post. One thing I tried to do was to get to know the locals, but this ended up backfiring. The reason I tried this was, I have a friend who’s particularly gregarious and tries to meet new people wherever he goes. He happens to be from India. When he told me about the experiences he had meeting new folks in Japan, I was inspired to do the same thing in India. “He’s from India, and he has a good time meeting people everywhere, so I should be able to do the same thing in India, right?” Unfortunately, I didn’t think carefully about how his experience was with people he met who weren’t there to make money off of him. I got too friendly with some auto rickshaw drivers (because if you dodge their question of “where are you from?” it makes you look like a weirdo and might result in a lower Uber rider rating…) and later realized they weren’t trying to be nice, they were trying to make more money from me. Lesson learned: next time, don’t get too friendly, and always keep your guard up. It’s right to be suspicious. India has a vibrant domestic technology ecosystem. You’ll find that certain conveniences, such as free Wi-Fi at airports and public places, or apps like Ola and Zomato, are reserved for people who have +91 phone numbers (i.e. Indian phone numbers). Furthermore, many merchants are moving towards UPI instead of using cash, which is like the equivalent of Venmo and Zelle in India. To be fully prepared in India, I highly recommend reading my guides on how to get an Indian phone number and UPI set up: Best mobile plan for India for foreign travelers in 2025 and Making payments in India. Last but not least, I had so many wonderful friends and acquaintances of Indian origin who offered advice. After coming back, I realized they tried their best to help, but ultimately, their advice comes from their lived experience. To stay on the safe side, you must keep in mind special considerations for travelers who do not physically appear to be of Indian origin. These special considerations are explained below. How can I make my experience easier? Many people have an impression that India is an inexpensive place to visit. After the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid growth, this is no longer as true as before. Furthermore, anything that is super cheap is either for locals only or scammers will try to extract more money out of you somehow. To avoid this, I strongly encourage playing it safe and paying the “foreigner’s markup” upfront to trusted merchants. What do I mean by trusted merchants? You need to find them through western platforms such as Viator, and make sure to only book the ones with good reviews (like 4.5 stars or higher). Do NOT use ANY Indian domestic platforms, as you are taking the risk of running into scammers who only take advantage of foreign guests but not Indian guests. By booking your trips from Viator, you can avoid the stress and frustration of getting the foreigner’s markup in a less desirable manner. Even if you pay this way, you won’t be breaking the bank for most expenses. You can expect to spend about the same amount of money on your meals as in a median cost of living city in the U.S., or even less at fast food joints. A few other things: Don’t skimp on a good hotel. Go to a western branded full-service hotel or a well-known Indian brand. Pay extra for one of these so you can get good air filtration, safe food, unlimited quantities of trustworthy bottled water, and a clean room. A bonus is a solid concierge service who can make reservations for you at good restaurants nearby. You’re not going for luxury; you’re going for safety. Skip the auto rickshaws. Yes, they are cool, but do you really want to be taken advantage of? Even when using Uber Auto, they will try to get you to pay more. Stick to taxis—I’ve never had a taxi pull the kind of crap that auto rickshaws pulled with me over 50% of the time. I’ll describe this in more detail on this in another article. To be on the safe side, do NOT try to talk to your taxi driver or auto rickshaw driver as a way to get to know them. If money is being exchanged at any point, they are most likely not there to be your buddy, especially if you are paying them very little already. Arrange a private tour guide whenever possible on Viator. Have enough 50, 100, and 200 rupee notes available so you’re not stuck giving 500 rupee notes to merchants who “don’t have change”. Don’t rely on real-time help from Indian friends who are located in a far away time zone. They will either be asleep or they will likely be busy with other things. I’ve never been able to get real time help from friends who told me “let me know if you need anything”. Once you get used to the way of life in India and keep yourself out of situations where you could be taken advantage of or where you could get sick, you’ll have a good time. Closing thoughts I want to make one thing very clear: India is feasible to visit for foreigners! It is one of the largest countries and the most populous country in the world, with rich history spanning millennia and diverse culture throughout each state. You don’t need to be fluent in Hindi or have Indian friends to go to India. As long as you stick to the advice given on Upgraded to Economy based on the experiences I’ve learned from, you will have a great time in India. Related Posts Making payments in IndiaIn India, you should always be prepared to pay for things in three different ways:… Is it possible to be a seasoned traveler on your first trip?You may think that the first time you visit a new country is always going… Jeffrey's India trip planningWelcome, friends, to my India trip planning! 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