Hi, solo travelers!

Your very enthusiastic mods are continually brainstorming ways to make this sub even cooler, and one new thing we'd like to try out is Trip Reports (brought to you from the mind of /u/failuretomisfire). Because:

1) They're fun

2) Who doesn't love secretly judging the crap out of how other people travel, and

3) It's more fodder for the search function when we remove your one-line posts and say DO A SEARCH :D

Rules:

-Trip Reports should be for trips that you've personally gone on (solo) in the last 12 months

-They should contain most/all of the following information: Budget, Length of Travel, Destination(s), Accommodation, Activities, What Went Right, What Went Wrong, Recommendations, Final Verdict, and Pictures :D

Here's a sample Trip Report for my recent solo trip to Macedonia/Kosovo.

Budget: 200 euros, not including flights. Wound up only spending 125 euros because Macedonia is cheap as balls.

Length of Time: 5 days (3 full days), March 2018

Destination(s): Skopje and Ohrid (Macedonia), Prishtina (Kosovo)

Accommodation: Nordic Hostel-N-Box, Skopje (great staff and facilities). City Inn and Apartments, Ohrid (okay facilities, dirty bathrooms). Shanti Hostel, Skopje (lovely staff and facilities, quiet).

Activities: In Skopje, I wandered around the bazaar, looked at all the weird statues, check out the main square, and went to the archaeological museum (wouldn't really recommend unless coins and pottery are your things). At Lake Ohrid, hiked up to the fortress and did most of the famous churches/monasteries (on a student ID you can get in for basically pennies). Also took a bus to St Naum monastery, as the boat tours weren't running. Touristy, but nice. In Pristhina, wandered around the downtown, saw the Bill Clinton statue, went to the Kosovo museum (free and had cool stuff, but most of it wasn't in English so they have guides that come up to you and offer to take you around). Wanted to go to the ethnological museum but it was closed.

What Went Right: Pretty much everything! I had a great time beebopping around, met really awesome fellow travelers, took a selfie with a Bill Clinton statue, and spent very little money while doing it.

What Went Wrong: Had one slightly terrifying moment in Ohrid when a taxi tried to take me to Albania against my will. Was halfway out the moving vehicle when the driver decided not to abduct me to Albania. I was pretty on edge about it, so when he pointed to a dirt track a few minutes later and said "Now we go pick people up," I jumped out of the car and refused to get back in, even when he said we were picking up his mom. Told him to go pick up his people, and if that car came back with anything other than an old lady in it, I wasn't getting in it.

...It was in fact his mom.

Proceeded to town without further incident. I hate taxis.

Recommendations: Stay longer in both of those countries! I only had three full days, of which one was a day trip to Prishtina, and I could easily have given myself a week in each country. On my next trip I want to do a lot more hiking because the countryside looks beautiful but I saw most of it while on a bus. Also do not allow your taxi driver to take you to Albania against your will. In retrospect, since I was moving as much as I did, I wish I had rented a car, or else picked places that were closer together.

Both the hostels I stayed at in Skopje were great. Hostel-N-Box definitely had more of a party vibe. Shanti was much quieter (they close the common area down around 11), but I like the quiet ones. They're also really close to the train/bus stations, so if you know you're going to be in and out a lot, they're in a perfect location.

I probably wouldn't recommend the City Inn in Ohrid. The bathrooms were pretty gross by the end of the day, and they don't offer any sort of luggage storage; I wound up stashing my stuff in a locker in the hallway and sneaking in hours later through the back entrance to avoid reception.

Final Verdict: GO TO MACEDONIA AND KOSOVO.

Pictures!: Here!