You booked the trip. You're excited. And then, somewhere between packing and boarding, a quieter thought creeps in: am I going to be lonely? If you've ever typed "is solo travel lonely" into Google at 1am before a trip, you're not alone in that either — it's one of the most common worries first-time solo travelers have, right up there with safety and budget. The good news: solo doesn't have to mean isolated. It just means the connection you make is optional instead of assigne