I recall my first flight. I was four years old and had my big brother seated next to me. Like most things in life, he took it all in his stride and I tried to mimic his self-assured calm. It didn’t work. I vacillated between over-excited climbing on everything, to tear-baby bawling for attention. It was too cramped in the plane, I didn’t like being strapped in, the noises scared me, and my ears hurt. I spent most of the flight watching the faces of the stewardesses and wondering if they were scared whenever we hit bumps in the sky.

When it comes to being a solo travel later in life, you’re likely to find things a little different than they were when you were in your 20s. You may think that decades of life experience would make you immune to things such as culture shock, but trust me; this evil mind game can still sneak up and grab you when you least expect it! I'm 57, and even with a long career in the tourism industry, and years spent living in numerous countries, I still occasionally find myself feeling adrift in a foreign place, and struggling to battle the anxiety before it sets in.