I wouldn’t say I’m the most experienced traveler by any means, but I have had a few experiences in other countries. I took my first solo trip to Washington DC for four days. This was also my first experience in a hostel. It wasn’t bad, but let’s just say the hostels in Europe were so much nicer.
After that trip, I decided to take a bigger trip all the way to Europe the following year where I visited three countries, Czech Republic, Austria, and Italy. I did so much research on getting to place to place, tours, food, hotels, and everything in between. I spent hours studying maps of the cities that I would be in. It got to the point where it was almost impossible for me to mess it up or get lost somewhere.
Now obviously, my friends were concerned about me going to a different continent alone. “Won’t you be lonely?”
“What will you do?”
“What if ______ happens?”
“How are you going to plan this all?”
I got asked a million questions. They all came from people that have never left the state they live in or have only visited states that border their state.
I’ve heard there’s some statistic somewhere that says most people in America don’t have a passport. Just based on the people that I know, I can believe that statistic.
I’m not the kind of person that likes to constantly be around someone else. Almost like a security blanket. Some people just like the comfort of having someone with them where ever they go. So for me, I never asked anyone if they would go with me to Washington DC or to come to Europe. It just seemed like a hassle to try and find someone, so instead of asking someone I just told them this is what I’m doing. If they were interested they would ask me questions about it, and then maybe the possibility of coming along would come up (that hasn’t happened yet btw).
In all my travels I have only planned a trip with one person, and it was so weird to me to have someone along for the experience. Traveling solo allows me to have the freedom that I like about being able to eat at whatever place looks good at the time or being able to roam around the city and do whatever I want. I don’t need to agree with someone else on what to do next. I’ve also met a handful of amazing other travelers by traveling solo. Most of whom I still keep in touch with today.
So all in all, I will probably never travel with someone else. I’ve had so many great experiences by being alone in another country. And I think that since I don’t need to constantly have something to do on a trip, it allows me to change plans or get a more cultural experience. As opposed to booking so many tours.
Traveling solo doesn’t have to be a daunting and scary experience. You just need some common sense and you’ll have an amazing time.
Let me know where you’ve been on a solo trip in the comment section down below!
