Where Do Solo Travelers Go… and Where Don’t They?

The Travel Brats

In this episode of The Travel Brats, host Clarissa Cappelletti—regional manager at WeRoad and seasoned traveler with visits to 58 countries—

Key takeaways

• Solo travel often begins later in life, especially when social circumstances shift (e.g., being the only single friend in a group).

Main topics

• Solo travel journey and timing
• Overcoming fear of certain destinations

Notable quotes

"Don't let that deter you from going visiting it because it's a beautiful, beautiful part of the world." – Clarissa on Latin America.

Conclusion

Clarissa's story underscores that solo travel is accessible at any age and that

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:08) Hey y'all, hey y'all. I'm Soph. And I'm Nat. And we're the Travel Brats. Welcome to our podcast. We've Speaker 2 (0:15) been putting the brat in travel. Since 2020. And we're just getting started. From hidden gems to world-class travel. We've been sharing hot and not destinations from a bird's eye view and a party of two. So what's on the itinerary today? Speaker 2 (0:29) Hey, hey, hey, Travel Brats fam. Welcome back Speaker 3 (0:32) to another episode of The Travel Brats, the podcast where we talk real travel, real connections, and real-life adventures. Today, we're joined by someone who has truly been outside. She visited 58 countries, lived in four different countries, speaks three languages, and works with one of Europe's fastest-growing solo travel companies, WeRoad. She's the regional manager for English-speaking travel coordinators at WeRoad, and honestly, a walking passport stamp. So without further ado, Clarissa Capoletti, welcome to the Travel Brats. Speaker 4 (1:05) Hello. Hi there. Lovely to be here. And thank you for such a great introduction, to be honest. I don't think I can sound myself so well. So thank you for that. Speaker 2 (1:13) Well, Speaker 3 (1:14) welcome. We're super happy to have you. And hey, you've got a great resume. So that was easy. And I want to start, Clarissa, with just getting to know you because you've got such a fascinating story. I want to start at the beginning, before the job title, before the 58 countries, when did travel first become your thing? Speaker 4 (1:34) Yeah, it's interesting. So for context, I now live in London, but I'm half Swiss, half Italian. So I was born in a village of 87 people in a very small village in Switzerland. Okay. So very small reality, up in the mountains. It was lovely. But obviously, as you can imagine, it was a very... small environment. Speaker 3 (1:56) And, Speaker 4 (1:56) and so yeah, so growing up, you know, my parents, I have to say, really pushed me out of my comfort zone and out of the small village as quickly as they could. So you know, they got me to go to schools in slightly bigger villages in Switzerland, where there were 5000 people instead of 87. And, and as soon as you know, I was out of kind of secondary school, for high school and universities, they pushed me to go to Italy. So really, they really made sure that my brain was experiencing as much of the world as possible from an early age. And there was this trip, actually, that I took with my dad in the US when I was 14. And we went north to south all across California. And that was my first time living in Europe. It was the first time jumping on a big fat plane, you know, to go and explore the world. And so, yeah, so that I was like, OK, the world is actually a pretty cool place. And that's when I started, you know, developing my travel bug. And then as you know, the more you travel, the more you want to travel. And so here I am now. Speaker 3 (3:03) Well, that's awesome. Whenever we hear a story like that, like my parents really encouraged me to travel or pushed me to kind of seek something bigger outside the town and kind of just explore. We love that. I mean, what great parenting you had. And would you say that California trip with your dad was maybe one of the first trips that really inspired you to make travel a larger part of your life? Speaker 4 (3:23) Yeah, absolutely. It really was. I mean, it was the first big road trip that I took. And, you know, it was just very, very special. So, yes, you know, I didn't think at that point that I would have been able to then make travel my job. I think that came, you know, as my career journey developed. But it was definitely the first kind of hint of saying, OK, travel is pretty cool. And I definitely want to make sure that has a part in my life. Speaker 3 (3:52) Yeah. Well, you know, I love that you were able to travel with your parents as well and that they made the time for that. Would you say that solo travel has also always been a part of your story or did that kind of come later in your life? Speaker 4 (4:05) Yeah, I think it came later, to be honest. I think that for most solo travelers, it comes later. You know, when I also think about we are travelers, there's always something that happens or something that pushes them to actually start solo travel. For me in particular, you know, I probably came in my late 20s, to be honest. So I was a late solo traveler because I found myself, you know, being the only single friend in my friendship group. And, you know, as much as I love a girl's trip with my friends, it went from being, you