Doing anything by yourself can seem daunting, not well planned and for the most part, sound boring but when traveling somewhere new by yourself then those words change altogether. In this post, I will share with you 7 things I love the most about solo traveling that makes it worth every second.
1. The Adventure
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get”
A famous line in Forest Gump and this line holds true when solo traveling as there is a certain adventure that comes along with doing something by yourself. The randomness of having no idea how the trip or day is going unfold but being prepared and excited for whatever happens is a feeling which words just can’t describe. Life is an adventure in the sense where you might start by speaking to someone at a train station, who then invites you to a friend’s birthday party later on that night who in turn introduces you to a famous guitarist is one of many random but adventurous situations which can happen.
2. Getting to know the person in the mirror
This part I believe is the most important and the best bit about traveling alone which is the main reason I would recommend solo travel to anyone that is new to it and that is understanding yourself in terms of what you truly like and dislike. You may already know some of these to an extent but when you’re alone in a country you spend so much time with yourself that you just truly understand this element and do only the things that make your cup of tea. Whether it is hiking, photography or just admiring amazing buildings there’s something out there for everyone and solo travel will help unlock what it is.
3. Meeting new people (I purposely didn’t put making new friends because that might not always be the case but it can be)
Now, this point deserves a whole article/blog post solely on this (which I probably will do in the future) but to summarize meeting new people is one of the favorite things I love about traveling alone. I love meeting new people and in some cases getting to know them more than just their name and star sign. When traveling alone you will most definitely meet people as that is how you will find out the best spots to go and if your personality permits getting invited to places and faces. You can literally meet people anywhere! The coolest and funniest place I met someone was on my flight and later on in my hostel (life ay!).
Met them in Houston Texas
4. Being your own boss
When you’re traveling alone you are the director, the main star of the show and the Oga at the top (a Nollywood reference meaning “the boss”). Whichever way you want your trip to be is totally up to you and no one can steer you in any way from doing what you perhaps wouldn’t otherwise want to do.
If you decide to lay on the beach all day and just soak up the sun you can do that. If you perhaps want to sit in the city center and people watch you can do that too or even if you want to do nothing at all and just sleep all day guess what… you can do that too because you’re the boss and you make the rules…*in a fast-paced advertising tone* (though I would highly not recommend spending all day sitting indoors as you spent money and time on this trip and the world has so much to offer than browsing social media and sleeping all day).
5. It gets you out of your comfort zone
I appreciate this might not be something many people are happy doing but for me, one thing I love is going out my comfort zone and doing something I have never done before.
Be it going on a trip I didn’t plan for, trying out what exactly a roasted cricket tastes like (which isn’t all that bad to be fair needs a bit of sauce but it’s alright), or forcing you to communicate in a language you have recently picked up online. All these are things you normally would not do perhaps if left to your own devices.
6. Cool Hostel roommates
This ties in with point #3 but this is specific to living in a hostel which if you are new to traveling alone I highly recommend doing as it’s the most affordable and super fun way of traveling solo. I can’t count the number of times my trip to a country has been made extra special just because of my amazing roommates who in some cases become my friends. It is also important to note I have had the opposite in like 1 or 2 cases but for the most part, they always add joy to my travels.
One of the best bits I like about roommates is they might have been in the country before so they’ll have some first-hand experience on certain activities or locations you’d like to visit and in some special cases have a spare ticket they are willing to share. Also, if you get along well you end up planning certain activities and nights out together which can end up being some of your best nights ever! Useful to note, you can meet cool people in Airbnb’s also if it is large enough and has a communal area as I did in my second picture below.
Sweden Hostel Roommates
Airbnb flatmates
7. You never end up regretting it
I can honestly say that out of all the countries and places I have traveled to and every dollar spent on my trip I have had zero regrets. I might have had some experiences which were not the sweetest but overall every time I travel somewhere new I might have my doubts at first thinking “what if the people are ___(insert any negative comment you want)? or “What if I get lost?”. In all the cases it never pans out that way and in most cases, it is beyond what I could ever imagine. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience and it has taught me so many things that I can’t even list in this post but overall it has made me appreciate that happiness in life is the most important thing and this happiness is not controlled by what others think or do but controlled only by you.
