Travelling is about so much more than seeing sights; it’s about experiencing them. A journey to a foreign land or even just a city miles from home is a different experience for everyone, of course, and it all depends on what you’re planning to get out of your trip. For some, perhaps it is nothing more than a relaxing, calming, holiday-style break. For others, travel might be an exhausting mission to tick a crazy life goal off the bucket list.
Either way, it’s an experience. And, whatever the case, I can’t stress enough the sheer exhilaration and reinvigoration you’ll feel when you travel solo. It might seem scary on the surface, but it doesn’t have to be a lonely experience. You can meet new people on the way, but the act of travelling alone is a freeing experience, as you can make all your own decisions. If you want any more reason as to why you should head off on a solo adventure, then here are some positive points and tips for the lone traveller.
Don’t be too ambitious.
That may sound like the opposite to any advice you were expecting, but a solo trip is likely a new experience for you. You shouldn’t feel pressured by yourself to push yourself further than you’d like to go, because this is your adventure. If you travel solo, nobody’s asking you to go anywhere or do anything you want to do, which means you don’t have to be too ambitious. Perhaps sticking to cities before you travel to obscure, isolated locations is a good place to start, because you want to get a feel of whether this type of travelling is really for you. I assure you that it will be.
You can still travel in groups.
As I mentioned early on, travelling solo isn’t about abandoning the world and “finding yourself” on some deep, solo adventure. I mean, it can be if that’s what you want, but travelling solo is more about getting everything done that you want to get done. Other people might have their own wishes and desires when travelling, and sometimes we can feel deterred from seeing or experiencing the things we really want to experience when visiting places with friends and family because everyone wants to stick together.
When you’re simply meeting people on your travels, however, it’s much easier to part ways and experience the things you want to experience. It can still be your trip. In fact, you might want to consider adventure travel guides to ensure you have an experienced person showing you the way. Again, this doesn’t take away from the “solo” element of the adventure, because the key is always that you’re following your plan and nobody else’s. If you want to see something, then go and see it. Don’t be afraid to do so, because nobody’s holding you back if you travel alone.
No distractions.
The greatest thing about travelling alone is that, no matter how crazy the adventures become, it’s always a relaxing experience to have a little time with your own thoughts. As much as you love your friends and family, it’s good to go on an adventure without any distractions from other people. And the great thing about it being your personal, solo trip is that you can invite distractions into your journey later on (if you so wish). There’s always a chance to meet new people wherever you are in the world.
