The world is too big to have to wait around for someone to go with you every time you want to go on an adventure. Why should you cancel your plan to travel just because your friends and family members are not willing to travel due to some reason or the other? When I disclosed my plans of travelling solo there was bewilderment in the face of some and amusement on the face of others. Most of the people around me were either worried about my safety and some even believed I have lost my mind.
Holidaying with your family and friends is definitely fun but in this blog I am discussing how traveling alone feels awesome;-
You can do what you want, when you want and how you want
Your entire travel will be focused around you about what you want to do and what you like. When traveling solo you really can just do whatever takes your fancy. Every single day can be filled with things that interest you. You don’t have to compromise your plans or miss out on what you want to do because your travel buddy is whining as they don’t want to do that or they want to do something else instead. You have no one to please but yourself, and yes that may seem self-centered, but who gives a damn?
You will never be lonely
Most of the people are worried about the loneliness they may encounter when they travel alone. But the reality is that so many people travel alone every day and you will definitely bump into a few of them. You may make friends and start a conversation in a long coach journey or in a dormitory. So that means you are not really lonely when you travel alone. It’s just that you make new friends and part ways to reach a new destination. The point is you will never be alone, and the best part is you can have the best of both worlds. You can enjoy the benefits of traveling solo, and have company when and if you want it. It’s your choice.
You will become much more self-confident and self-reliant
When forced to move out of your comfort zone and have to face unexpected situations on your own. You will learn to know more about yourself and about your strengths and weakness alike.
Things go inevitably wrong in a backpacking trip that may range from small annoyances like a delay in transport to forgetting essential things at home. You quickly learn to deal with the incumbent situation and become street smart. All this makes you self-confident and self-reliant in the long run.
You meet more locals and get to see different cultures
Traveling with your friends and family indulges you and insulates you from the surrounding unconsciously. Traveling solo removes this safety net of your friends or partner, so that you no longer have that comfort zone of travelling within a group. So you can often make much more effort to interact with the locals and immerse yourself in the culture of the place you are visiting.
Solo travel is not dangerous
Some people presume that travel is unsafe for a solo traveler. Whereas I vouch that basic common-sense precautions will keep a solo backpacker as safe as any backpacker in a group full of other people would be. And yes, that applies to those wearing the solo female backpacker badge too.
Travel beyond self- imposed inhibitions. So if traveling is your dream, if you are feeling homesick for somewhere you have never been before, if you want to go backpacking but you have no one to go with, then book your tour package and go alone.