Solo Travelling In Bulgaria

How I, An Incredibly Anxious Traveller, Solo Travelled Through Bulgaria

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How I ended up solo travelling in Bulgaria

Nobody really asks, but I can see their eyes secretly wonder “why” when I tell someone I’m travelling to Bulgaria for a little holiday. The short answer is … I don’t really know. It wasn’t because I have some ever-present burning desire to visit Bulgaria. My going to Bulgaria was just a holiday booked on a whim. Ryanair had a sale. It ended up working out well, but I didn’t have many expectations. I booked it quite simply because I had never been before, and because I had never thought about going. Usually people opt for the opposite. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up solo travelling in Bulgaria.

The short of it is:

I booked this holiday because I was homesick. I was looking out at seven months without a hug from my mom, seven months without laying eyes on my dad, or my dog, or my sisters or brother. Seven months of solitude in Scotland, before my family planned to visit in July – planned but had not  booked yet. And I was sad, and I already missed everyone. I wanted to go to New York over March Break so I could meet up with my mom and sister.

Then, my sister told me not to. Not because she didn’t want me there but because, in her words: “If you live in Europe you should be going somewhere in Europe that you’ve never been to before. Take advantage of how close you are to new places, and how cheap it is to travel.” So I went to Skyscanner and I saw a cheap flight to Sofia and I thought, ‘huh, I’ve never thought about going to Bulgaria before,’ and then I booked it.

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Cost of Solo Travelling in Bulgaria

The flight cost me 52GBP. I then started looking at Airbnbs and came across the most beautiful little apartment, with glowing reviews, for $32CAD/night and booked it. I was set. Ready for a little holiday solo travelling in Sofia, Bulgaria. I pictured old Soviet style buildings mixed in with Orthodox churches. A quaint, old town style city that was quiet, calm, and comfortable.

Not a solo-traveller by trade

As planned, I spent my first day in Sofia. It was weird. I remembered as I was leaving that I have a long history of travel anxiety. Exactly five years ago I was just south of Bulgaria, in Greece. It was a school trip, and I almost didn’t go because I was so anxious. I spent seven months before that trip going to counselling specifically so that I could go on it. I threw up the entire morning we left. Then I spent the day crying to my family in Toronto, before I got on the plane headed overseas. The first time I actually properly travelled alone was in October 2018, when I went hiking in Ireland. Except one of my closest friends lives in Dublin, so it hardly counts because I knew I could go to her if I needed her.

Slow-solo travelling for the anxious traveller

And then I found solo travelling in Bulgaria. Apparently in my homesick, adventurous spirit state, I forgot to factor in my anxiety disorder. Weirdly, it was relatively OK. I walked around the city centre, I bought postcards, I sat in the sun, in a park, I went and got coffee, I sat in the park some more. I bailed on all of my walking tours because my feet hurt. And I went back to my Airbnb early. I ate granola and yogurt for dinner because I was too stressed to go out and try to tackle the language barrier to get myself a proper dinner. Try again tomorrow.

Driving in a foreign country for the first time

The second day I picked up my car. I went for groceries at Lidl and then I tackled the metro. I picked up the keys for my rental car, sat in the drivers seat, reminded myself of the ‘how to drive in a roundabout’ videos I had watched on Youtube the night before, started the ignition and drove off. And it was fine. Since I couldn’t cross borders, I drove to the Rila Monastery. Tucked into the mountains, it’s one of the oldest (maybe the oldest) Orthodox monastery in the world. I’m not religious, I was raised Catholic, and I don’t majorly care about these things but I thought it might be cool so I went. And it was cool.

Driving in Bulgaria

I drove on the highway, very fast, might I add! And I drove on tiny side streets, I drove up the mountain and it took me two whole hours because I took so many wrong turns. I was constantly stressed about my phone (my navigation) dying. But I made it. There was snow on the ground that people were ice-picking at so that it would melt. I went into the church, I saw monks. Sure, I paid to visit the museum and saw some icons. But most importantly: I got to be in the mountains and breathe in the forest air. I bought some postcards, then I did one whole sign of the cross and left. In the end, I spent less than an hour there, but I was tired and hungry so I went back to my Airbnb.

When I got to the Airbnb, parking was a total nightmare. My driveway backed on to a tiny side street, I had to back in, through the gates of the drive, while not hitting the car parked on the single lane street. It took a solid 10 minutes, and after I was thoroughly humiliated by anyone who might be watching, I decided not to take the car out again until I was leaving.

A Day Exploring Sofia

On my third day I explored Sofia some more. I gave myself a morning pep talk, consisting of a lot of ‘you’re only in Sofia for today, make the most of it, just barrel on full steam ahead, don’t let the language barrier get to you.’ So I Googled ‘best coffee in Sofia’ and headed off to the first hit. Walking through new parts of the city centre, I saw new churches, new parks, new shops. I shopped a bit, I ate a bit, and then I went for a nap. But I would not be defeated by the restaurant situation, so I forced myself to go out and get dinner.

