On your way to embarking on a solo trip on your own? We couldn’t be more excited for you!
We’ve all travelled with family and friends at least once in our life. But how many of us have actually taken the plunge to travel alone? This write-up is for all those people who haven’t quite had the opportunity of travelling alone.
But before we look into the pros and cons of travelling alone, let’s find out WHY it is so important to travel, shall we?
Why is Travelling So Important?
Whoever said that travelling broadens your horizons, was telling the truth. Because it really does! Being confined in a room can only help you learn so much. Travelling on the other hand makes people learn new things every step of the way. And not just about their surroundings but also about themselves.
And sometimes, we just owe it to ourselves. After months or a year of hard work, everybody deserves a vacation to themselves. Be it on the outskirts of town or on a trip to a different continent, we should all have the chance of just ‘living’ without having to worry about anything else from time to time.
What are the Pros of Travelling Alone?
If travelling itself has so many benefits, imagine how much good it could do if you took a trip alone to some part of the world! Here are some of the pros of travelling to a new destination all on your own.
It’s Freeing
Not everyone has the privilege of being able to travel alone. But those who do, know how freeing the whole experience can be.
Think of it this way, you are boarding a flight to somewhere you have never been before, all on your own, with no deadlines to meet or exams to sit. Feeling the weight being taken off your shoulders already? Then, wait till you read some more!
When you are on a solo trip, you are completely on your own. You get to make all the choices and have full freedom of doing things on your own terms. YOU, are the only captain of the ship, steering it in whichever direction you want to go.
Perhaps, the thing that should get you the most excited is that you can eat, drink, sleep, wake up, go out and do everything else in your own time. Moreover, who doesn’t like to have a room all by themselves?
Self-Growth
More often than not, people who make travel vlogs or blogs frequently talk about their changes in perspective after coming back from a trip. This is mostly seen in people who enjoy travelling alone.
With work, study, chores and everything else that is generally on your radar, you barely ever get the time to think. Be it about yourself or the surroundings you are in, it is always important to have some ‘me’ time to think clearly and get things into perspective.
The only way of achieving this is to spend more and more time with yourself. And when we travel alone, we have all the time in the world to just pause and take a breather to let everything come into perspective, one by one.
Travelling alone helps you get to know yourself a lot better. It gives you the space, time, freedom and opportunity for growth.
Choose Destinations
When you are travelling with people, you have to consider and compromise a lot of things. You have to wake up, eat and go sightseeing as per everyone else’s schedule. Most times, you may even have to cancel out your favourite destinations to let others have their pick too.
However, when you are on a solo trip, you get to choose where you want to go. It gives you the opportunity to make a list of the places you want to visit and take the time to just learn, observe and have fun.
Loads of Me Time
Not everyone likes to socialize all the time. So, for those of you who actually prefer the calm, going on a solo trip can actually give you the chance to just be on your own. You can read books, do some skincare, sit in a café, try out new food, etc. all on your own.
New Experiences
There are a lot of firsts that most of us haven’t conquered yet. Just like making solo trips, there are a lot of other things that most of us haven’t had the opportunity of trying.
It could be going on a boat ride on your own, navigating through the map of a brand new place, eating a hearty dinner at a foreign restaurant, trying out a different cuisine etc.
And the reason all of these new experiences are important is because these are ONLY for you to treasure.
Making New Friends
Just because you are on a solo mission doesn’t mean that you can’t make friends on the other side of the globe.
Despite the difference in culture, you can always find good friends anywhere you go. Also, it is perhaps the obvious difference in the culture is that’s intriguing for both.
You’ll be surprised at the amount of information you can exchange when meeting new people at a place you have never been before.
Boosts Self-Confidence
Being in charge of your safety, bills and all things grown-up, can boost your self-confidence. It enables you to become more mindful about who you are.
There are a lot of people in this world who are shy while doing the smallest of things on their own. One good example is people who cannot eat alone.
The sudden ooze of confidence that you get from travelling alone can help you take on more unchartered territory in the future, fearlessly. Not to mention, your ability to make quick decisions also enhances when you have to run things on your own in a different country.
Heals You, Internally
Doing all that is written above and more can help you heal internally when travelling alone. It can help you see things from a different perspective, eventually causing you to think, solve and conquer the problems that life throws at you.
The new travel experiences that you gained are only for you to cherish for the rest of your life. Thus, travelling solo can help you heal slowly towards HAPPINESS.
What are the Cons of Travelling Alone?
There are always two sides to every coin. While we completely agree with the pros of travelling alone, there are, however, some cons to it as well.
No Sharing Buddy
A lot of people prefer to travel with friends and family more than wanting to travel alone. This is because it can get extremely lonely sometimes. Even if you are on cloud 9, experiencing new and exciting things thousands of kilometres away from friends and family.
Linguistic Issues
This will only be a problem if you are visiting a country with only a handful of people speaking English. Nonetheless, with the advancement in technology and apps like Duolingo or Google translators, one can now easily get by without having to learn a new language for the sake of a week.
Boredom
For those of you who don’t like being on your own for hours, boredom can be a side effect of travelling alone. However, there are ways that you can try out to keep yourself entertained until the trip ends.
Photographs
Yes, you can carry your tripod with you while travelling. But it isn’t always possible to take out your tripod, set it up and then click a picture for yourself.
In fact, what’s worse is having to ask people to take your solo picture for you. On the other hand, had you gone on a trip with friends or family, they would have happily obliged to take good pictures of you.
Conclusion
As you can see, the pros of travelling alone outweigh the cons by a great difference. Therefore, if the opportunity of travelling alone ever shows up, we would without a second’s thought suggest you embark on a journey to the unknown. Coming down to the logistics of it, taking a solo trip is also less expensive as you only have to pay for yourself. However, one thing that we would definitely ask you to do before going on any adventure alone is to do your research on the place, its people and its culture. This will give you the basic knowledge you need to guide yourself in a new city.
Photo by Erik Odiin on Unsplash