6 Reasons Why I Love Traveling Solo

Traveling to me is more than just crossing off places on my bucket list. It’s a way for me to meet new people, broaden my perspective on life, and hopefully learn a thing or two about myself. 

While I think there is nothing better in life than traveling with the people you love, I’ve found that sometimes that’s just not possible. With busy schedules, little vacation time, and differing travel interests, it can be easy to feel stuck when trying to plan a trip. 

After many fallen-through trips and several compromises, I decided to do a trip on my own. While this was nothing I ever anticipated on doing, it actually was one of the best experiences I ever had. And since my initial solo adventure, I’ve made an effort to do at least one trip on my own each year.

If you have ever considered traveling solo, I highly recommend it. For me it made me realize I was capable of so much more and that I really didn’t need to depend on anyone to see the world. So, if you’re thinking of traveling solo but are too scared to bite the bullet, here are some reasons to plan your first adventure.

The Feeling of Independence

There’s this beautiful feeling you get when you’ve accomplished your first solo trip. For me, I had traveled to over 15 countries before doing one completely alone, and yet I was terrified over the thought of getting lost, eating alone in a restaurant, and just the actual idea of not knowing a single soul in an entire country.  However, when you break down those fears, you realize that none of them really matter. Got lost? Ask someone on the street for directions. Hate eating alone in public? Get yourself a good book and enjoy a fantastic meal with your own thoughts. 

Once you get through it and see how these concerns melt away as soon as you are doing what you love most in life, you get a feeling of accomplishment that is beyond gratifying. It honestly gave me a boost of confidence in myself when I was able to prove that I could handle a solo trip on my own. 

Pushing Personal Boundaries

It’s not every day that you have to do things that push you outside of your comfort zone.  Whether big or small, you are constantly faced with new challenges that you have to overcome when traveling solo. For instance, sitting down by myself at a restaurant absolutely terrified me. Don’t ask me why, but to me, it was so uncomfortable. In fact, my first solo trip I only ate street food while in Nuremberg visiting the Christmas Markets because I couldn’t get myself to just ask for a table of one at any restaurant.

Finally, after only eating sausages and mulled wine for a whole 72 hours, I decided I had to just suck it up and do it. So, I found an authentic German restaurant, ordered myself a glass of wine, opened a book, and you know what, I got over it. In fact, my worst nightmare happened when they sat a couple literally at the same table as me and they barely spoke English. However, with a bit of sign language and a few English words exchanged, we were able to get by with light conversation. 

I left that restaurant with the biggest grin, not only from the buzz I was getting from all that mulled wine, but because I had accomplished something that seemed so minor and yet was such a challenge for me. 

I also love the satisfaction you feel when you get dumped into a new city, not knowing how to get to your accommodations but in that moment, you just figure it out. Once I finally find my accommodations, I always drop off my bags and start exploring. I plug in my headphones, turn on my music, and soak in all the sights and sounds that I come by. Having no other distractions or requests on where you should go gives you a sense of freedom that can only be felt by traveling alone. 

Testing Travel Skills

If you’re close to me, you already know I’ve never been very savvy with technology, directions, or any of these types of things for that matter. However when you’re traveling solo, you gotta learn, and you gotta learn quickly. 

In my early years of travel, I usually depended on someone else to navigate directions and to figure out public transportation while I’d do the research on restaurants and sights to see. However, once you’re alone, you have no one else to depend on.

 I learned how to get around, what to do if I got lost, and how to adapt to my environment if needed. Once again, none of these skills would have ever been learned if I stayed at home or continued to travel in groups.

Meeting New People

One of my biggest takeaways from traveling solo is how easy it is to meet people, but here’s the thing, you have to be open to it (shocking, I know). What I mean by that is you have to put yourself out there and position yourself to be open to starting a conversation. 

For me, this was another thing that absolutely scared me to my core. Yes, I think I can be a very social person, however, I need someone else to start the conversation. From there, you can’t shut me up. 

Traveling alone taught me that it’s okay to start a conversation, join a group at your hostel, or just to be open to new people. In fact, it makes the trip way more memorable. While it may be uncomfortable in the beginning, it’s really a great way to talk to people with completely different backgrounds and from every corner of the world.  

Do Something That Makes You Happy

I like asking people what their passions are in life. Now I don’t care if it’s gardening or birdwatching, as long as you have something that gives you life. For me, there’s nothing that makes me happier than seeing a new place for the very first time. It gives me something to look forward to, something to work hard for, and once it’s all over, it gives me my greatest memories. 

It makes me more appreciative knowing I’ve been able to see some places that people only dream of. It gives me motivation to work hard, stay focused, and choose my trips wisely. And like I’ve said in previous points, there really is nothing more satisfying or fulfilling as taking on a new country completely on your own. 

Knowing I’m Limited on Time

Time is a precious thing, and I don’t like to waste it. I’ve realized that my time in Europe or even just having this kind of lifestyle where I can travel so freely is temporary, which means I need to take advantage of it while I can. 

However, trying to plan a trip with friends always plays out the same: The discussion of going for a weekend trip opens up, we talk about booking tickets and the things we want to do, the topic of dates gets brought up, and then the plan fades. 

I spent so much time depending on others, waiting in hopes that they’ll come for a visit, or getting disappointed when the plans are all talk and no action. Finally, I just came to the realization that if I want to travel, I have to make it happen. Period. 

If I can find someone to go with, fantastic, I’d love the company. And I really do believe that being able to share an experience with someone can give you invaluable memories and beautiful life experiences that you’ll always have with that person. But, with that being said, if you are constantly waiting for others, who may value traveling less than you do, you’ll never go or at least you’ll be going far less than you’d like. 

For me, traveling helps me stay balanced, motivated, and focused on the present moment. If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to travel solo.

At least once in your life, go somewhere you’ve never been and plan the whole thing on your own. Choose the restaurants you want to go to and decide how you want to spend your time. There really is nothing more satisfying than the sense of accomplishment you get while traveling on your own.