"Table for one please!" 5 tips on how to enjoy eating out alone!
A girl's gotta eat! Which makes it inevitable that when solo travelling, you will have to eat out alone.
But what I am going to say from the outset here, is that having done my research for this blog (based on my own solo dining experiences), I can honestly say that in 7 months of travelling alone, solo dining was few and far between. I'm a huge foodie and consequently love to take pictures of my food, not necessarily to share, but as part of my memory log, and when going back through these pictures I was able to remember which were solo dining experiences and which were with company and I think the ratio was roughly 80/20. 80% with company and 20% eating solo.
So let's say 20% of the time you may have to eat alone, that's really not that bad! A lot of time eating alone will be breakfasts in your hostel or hotel anyway. That said, I'll admit there was a version of me that still would have read that 20% in horror! I was never even remotely comfortable with the thought of eating out alone, so if you also dread the idea of it, here are some thoughts to help ease you into it.
1. Ease yourself in gently
Starting to feel comfortable with the idea wasn't instantaneous for me. It took some adapting of mindset and settling into. To begin with, I would look for restaurants where I felt there was a table nicely tucked away, where I could hide and eat my dinner alone, unnoticed and in peace. This was how I first started eating alone. Usually earlier in the evening before the diners came out. If a restaurant looked too vibey or busy I would avoid it along with the crowds of buzzing, laughing people. I wanted to be inconspicuous and go unnoticed. But, it wasn't all too long before I just didn't care anymore and I was dining alone at busy, touristy restaurants and doing my thing.
2. Change your mindset
Eating out alone is not a taboo, it's a perfectly normal and acceptable thing.
No one is actually really looking. Most people are too self absorbed in their own dinner plans to notice and waiters and waitresses a.) see it all the time, and b.) are too busy doing their jobs to even think about it.
3. Take things to occupy you
I always had my phone to peruse and my headphones too, which were always a helpful distraction (most restaurants have wifi). I often would do my admin such as book the next hostel or flight. But taking a book or kindle is even better, because this, I enjoy. I get lost in reading, I love it so much. And then of course I started to look forward to the time to read and I realised I was looking forward to that glass of wine, a good meal and some time zoned into my own headspace. And after a while I was neutral or even jolly about eating out alone.
4. Know the tips for meeting people
Getting that 80% 'eating with others' time is going to depend on a few factors that actually help you to meet people.
Book group tours, then you automatically have a group to eat with!
Stay in the friendly, vibey hostels, sometimes a shared dorm will all go out for dinner together.
Be super open to making friends.
5. Enjoy your food
I look forward to meal times because I love food. Amongst other things, the highlights of my day are meal times! So a good bit of advice is to order yourself a cocktail, choose something delicious for yourself, make the experience about enjoying the food you are eating and you will forget you even are alone!
Happy Travelling
x
See below for a gallery of some of my happy solo dining experiences!
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