Hi…
This is my first post. I'm a 24-year-old woman, and suffering from social anxiety pretty much my whole life. I have a hard time interacting with new people, and I am frightened by new situations and uncertainty. I also love hiking and traveling abroad, a passion that doesn't really go well with my social problems. So far I have dared to do a one week backpacking trip on a popular track in Scotland, where I kept to myself and befriended no one. I always slept in my tent instead of hostels, and ate alone. This lonely existence is manageable for a week, but now I'm planning a 4-week backpacking trip to New Zealand where I want to stay in hostels and travel by public transport, and my complete lack of social skills concerns me. I really want to be able to talk to people (English is not my first language and my anxiety can make me really tongue tied…) and make friends, but I just don’t know how, or to be honest, if I even can. People always talk about meeting new people when traveling like it's the easiest and most natural thing in the world, like it just… happens. But I don't know how to do it.
I wonder if there are any other people here who can relate to my poblem, and if so I would love to hear your stories and get some advice on how to travel and interact with other people while suffering from social anxiety.

Thank you