As an extrovert who had experience travelling solo, I once found myself travelling to Germany at the last minute due to being the only person on the project with a passport (and, I'll note, German not a language I'd had any acquaintance with at the time). It provoked significant worry from me, especially given that my directions to the site involved public transit and directions of the "know it when you see it" sort.

So I can understand the concerns. Heck, I ran into issues later when I left my phrasebook behind. I couldn't remember the word "Geldautomat" and was out of cash. Fortunately I did find someone who spoke enough English to help.

That said, I found the Germans I met along my journey to be far friendlier than the typical American stereotype of them, and the trip went just fine (and many more like it, later) -- but I was already a seasoned traveler who was used to all the aspects of long-distance air travel.