We’ve all been there, we plan this amazing trip and our friends are all on board, but as we get closer and closer to the trip, people begin backing out. Now you are left with the decision of, “do I just wait until everyone can go, or do I say forget them and venture out on my own.”

That was the case for New York resident Chizoba Anyaoha. He made plans to travel to Australia for his birthday. Plans kept changing and the trip was pushed back until finally, his friend backed out completely. After asking for his friend’s blessing, Chizoba decided to make the journey solo.

Courtesy of Chizoba Anyaoha

“It opened up a new world of solo travel for me,” Chizoba told Travel Noire.

It has been shown that traveling solo has psychological benefits. It makes you feel better and brings newfound confidence in many who learn just how courageous they are.

“Solo travel doesn’t mean you’re lonely, it means you’re just ready to get out and live your life. If you had a choice to experience something today, would you? Tomorrow isn’t promised after all,” he said.

These days, Chizoba travels at least 4-5 times by himself internationally. Because of this, he wanted to also give the gift of solo travel to others.

Courtesy of Chizoba Anyaoha

“I began with prototypes and markups, then realized this idea was actually marketable. It’s a solution to making solo travel as easy as possible.”

Last month, Chizoba officially launched the TravSolo app via the App Store.

How it works

Once you download the app, you can go in and set your destination. From there, you can choose how you want to spend your trip. You can opt to meet other travelers along the way or even add in friends and family to follow your trip in real-time

Based on what you are interested in, the app can also plan an itinerary for you.

Courtesy of TravSolo

“You can add in your own content that the app will save for you. It will create a post-travel video story for you when you are done and ready to share,” Chizoba explained.

The goal is to have more travelers live in the moment versus focusing on getting content out and then keeping tabs on engagement. When your trip is done, you’ll have a visual story to share with your audiences.

There is also a safety feature that will allow you to screen people, based on other traveler’s endorsements, before you decide to hang out with them.

“I want to get people over their fear of solo travel. Once you do it, it becomes an addiction. Sometimes you need to be selfish for yourself.”

Courtesy of TravSolo

As of now, the Travsolo app is only available via the App Store for iOs devices. Chizoba is working to soon make it available for Android devices as well. It is free to use and download.

To download the app or to learn more, visit the website: www.travsolo.com or check out the social media pages at @travsolo.