Why Traveling Alone is the Only Way to Travel
There’s just one thing holding you back. You have no one to go with or no one you know wants to go to the same place as you.
There was a time when the single traveler was regarded as a bit of an oddity but not anymore.
Here are some great reasons for fulfilling your dreams and visiting those places that you always wanted to get to because taking a holiday alone is more common than you think.
Improve Your Confidence
Just planning an event and making it happen can give you a huge boost and so can travelling. You really will be thinking on your feet and getting to the place that you want to go to.
Whether you take solo holidays or are backpacking around Europe or doing a bit of island hopping the achievement will help confidence levels.
Travelling Alone Gets You Out of Your Comfort Zone
There is nothing quite like travelling alone to stimulate creativity and to open up new ways of thinking. You will discover skills you never knew you had from some very creative sign language to experiencing a new activity.
The world is out there to see and the only way of doing that is to try something new. Start by going on a day trip somewhere and eating a nice meal in a restaurant alone. No problems? Then plan the holiday you always dreamed of and go.
Solo backpacker backpacking one the beach
Learn About New Activities
One of the best things about travelling alone is that it doesn’t need to be a singles holiday. Sometimes taking an activity based trip is a great ice breaker and there will be some company on a journey that could be quite a challenge to achieve totally alone.
Walking holidays are a typical example and with destinations such as the Himalayas these are ideal places to join a group of like- minded people and trek with the support required.
Other activities include cookery, sailing and yoga and even learning a new language. The choices are vast and with fellow travelers in the same boat you will soon bond and enjoy the holiday.
A conversation Starter
When you travel alone you will have to start asking directions and people will be curious about you. Whilst you do need to trust your gut feeling and intuition around safety there are some wonderful opportunities to find out more about the area you are travelling in.
In general people are very welcoming and you are likely to encounter some wonderful characters. Just remember if it doesn’t feel right don’t do it but do take opportunities when they arise. You may also make one or two new friends for life. You will be alone but never really alone.
Get a Wonderful Sense of Achievement
Travelling to far flung places and meeting the challenges of being alone in a strange environment is not for everyone. Having got there and walked a classic trekking route or seen a famous sight the sense of achievement can be overwhelmingly good.
The other great thing is that once you have ventured into the world of solo travel you can consider yourself truly bitten by the travelling bug and clearly need to plan your next journey.
Rachael Rowe is a travel writer who has travelled all over the world alone.
