'I realised how sheltered I am in Singapore': This woman travels solo and she prefers it that way

While solo travel may seem daunting to some, it's something 27-year-old Chelsea Yap thrives on. 

Since 2021, she has travelled alone to 10 countries including India, Vietnam, Germany and France. She goes on an average of eight trips a year, mostly by herself. 

"Solo travelling really changed my life in so many ways. I think if I did everything I did but with people, it would have been so different," she told AsiaOne in an interview on Jan 28. 

An account manager in the tech industry, Chelsea shared that her love for travel was influenced not only by a desire to explore beyond Singapore, but also by her sister, an avid solo traveller who has visited multiple destinations in Central Asia, Europe, Africa, and India.

"Since she had such positive experiences, maybe I should start as well, Chelsea said.

'Travel humanised me' 

Chelsea went on her first solo trip back in 2021, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

A communications student at Nanyang Technological University at the time, she decided on a 20-day trip to Europe because her student exchange to Germany was cancelled two weeks into the programme. This meant that she had to return to Singapore.

"I wanted to make up for it by going to Europe because I couldn't live out the whole exchange experience, and also because Europe is known for its very pretty Christmas markets in December," she explained. 

Apart from that, the young Singaporean figured that if she had to undergo so many health tests just to travel during the pandemic, she might as well go somewhere further away from home. 

From the get-go, Chelsea had planned on travelling alone during a three-week gap between her internships in Singapore. 

"I was in a wonky life stage where I was figuring out a lot of things and didn't know what to do. The solo trip was my mini getaway and escape from reality that allowed me to focus on something more adventurous," she shared. 

"I decided to do something really scary and mildly dangerous... to sort of forget Singapore." 

Naturally, Chelsea was scared about going on her first solo trip despite having visited Europe several times in the past. 

While the first few days were daunting, she gradually adjusted to travelling on her own and managed to explore cities such as Nice, Lyon and Strasbourg in France, as well as Frankfurt and Berlin in Germany. 

Midway through the trip, however, she caught Covid-19. 

"I was so flustered about what I should do. This was supposed to be a getaway from Singapore, but I ended up being stranded in a new country alone," Chelsea recounted. 

"It was one of those moments where I felt that being alone sucked and I wished I had someone to go through this with." 

Still, Chelsea salvaged the remainder of her trip by adjusting her travel plans. She recovered from the illness in her hotel room and also extended her trip.

"There are these kinds of incidents where I have no one besides myself, but it reveals how capable I can be at handling small uncertainties in life," she shared. 

Since then, Chelsea has spent the majority of her holidays travelling solo, often returning to places she feels drawn to, such as Bali, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. 

When asked about her travel expenses, Chelsea said that she doesn't do budget travel or backpacking, but she tries to keep her trips affordable. She chooses her accommodation by checking which room in the area is available for the average price or less per night.

Among all her destinations, India and South Africa left the deepest impressions on her. She had visited India in 2025 and South Africa in 2024, both for volunteer work. 

Chelsea shared that she was inspired to go on these volunteering trips after her solo travels made her realise that she wanted something with less sightseeing and more hands-on experiences.

And despite these countries' reputations as unsafe places, especially for solo female travellers, Chelsea said she didn't encounter any issues. 

"The trips went really smooth, actually. I would go out late at night alone — not by choice and I didn't think too much into it — and come home late. But there was actually nothing dangerous," she shared. 

"There would be homeless people who might approach you, but they are not going to attack you. At least, that was not my experience at all." 

Another memorable trip Chelsea had was in Vietnam in 2022, where she did a motorbike road trip in Da Nang with a rider she hired for four days. 

"We went through all sorts of places that were very off the beaten path. We visited ethnic minorities and local schools, and watched the locals create handicrafts which they would eventually sell in a market," she recounted. 

"I will never forget this trip because talking to the locals helped me broaden my perspective," Chelsea told AsiaOne. 

"I found it so interesting to see how different the lives of these locals are, as compared to Singapore. It is a point of view that I would never have otherwise seen."  

Her desire to understand others' lives in places beyond Singapore was reinforced during a trip to Langkawi, where Chelsea met two men from Yemen during a jet ski tour. 

