I met a Sevillan friend while I was living in England, and he kept showing and telling me about the beautiful places in Andalusia. All the places to see, music, dance, art, architecture, FOOTBALL, everything. I fall in love with all of it, and I have decided to visit! At the time, when I planned my round trip to Andalusia, I didn’t think that I’ll meet other solo travelers along my trip, who can actually become my closest friends. But it did happen!
This trip to Andalusia took place in August 2019. My itinerary included Malaga, Granada, Seville, and also a quick trip to Madrid. As I was going on a solo trip, I decided to post in a solo female traveler group on Facebook what’s my plan.
Many of us around the world like to meet up with other solo travelers on our trips. These groups are perfect to make new connections and meet some amazing people!
Meeting other solo travelers – My experience in Malaga
So that’s how I found Roxi. Or better said, she found me. As soon as she commented on my post that she’ll be in Malaga the same time I was, we started talking. From the first second, we’ve had so much to chat about, and we made that connection very quickly.
As soon as I arrived in Malaga, on the first day I was devastated…
If there’s one thing I really love, that’s the warm weather! But, as I got used to 15-20°C in the UK, when I went from that to 35-40°C, it was a little bit painful.
I tried to walk around downtown on my first day, but as soon as the temperature hit 38°C, I had to find a place to hide. Well, I was hiding in a bar, and I thought (wrongly) that cold beer will cool me down.
It didn’t! All it did, that it made me super sleepy. I went back to my accommodation, and I practiced my first siesta. That evening, I decided to go on a walk along the Malagueta beach, to watch the sunset from the seaside.
I met Roxi after sundown, at a cocktail bar near the beach. It was the first time for both of us, to meet a stranger, another solo traveler in this way, through a group. And it was such a great experience!
From that evening, we were hanging out together every single day. So much so, that I shortened my days in Seville, to stay more in Malaga.
The best things we did together along those days in Malaga
La Malagueta beach
Uh… First of all, if you’re not friends with the burning sun and insane heat, I really advise against the South of Spain in August! We’ve been out on the beach every day. Also, we’ve been sitting under a palm tree that had only 3 leaves, and we were moving all the time after that 1 skinny person size of shades. It was literally impossible to just sit under the burning sun. But it was still fun!
We were just laying there, listening to music, the sound of the sea, the seagulls, just enjoying it all, soaking in the vibes of the Spanish summer… It was exactly what we both needed!
We’ve been enjoying ourselves so much there, that on the day I was heading to Granada, I managed to miss my bus, and waste my pre-bought ticket because I just couldn’t leave the beach on time…
One of the best things we really enjoyed doing on these really chilled days was this cocktail bar I’ve mentioned before. Sitting in the shades, enjoying the wind, while outside you’d become a grilled chicken really fast…
Instead, we ate the chicken, as a mixed chicken – pork paella.
The best paella I have ever had, to be honest! They made outside, on the beach on wooden fire. Something absolutely delicious!
Evenings and party downtown Malaga
Roxi hasn’t really been partying alone before, as she got married very young, and never got the chance to actually be alone and just go out with new friends and have fun. Because of that, I made my personal goal to get her a great nightlife experience.
We made sure to make our Friday and Saturday night in Malaga unforgettable!
So we headed out both evenings downtown, close to the Malaga’s famous street, Calle Marques de Larios. There’s a cute square called Plaza Cabron (the word cabron isn’t that cute actually). This square in the evenings is getting really crowded with hundreds of people who are ready to start dancing, and dance until the sun comes up.
Nightlife in Spain is usually starting really late, so we were heading out just after 10-11 pm for drinks. The clubs were starting to get crowded just after 1 am in the morning.
Great club downtown Malaga: Sala Gold.
We loved Sala Gold! The music was exactly what I love, Spanish pop, reggae, and some global top hits. If there’s one thing everybody can take for granted, it is that you’ll never read or see me in clubs with tech music! Nop. Not for me! A salsa bar is more for my taste.
The club was super crowded, especially on Saturday. We literally couldn’t move at all. That was pretty bad, but Friday was amazing! It was definitely my best night out ever! In Sala Gold, there is a mix of locals and tourists, which is again great, to meet people from everywhere!
The beauty of making connections with other solo travelers
With Roxi, we are still speaking on daily bases (ok not actually every day, but almost). Since Malaga, we organized to meet again in December 2019 in Budapest, and our journey is about to continue. We have some great plans together for the future. Not just for traveling, but business plans as well.
She has also contributed to ShegoWandering, with an article about Couchsurfing.
Before I started traveling alone, I was wondering, how am I going to survive just on my own? I’ll always be bored? By having no experience in this, I didn’t know how can I find, or make connections with strangers…
I mean, I had no experience in solo traveling. Now, it is actually hard for me to want to travel with people I know. An what about meeting other travelers? It turned out to be the easiest thing ever!
I also have a post about the 30 reasons why traveling alone is awesome!
Those people I met along the years are the people who really understand me, and vice versa. We tend to be always a bit different, and many of us can’t be understood by those surrounding us in our hometown. So when you meet other “different” people, you’ll find that you have much more to talk about with a stranger from the other side of the world, than with your own best friend. It’s true!
Traveling tends to change everybody’s mindset, and it feels like we’re a different species of humans. You can read about this again in my post with 30 reasons to travel alone.
These people from all around the world became my friends. And beyond that, some of them became really important, core parts of my life. I can thank these amazing friends for traveling, and I’m super grateful for that!
Finally, about meeting other solo travelers…
Have you been on a solo trip before? Have you met other solo travel girls along the way? Do you have a story you’d share with us? Are you planning to do a solo trip, but you just couldn’t convince yourself yet to do it? Write it all down in the comments section! Let’s talk about it!
See more about solo traveling
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10 Best European capital cities for solo travelers
First time overseas – A New York experience from a solo traveler
30 Reasons why traveling alone is AWESOME
Are you afraid of traveling alone? A guide for first-timers
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Thanks for hour kind words! Malaga is definitely worth visiting, solo or not, it’s a lot to see and do in the area!
Very cool experience! I’ve never been to Malaga and now it’s definitely on my list of places to visit. Loved the photos too and thanks for sharing!