know, a two weeks off that we could do together from a short weekend because the long trip had to be with our partners. And I was like, OK, well, I still want to explore the world. And so I started packing my bag and starting exploring it by myself. And that's actually how then I got to discover WeRode as well, because, you know, I was doing some solo traveling by myself. I was doing some group travel and I ended up going to Costa Rica with WeRode. almost four years ago now, and then the rest of history. Speaker 3 (5:05) Oh, that's awesome. I love how that kind of fell into your lap. And I'm excited to talk about, you know, the WeRoad segment of all this. I want to know first, you've lived in four different countries. And so I believe that's Italy, Switzerland. And what were the other two? Speaker 4 (5:21) I lived in the US. because I, well, I fell in love with California when I was 14, as I said. And so I went back to California when I was, God, it was a while ago. I was 20 and I lived there for a year because I studied in UC Berkeley for a year. So that was lovely. And then I lived for a few months in Washington where I was doing an internship and also in Miami. for another internship at some point in my life. So yeah, lived in the US and then obviously now in the UK. Speaker 3 (5:56) You know, honestly, I feel like you lived in more than four countries with how many different cities you've lived in the US because you're drastically different. You know, Miami from Washington from where you were in California. That's super interesting. And which country out of all you've lived in surprised you the most? Speaker 4 (6:13) Gosh, this is a tough question. I'm going to need to say the UK, you know, because when I chose to go and study in California for a year, I knew I would have loved it, right? Because I saw it when I was younger. I fell in love with the place. So I knew I would have had a great time. Speaker 2 (6:31) Right. I Speaker 4 (6:32) have to say, and apologies for any UK listener, that when I visited the UK as a traveler, Speaker 3 (6:39) I Speaker 4 (6:41) didn't love it. Speaker 3 (6:42) You know, Speaker 4 (6:43) I thought that London was a nice city. But, you know, if I compare it to Rome, I was like, well, Rome has got so much history and some better weather and sometimes even better food. So, you know, I didn't fall in love in London as a traveler, to be completely honest. So what brought me to the UK was primarily career progression. You know, I was like, OK, if I start my career here compared to start it in Italy, for example, I could probably have a career. quicker career trajectory so that was my thinking when I moved here when I was 22. It's now almost 12 years later so there you go you can also work out my age but you know I never thought I would have been here for this long because I didn't think that I would have loved London as much as I then ended up loving it so yes I would say the UK is the one that wins that battle. Speaker 3 (7:34) You know, that's a really a couple of interesting points, because I think there's a lot of places you travel to that you say, I love this place. You know, I want to let's live here. And then if you were to live there, it wouldn't be the same or perhaps you wouldn't like it as much. And then there's also that reverse. Like maybe you didn't like it that much traveling there. But like you said, when you start to live there, you really build roots and you realize what great opportunities there are. And like, I feel like the UK. I feel like there's such a cultural influx of people. So again, again, it's such a big city and it's a big capital of Europe. So like you said, for career opportunities, it's endless. It's fantastic. I Speaker 2 (8:14) think a lot of people that live in the UK say, oh, you know, Speaker 3 (8:17) London's okay. Like you can spend a little time there, but go see the Coswells Speaker 2 (8:21) and Speaker 3 (8:21) go see Scotland and go see all these other places. And then there are some people that really love the city and say, you know, you got to spend, there's so many things to do here. You got to spend a lot of time in the city. So, you know, to each his own, but I think that's kind of an interesting point that you made. I remember when we traveled to DC because it was a potential for my husband's school, like DC, Washington, DC. And I remember loving it traveling and really wanting him to get in. into that school and to go live in DC. And then I like looking back, I'm like, would I have enjoyed that? You know, it's really fast. You know, it may have not been my speed. So yeah, again, that's just an interesting thing to note. There are some places that are really great for vacations or, you know, seeing the sites. And then there's some places that are really good to live in and flourish. Are you Speaker 2 (9:02) on a mission to stay safe on every adventure? No matter where your travels take you, having the right travel coverage can make all the difference. That's why we've partnered with Mission Safe, our trusted travel insurance provider dedicated to helping travelers prepare for the unexpected. Whether you're planning a weekend getaway, an international vacation, a family trip, or a group adventure, Mission Safe offers travel medical insurance, trip cancellation protection, and