1. Money! Money! Money!

(Playing “Money” by Cardi B)

Before jumping into the nagging part, have you listened to the song No limit by G-Eazy? If yes, remember the scene where A$AP Rocky sits in a long wall made of dollar bills. Oh god lord! I wish getting money was as easy as that. And, getting short of money is a problem that throws you out of the window on your solo travel to Italy. I know the struggle is real. Anyways, don’t let down your cool. Be happy with where you are at the moment. Forget the fun you have missed as a traveller due to lack of money. Staying content is the key to happiness.

2. Difficulty in syncing your internal and external clock

The generic problem associated with solo travel to any location, including Italy, is jet lagging. Probably, jet lag is not a new term you hear as a solo traveller. In simple words, jet lagging is nothing but your body’s inadaptability to a new time zone abruptly. It takes some time to maintain your circadian rhythms. 

Regardless, a quick fix is to consider jet lag as a passing pain that comes with the joy of travel. Endure the pain. If it makes you feel any better, there are a few remedies to prevent jetlag problems on your solo travel to Italy.

• Increase the intake of Vitamin D and Vitamin B.
• Try to stay energetic by doing stretches out, drinking water, avoiding caffeine and alcohol.
• Expose your body to the sunlight.

3. Men staring at you

I know. It is an old story, and I am beating around the bush. It is still a sensitive problem female solo travellers face in Italy. Chill down. Don’t rage out and spoil your health. I am going to tell you some super-duper tips to tackle the worthless human being harassing you in Italy.

• The golden tip is to feign the attention. Avoid contact. Conceal your face with ignorance. Let the man not know you have noticed him. Keep this going till it works.
• When the situation gets cooked up, you can tell the person either you are married/ engaged or committed to a person.
• If the nutbag still advances his move, it is the right time to rage out. Say leave me alone. If needed, scream for help. Aiuto means ‘Help’ in Italian. 

4. Hitting the bed on your travel

Wow!

How cool is it to save money for months to finally make your solo travel dream to Italy happen, only to take the flight and sleep on a fairly cushioned bed in a hostel in a foreign land? Now, there are six ways by which you can resolve the problem of getting sick on your solo travel to Italy.

• Prepare for emergencies. Pack the necessary medications.
• Consult your doctor and reveal your travel plan.
• Follow up on the advice given by your doctor.
• Check the hospital availability near your place of visit.
• Don’t go overboard with cold beverages and ice creams.
• Sidestep travelling during winter months.

5. Motion sickness

Motion sickness is a pretty common problem. And, I have faced it on my travel in Italy as a solo traveller. Generally, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness are the symptoms of motion sickness. But I go through migraine if the journey is too tiresome.

Despite being a common problem, its severity lies in its never-going quality. Jetlag can be overcome within a day or three, but motion sickness haunts you every time you travel. To prevent nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and migraine,

• Drink plenty of water.
• Avoid odours to prevent nausea.
• Seek out fresh air.
• Sit in the direction of the moving side of the vehicle.
• Take chewing gums.

6. Dehydration

While we are on the subject of sickness, it is noteworthy that many a problem you face on solo travel to Italy gently touches upon dehydration. The sound, tone, syllable, and rhythm of the word dehydration may seem stressless or may appear as a problem in the size of the ant. It is a matter of time you realize how strongly it clutches with other discomforts of the travel.

7. Sunburn

The problems in solo travel to Italy include sunburn. Assuming you have planned your travel in summer because winter paves the way to other problems like flu sickness. In consideration of the issue, sunburn is common to everyone. Yes, it looks evidently serious in people with paler skin as they could feel burning. But tanning is also the effect of the sun. So, to withstand tanning and burning in Italy,

• Apply and reapply sunscreen whenever you go outside.
• Wear sunglasses.
• Put on a hat while strolling through the streets.
• Increase water consumption.
• At the end of the day, apply moisture to heal the skin.

8. Lending your blood for Insects

Insect bites are one of the problems in Italy. The commonly disturbing insects are mosquitos, bed bugs, and spiders. Although you have to be careful about your stay in Italy, you need not check with the doctor for small bites. At the least, the area of insect bite itches for two to three days. 

Other than that, insect bites become a serious matter of concern when you go hiking because that is the possible scenario in which you may encounter poisoning insects. So, be extra careful during trekking. Apply repellents and be on guard.

9. Losing track of the beginning

It is sure a beauty to get lost in a foreign land. I advocate it. Getting lost nourish the chance to witness the local hidden beauties. You can find untagged sightseeing destinations of Italy when you slip away from the right track.

Getting lost is enjoyable till you see hidden wonders on your way that boosts up your adrenaline. When your sight becomes plain, that is the moment you turn back and realise you are lost in the wild. The rest is history.

To cover up the problem of getting lost on your solo travel to Italy is to stay conscious in the real world. Do not get carried away by the alluring beauty of Italy. Stay in the populated areas. When needed, do not shy away to take the help of a local.

10. Pickpocketing and bag snatching

Listening to stories of pickpocketing and bag snatching in tourist places would be the turning point of your travel. You realise you could be the next! The crime of theft in Italy is skyrocketing in numbers. Without any say, it is highly recorded in tourist areas. So, tune your brain to alarming mode while roaming in the streets.

