As a single guy, I frequently take trips solo. My friends aren't as adventurous as I am, so they aren't always gun-ho about flying across the world. That has created a dilemma for me. I want to see the world, try new foods, and experience new cultures. I could wait for someone to come with me on trips or I have to go on my own. I have chosen to do the later and I am not sorry for it. In the past 3 years, I have been to Asia, Europe and Africa all on my own.
Many people have written about the problems of traveling solo, but there are quite a few benefits. Here are my top 5 Reasons Why I Love Traveling Alone:
1) Freedom
One of the best benefits of traveling by yourself is freedom. There isn't anyone to share making decisions with. You want to stay at the Hyatt, no problem. Want to sleep in, eat at a particular restaurant, skip a monument, also no problem. By traveling by yourself, you are the main decision maker.
I like not having anyone to share decision making with. When I travel, I tend to go hardcore. I may leave the hotel at 9 am and might not get back to the hotel until 9 pm. Not everyone can go 12 hours with little to no break. With only me, I get to set the pace and what I want to see. Freedom has allowed me to visit places that I couldn't if I was traveling with a friend or two. For instance, a few years ago, I took a road trip throughout Virginia. I wanted to visit my fraternity's headquarters in Richmond. With no one else with me, I took a detour from my planned trip and visited the headquarters.
2) Peace
With no one to share decision making with, there is peace. When traveling with others, tension always tend to boil underneath. Some people can keep the tension underneath, never letting others know it exists. Not me. At some point, my emotions get the best of me and I vocalize my frustrations. Its one of my flaws.
When I travel by myself, I have no one to blame, but me. If something happens, I caused it. During my trip to Tokyo, I was alone and I was at peace. With peace, your senses are at their highest, because your mind is clear. You start to experience things that you would otherwise not feel, see, smell or touch; mostly due to your mind being somewhere else.
Having peace is an amazing thing on vacation.
3) Time With Yourself
Solo traveling is not easy. You are in a foreign place by yourself. Under these circumstances, there is a lot of time by yourself. For some, the silence is to much to handle. However, I love the feeling especially in foreign countries that you don’t speak or understand the language. For instance, in Mali, I made the decision to quit my job of 5+ years. I had struggled with the decision to resign for months. Always putting the decision off, because I was busy with something else. In Mali, I had no distractions. No cell phone, no internet, no friends, only me and my thoughts.
I had the same clarity in Tokyo. Outside a few conversations with fellow travelers, I spoke few words. One day, I maybe said 10 words, all of them while ordering food. That silence can give you the time needed to make major decisions or look back on a situation. In Tokyo, I had time to review 2012 and lay out goals for 2013. I don't think I would have had the time/lack of distractions to do this if I spent the holidays in Connecticut.
4) Plenty of Time To Read Books
I love to read books. Its a passion of mine that I don't get to do to often. My life in Washington, DC sometimes is hectic. I very rarely have time to sit down and read a book. Therefore, on vacations, I am a reading machine. Typically, I can knock out 5 to 6 books on a 7 day vacation.
When traveling by myself, I can read books anywhere I want: on airplanes, subway rides, park etc. Since I don't have a travel companion, I'm not being rude reading. Actually, I enjoy stopping in parks to read for 15 or 20 minutes. Its a nice way to break up a day of sightseeing. Another place I read a lot is at dinner. Without anyone to converse with, I can pull out a book between courses and read. Frequently, I get looks from other guests in the restaurant, but I don't pay much attention.
One of the down sides of my love of reading is that I pick up books constantly. I prefer the real book to an e-book. It something about the feel and smell of the book. Since I only really read on vacation, I amass lots of books. Anytime there is a used bookstore or a library sale, I tend to stop and buy books.
When I finish a book, I tend to leave them where ever I am. My books have been left on planes, subways, airport bathrooms, hotel rooms, park benches. I have no use for them after I am finished plus I need their space in my luggage for souvenirs. Here are some of the books waiting to be read:
5) The New Friends You Will Meet
When traveling by yourself, you are more likely to meet new people. Its logically. If you are traveling with another person or group of people, you tend to congregate with those you know. You can't do this traveling solo. It is only you. This opens you up to meet new people.
At some point, the silence is going to get to much. You are going to crave verbal human contact. In Japan, I went to a public bath. While chilling out in one of the springs, a gentlemen starting talking to me. Since I was one of the few white guys there and by myself, I was a prime target. For the next 30 minutes, I talk to my new friend. After getting over the uncomfortableness of being naked and having a conversation with a complete stranger, I actually enjoy talking to him. He told me about restaurants to try, places to visit outside of Tokyo, and a cheaper way to get to the airport. If I was traveling with a friend, I would not have had this opportunity to meet this stranger.
My public bath experience was similar to this minus the read cover-ups and males only:
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| www.nwsportsbeat.com |
Overall, traveling solo is a very rewarding experience. I encourage everything to try traveling alone. Start small. Maybe an overnight or weekend in a different city in the US. After getting over being alone, you might just enjoy seeing the world by yourself.
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