When I embarked on my first big adventure many years ago, my friends and family gasped. My father bluntly said that I didn't have the experience to travel anywhere, let alone on my own, not to mention (he said) that my budget ensured I would be sleeping under bridges and in railway stations. My friends wondered how I would manage: I'm dating myself here, but this was before Lonely Planet had shrunk the globe, and before young people felt that touring the world was their birthright. In my era, everyone wanted to become a business executive.
My dad was right: I didn't know what I was doing. My friends were right: Save for my battered copy of Let's Go Europe, I had no information about my upcoming adventure: four months in Europe with a Eurail Pass and about sixteen hundred dollars. But it was a trip that now, after having spent thousands of days away from home and having visited dozens of countries on every continent except Antarctica, stands out in my memory. Traveling alone forced me to go outside of my comfort zone, which led to interactions I never would have had if I had been gossiping in English with a travel partner.
It may seem like a contradiction, but sometimes the most engaged travelers are those who go solo. Think about it: If you're traveling with friends or family members, you can turn to them for all kinds of needs, big and small. You have a built-in companion for meals, and a second opinion if you think you're getting lost. You have another person with whom to discuss the pluses and minuses of biking another 10 miles or changing your itinerary.
if you're on your own, every decision is yours, and so is every consequence. But so are all the magical moments, some of which happen more easily to solo travelers simply because being alone and vulnerable makes solo travelers more open to connecting with others. It turns out that traveling alone is one of the best ways to truly engage with the travel experience and immerse yourself in the sheer foreigness of everything.
10 Reasons to Travel Alone
- No negotiating over destinations or activities: museums versus sporting events; B and Bs versus hotels; brats and beer versus haute cuisine.
- No fights over budgets and who should pay for what
- You get to schedule your day according to your own energy levels, whether that means sleeping in or taking naps or running around like the Energizer bunny.
- No snoring room-mates (unless, of course, you sleep in a hostel; then bring earplugs).
- Motivation to actually speak a foreign language rather than sticking to your own language with your own peeps.
- Flexibility to change plans on a moment's notice, as when a native you've just met on a train invites you to couch-surf at her place. (That happened to me my first night in France, forever making me a fierce defender of all things French, especially their much-maligned attitudes toward strangers.)
- The chance to follow a momentary interest, whether it's staying a few more nights at a dive resort, going into an interesting looking shop, or change your itinerary because someone told you there was a great pearl farm to visit on the other side of the island.
- Motivation to chat with fellow travelers and seek out new friends.
- You can travel at your own pace,which is especially important if you are hiking or biking.
- Quiet time alone to draw, take ALL the time you want to take a photo, write in your journal, and absorb the experience.
Solo traveling is not for everyone. It can be more expensive because hotels often charge by the room, not the person. It can be frightening and lonely, and sometimes scary. But it can also be tremendously rewarding. If you are of an independent temperament, and you want to travel, don't let being alone stop you. Check out hostels and guided tours to meet others, take appropriate solo travel safety precautions, and above all, follow your heart to adventure. The only trips I've regretted are the ones I haven't taken.
Karen Berger - Karen Berger is the author of 15 books. Please click on her name to read her full bio.