11. Getting deceived by tourists’ scams

Tourist scams are prevalent in and around tourist localities. Provided this knowledge, travellers still fall prey to the scammer’s sophisticated posters and honeycombed words. I overcome tourist scams, cool like a cucumber.

Do you want to know how?

Please make sure you don’t seek out random agencies from Google to book tour guides. Try hiring a guide on Airbnb Experience because it is extremely affordable. Plus, these tour guides are mostly locals who do the job out of passion. They provide a better insight into places you visit. 

12. The drastic thought of feeling alone

Who says solo travellers are people with rigid emotions? Yeah, solo travellers have an avid amount of self-love. Even so, loneliness is not a distant concept to them. Loneliness is the tip of an iceberg. You can have the joy of all worlds until you get hit by them. 

Indeed, loneliness is a contagious problem you will face on your solo travel to Italy. So, stay energetic.

Connect with the locals. Research your next plan in your leisure time. You can avoid seeing photographs of your family. The bottom line is staying busy to eliminate unwanted thoughts that lead to loneliness.

13. Running out of tickets in the counter

Except for some beaches and gardens, you will need tickets to be welcomed inside the tourist destination in Italy, conclusively in museums and castles. Getting tickets right on time is a problem you will face on your solo travel to Italy. In light of that, you may be disappointed seeing the crowd gathered at the ticket counter. Sometimes your entire schedule lapses because you are trapped in one place as you are not skilled enough to rush into the queue to get tickets. 

But you have to agree that getting tickets on the spot is NOT your only option. That ship has sailed long. Nowadays, you can book, pre-book your tickets online. So, to the maximum, book your tickets online. That way, you get discounts and coupons too.

14. The fear of missing the flight

Welcome to my airport nightmare. It is not the first, definitely not going to be the last either. Time and again, I travel solo. I face the problem of reaching the airport on time, and Italy is no exception. It would be satisfying to the soul if I did not plan and prepare. On the opposite, I always super plan things, starting from waking time, transport, to packing. Magically, the catchphrase of planning and preparation just doesn’t naturally work out on the day of departure.

In my interaction with the other travellers, I found that the fear of missing the flight is natural to everyone. So,

• Embrace the chaos.
• Stay calm and hope that everything will work out as planned.
• Take deep breaths to stop overthinking.
• If you happen to miss the flight, do not blame yourself.
• Talk with the ground crew to sort out the issue.

15. No free Wi-Fi in common areas

If you are from a place where free public Wi-Fi service is not possible at every turn, then you might not be upset about the Wi-Fi conditions of Italy. But if you are from a place where public Wi-Fi works at every nook and corner, you are in dire straits in Italy as,

• It is rare to locate a public space equipped with free Wi-Fi.
• Even café and restaurants generally do not offer Wi-Fi service.
• You can expect free Wi-Fi only at cosy hotels and in some hostels.
• Recharging with a good Wi-Fi plan is mandatory in Italy.

16. Sellers cheating the travellers

The undermining attitude of the shopkeepers to the foreign travellers is a problem in all the tourist spots. The kiosks located in and around the tourist destination sell the products for high prices, heartlessly. This attitude quite saddens me because I try to be extra kind to the locals I meet on my journey. 

I experience an unspeakable feeling towards the natives that makes me shower them with the gesture of kindness and respect. I don’t know if it is because they are the natives or because they have generously let me into their territory. Whatever, I am strongly against the shops hiking up their price for foreign travellers. It is daylight cheating.

17. Missing home food

Tell me honestly, do you miss home food or not? Warning! I am an avenger with the superpower to detect lies. Yep, a lie detector.

Jokes apart! 

Travellers cannot oppose the downright fact that how much ever they love and cherish the Italian cuisine, a tiny part of the heart longs for simple food from the homeland. Missing homemade food is definitely an underrated problem faced by travellers who travel to Italy solo. 

18. Covering your shoulder with a scarf

It is up to you to decide whether covering your head/shoulder with a scarf is a problem or a promising experience to go through on your solo travel to Italy. The Vatican City’s Italian cathedrals demand visitors to veil their bodies and head.

I actually loved the experience of wearing a scarf when entering holy places. It was both a refreshing and enriching feeling. You know, somehow, it made me feel like one among the crowd. The feeling of a local casually entering the church. Yeah, I felt like an Italian. Still, this wonderful feeling could become a bothering problem when you forget to bring a scarf to the spot. Why because the local shops planted outside take it to their advantage and sell scarfs with hiked-up prices. So, pack a weightless sheer scarf.

19. Visiting the closed gates of the museum

I have experienced the trouble of pleasing the eyes with the closed doors of the greatest museums. It happens because of the lack of information or you did not do research right like me. The crux of the matter is museums in Italy generally are closed on Tuesdays. Again, I am not sure. It differs. In one, Tuesdays are a holiday, and in some, Wednesdays. Ergo, check beforehand if the museum is open for visitors on the day of your travel.

20. Learning their language

Learning Italian is the fatal problem I faced in Italy. If you do not want to feel out of the circle, you have to learn their language. At least, fluent enough to jibber-jabber something. Speaking it the right way needs a special course.

In the end, you have acquired twenty solutions to the twenty problems. You can face the hurdles and make your travel burdenless, unlike me during my first solo trip to Italy. My best wishes for a safe and happy journey!