For context, I am realising as I write this, restaurants are a no-go for my anxiety. Nowadays, after a lot of hard work, I don’t really think much about eating out. But when I first went to counselling it was the first thing we worked on in exposure therapy, and it makes sense to me that I was reluctant to eat out in Sofia. Regardless, it happened, I had a yummy salad and hummus and coffee and it was grand.

Trying (and failing) to tackle Plovdiv

Sunday was my fourth and final day. I woke up exhausted. Tired of having to figure everything out myself, tired of having so many thoughts and no one to express them to. Mostly, just tired because the hosts of the Airbnb had been listening to salsa music late into the night. I decided to try driving to Plovdiv for a bit to explore. It took about an hour and a half to get there, and then about another 45 minutes to try to find parking. I found a spot that I’m not sure I was allowed to park in, and when I got out I felt defeated. I didn’t want to try to find fun things to do. Already looking forward to going gas station shopping on the way back to Sofia so I thought ‘that’s it, you’re enjoying driving, just drive.’

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So I drove through Plovdiv, and then I headed back to Sofia Airport. I enjoyed the gas station stop and then I returned my car. Then I spent the rest of my last day at Sofia Airport, reading one of those airport-mystery books that I had picked up in Edinburgh Airport on my way out. It was a quiet, cosy Sunday. Very relaxing, and it just so happened that I spent it at Sofia Airport.

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Moral of the Story

There is no ‘right way’ to travel, it’s YOUR holiday, just do whatever you want! If you’re tired at three pm and you want to have a lay down, do that. It’s okay. You’re not missing anything other than hurting your feet and making yourself kind of miserable and grouchy for the next day. If you’re somewhere and you decide you’re done, if you want to sit in a park, cafe, or do food tour after food tour, do it. Don’t bother with trying to do what other people are doing when they’re travelling. Unless, of course, it looks like something you want to do. If you try it and realise it’s not what you want to do: that’s okay. Loads of people will read through this and think “well that’s kind of a waste of time”. But I feel like I made the most of my trip! I saw tons of new places, had new experiences. I don’t want to come home feeling drained. It was the right balance of adventure and exploration, and rest and relaxation.

So what was Bulgaria like?

Sofia is nice, Bulgaria is nice. The city is so much bigger than expected, and Bulgaria even more so. Sofia did have Soviet architecture, and Orthodox churches. It had a lot of greenspace and a lot of people, but not a ton of tourists (at least not English-speakers). There are mountains everywhere, and it was warmer than expected. Not everyone speaks English. In all the touristy areas they’ll try, or they’ll do what they can to make it work. I found that people, generally, weren’t super friendly like I’m used to. People don’t smile at you in the street if you don’t smile first, and check-out workers are generally in a bad mood (but who can blame them).

Tips for Driving

Don’t drive in Bulgaria if you are not a confident driver. I have anxiety problems, yes, but I’m a good driver. I am a bit of a risky driver, but I’m a good driver. Those are the two things that you need in order to not die or crash while driving in Bulgaria. Highways are lawless, you need to know how to use them. There are tons of beautiful views everywhere, and tons of wild drivers doing weird things too which constantly made me want to have someone in the passenger seat. I saw one driving reading a book over the steering wheel. I’m serious.

And that’s my story of solo travelling in Bulgaria!

Have you solo travelled? Are you an anxious traveller? Have you put the two together yet? Talk with me about it in the comments!


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Comments

  1. Hannah Amethyst says

    Looks like you had a lush time Sabrina! I get anxiety when travelling and not sure I could brave it on my own so kudos to you! Look forward to seeing where you travel to next!x

    • Sabrina says

      The trick to this one was that I was so preoccupied with other things in my life that I didn’t even think about it until I was getting on the plane! Ridiculous, but it kind of worked!

  2. Simply Ashley says

    You are becoming my travel hero! I always look forward to seeing all your gorgeous photos😊 please take a trip to Paris and tell me all about the cafes and bookshops I’m missing out on haha

    • Sabrina says

      For some reason I’ve been thinking about Paris a lot lately! I’ve been before so it’s not high on my list to go back but I can’t get it out of my head so I might just have to 🙂

  3. nancy rice says

    This was so perfect and informative. As I’ve told you I’m planning to visit Edinburgh in the fall, and have had numerous arguments in my head. I’m usually quite strong and confident (I had a 26 ft rv I drove & camped in). I might do therapy too, airport anxiety! Thanks so much, you’re a gem and you had a great travel experience…⛪🕌🛫🚗🛣☕👊😎

    • Sabrina says

      The travel/airport time is always the worst! Once you arrive you can’t really worry about what it will be like anymore, because now you’re living it! If you can get through the travel, everything else comes! Thanks for reading 🙂

  4. gotheglobe says

    I love this post so much!
    I’m interested – do you think travelling with a friend would have reduced any anxiety? I’m not sure whether I’d enjoy travelling alone or whether I should give it a try.

    • Sabrina says

      I often find that travelling with a friend makes it easier because I’m more concerned about them than myself, but it totally depends on the person! I really enjoy travelling alone, especially if you’re going somewhere a bit more touristy, where you know you’ll have the chance to meet other solo-travellers!

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