Through their conversations, she learned about the ongoing violence and economic issues they faced at home, including a bombing that had occurred just miles away from their neighbourhood.  

"Despite these, they're never going to leave their country because they have a very strong sense of patriotism. And I just wondered, if this happened in Singapore, would we be like that as well?" she reflected. 

These encounters, Chelsea said, made her feel "alive". 

"Travel really humanised me a lot. It made me realise how sheltered I am in Singapore and really expanded my worldview in so many ways," she said.  

Wake-up call 

Considering how often Chelsea travels these days, it is hard to believe that her lifestyle used to be the complete opposite. 

When she was in university, she prioritised work experience over travel, and would pack her hectic schedule with back-to-back internships. 

In fact, her 20-day solo trip to Europe was the longest gap she had in between internships.

"I was so fixated on work to the point that I was never on a break. It was always from one internship to another internship throughout my university life. I feel that perhaps I was busier in university than now when I am adulting. I was so focused on building my resume," she shared. 

While she valued that period of growth, her mindset began to shift after she didn't get her dream job, which she declined to reveal.

"I thought that my resume was stellar and I didn't know anybody who had put in so much sacrifice like I did to do so many internships," she said, adding that the role ended up going to someone who had done fewer internships than her. 

"It just showed that effort really doesn't guarantee you getting what you want," Chelsea said. 

Her perspective on work and travel shifted further during the wave of tech layoffs in 2022 and 2023. 

"So many people had tied their identities to their nine-to-five jobs, only to be seen as just a number and discarded as they were deemed not suitable for the company, when they see the company as their whole life," shared Chelsea. 

"It was a one-sided relationship that I did not want to be in. I needed to diversify what my identity was beyond just my job, because it clearly was not a two-way relationship, no matter how much I wanted it to be." 

She also began thinking about "golden handcuffs" — financial incentives such as bonuses, stock options or deferred compensation that employers use to retain key employees for years. 

Chelsea pointed out that many people in such situations are reluctant to leave their jobs because the benefits deter them from taking a leap of faith to try something new. 

"I don't want to be in this kind of relationship with my job. As someone who is like a free bird, tying my identity to my career was just like handcuffing myself to my job," she said. 

Staying safe as a female solo traveller 

After going on over 20 solo trips, Chelsea has some tips for those travelling alone, especially women. 

One tip is something she calls "skills", which are instincts honed through experience. 

"Skills are obviously something that you build up over time. Knowing what is dangerous and what is not is like a muscle that you train the more you travel," Chelsea said. 

She explained that a seasoned solo traveller would be better trained to know whether an area is safe or dangerous and take the necessary precautions. 

Another interesting and unconventional piece of advice is to appear confident, even when you are not. 

"One thing I realised about travelling solo is that when you're alone but look like you know what you're doing, people don't approach you. I think it's because you just look like a confident person, so people assume you're just a local," she said.

A person who has shifty eyes and looks anxious may be seen as an easier target, as compared to someone who looks more confident, Chelsea explained.

She also advises solo travellers not to be "people pleasers". 

"When I travel with others, I do notice that they are very nice to suspicious strangers who ask for money or things," she said. 

"I'd rather be less nice than nice, especially when I am travelling solo, because I only have myself to depend on." 

So, when she is approached by strangers, Chelsea simply smiles and walks away instead of responding to them. 

Female travellers should also avoid telling strangers that they are alone, and instead say they are meeting friends or travelling with a partner, she added.

If you're considering solo travelling but are too afraid to take that first step, Chelsea encourages you to start by slowly getting out of your comfort zone. 

"I'm not going to tell people to just do it and be brave because it's not so simple. I think people need evidence that they solo travel before they jump into it," she said bluntly. 

For a start, one can try certain activities alone, such as eating, going into Johor Bahru, and visiting various places in Singapore, she suggested.

"When you have all these evidences that show you that you are capable of being alone in different environments, then you know that you are capable enough to do it in a new country. 

"It's baby steps, you need to try these activities alone to improve your confidence," Chelsea said. 

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