comprehensive coverage options designed to give you peace of mind before and during your travels. What we love most is their personalized customer support, strong carrier relationships, and commitment to helping travelers navigate claims quickly and efficiently when they need it most. Travel smarter and protect your investment with MissionSafe so you can focus on making memories, not worrying about what could go wrong. Insurance coverage is provided through carriers rated Excellent by AMBest. To get your travel coverage today, Visit missionsafe.com slash thetravelbrats. That's missionsafe.com slash thetravelbrats. And travel safe on your next adventure. You know, I want to talk about travel with you Speaker 3 (10:22) in the sense of just the multitude of countries you've been to. So 58 countries is pretty elite status. Let's dig a little deeper in that. Favorite country you didn't expect to love? Speaker 4 (10:35) So I've got to tell you two, if that's okay. Yeah. Colombia. Speaker 3 (10:41) Okay. Speaker 4 (10:41) Colombia, really, I'm not saying that I didn't expect to love it. I know that that's what you asked me, but I didn't expect it to love it as much as I love it. Speaker 3 (10:50) Yeah, yeah. Speaker 4 (10:51) And, you know, again, when I told my parents I'm off to Colombia, I'm honest, their reaction was probably not what I was hoping for, you know. Speaker 4 (11:03) They were like, what the heck? Like, I can't believe you're going to Colombia. It's really dangerous. I mean, we know the drill when we speak about Colombia. But I just loved it. I love the nature. I did this trek. I love trekking. I did this trek called the Lost City Trek, which was really, really special. Five days in the jungle, no connection, no internet. I didn't have to charge my phone once because obviously I was not using it apart from taking pictures. All I was doing was playing cards with my group of trackers that I was with. We were showering in the river because there was no real shower. We were sleeping in this, what they called... Camps in the jungle where there were like 70 bunk beds all next to the other open air. It was absolutely beautiful and probably one of the best treks that I've done in my life. But what I've loved about Colombia as well was generally the people. And again, I think, you know, we don't talk much about the people sometimes in the travel world. But really, the culture was amazing. People were really helpful. very nice and generally like they generally wanted to help you you know I speak a bit of Spanish I'm not fluent in Spanish at all and literally they were all so happy of that small efforts that I was making in in kind of trying to find my way with Spanish it was just lovely absolutely lovely so it exceeded all my expectations. And to be honest, I'm that type of person that, you know, always says, oh, I don't want to go back where I've been because I want to see somewhere new. But I would happily go back to Colombia anytime. You Speaker 3 (12:49) know, I think that's great. I always get that opinion from other people when they travel to not just Colombia, but South America. I mean, I've had friends that have been pleasantly surprised by Colombia. I've always wanted to go because I have a friend who is Colombian. And every time she goes, you know, I see her pictures and her stories and I'm like, wow, this place looks really fun. But just that South American culture, I think, Central South American, because you get this when you go to Mexico as well. Like you said, nobody's snobby. Everybody's welcoming. The fact that, like you said, you try to speak the language, even if you're terrible at it, they are, like me, they are so welcoming and they're so, oh. we love that you're speaking. Oh yes, it's like this. Oh, it's over here. You know, I just think that makes travel so much better and so fun. And it really matters. I mean, for me, it makes a difference. I recently went to Italy and, and there were some really rude people in certain Northern areas and like in the service industry too, not just people you'd run into on the street, waiters, you know, and it's just like, wow, this is just not a good feeling. to have people so, so cold. So, you know, it really does make a difference. Now I want to know number two. Speaker 4 (13:57) Yeah, number two is a recent one, actually. I've been in December and it's going to need to be Nepal. Speaker 2 (14:05) And Speaker 4 (14:05) again, Nepal, well, as I said, I'm a mountain lover. I love hiking. I love the mountains. for me, it was a dream come true to, you know, be walking in the Himalayas and just, you know, experiencing, you know, I was walking at 4,000 meters elevation, not sure what that is in feet, about double that. So say 8,000 feet. And I, around me, I had mountains that were another 8,000 feet higher than where I was, right? So that for me was just insane. I was thinking. At the altitude that I am now in Europe, I will basically be at the top of the highest mountain, which would be Mont Blanc. So it was mind blowing in all the best possible ways. But again, what I really loved. I went on a pool with a friend of mine and we had a shepherd, a trekker that came with us on the trek that we were doing to Everest Base Camp. And the history and the sharings of the culture and, you know, like obviously