I took my first full solo trip in November 2016 and I’ve not looked back and continued to hop on flights alone. People always say ‘I don’t know how you do it’, ‘I could never travel alone’, ‘Don’t you get lonely?’ – which I understand but I genuinely believe everyone needs to experience a solo trip in their lifetime. So here are the reasons you should travel solo.
YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE
Drake said it! You only live once and you should never live life thinking ‘what if’. Think about what is stopping you from going. Parents? Scared of being lonely? Should those things really hold you back from living you life? I think not.
YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT
THIS! While travelling in a group or with a partner is great, travelling solo is amazing! You can literally do whatever it is that you want and when you want.
Whether it is waking up later or waking up earlier, you are completely in charge of your itinerary and you’re able to do as you please and when you please. Also, you may travel somewhere with a friend and want to see all the museums the city has to offer, but they don’t . You can do that as solo traveller, when travelling with others you have to be really open to compromise.
Travelling solo you can be truly spontaneous and that’s what makes it all that much more exciting and interesting.
YOU ARE MORE UNLIKELY TO GET INTO CONFLICT WITH YOURSELF
While travelling with friends is so much fun and a great bonding experience, it can also cause turmoil in friendships. You may have an argument or a little disagreement, then feel awkward for the next couple of days. Obviously, you could kiss and make up within the hour; but travelling so, this is never a concern.
YOU ARE NOT ACTUALLY GOING TO BE SOLO
All my solo travel trips, I have met the most incredible people. When I was in Rome in November 2016, I met the loveliest Cuban guy and we stayed in contact. So when I headed to Cuba in November 2017, I paid him a visit. It was also super handy because he helped me avoid being completely ripped off by tourist prices – haha.
There are so many different places that you can meet people when you are travelling solo. Whether its other travellers or locals – read my post on how to meet people when travelling solo. In most places locals are super friendly and happy to help you with anything.
YOU’LL GROW AS A PERSON
The biggest and most important reason to me, is because you’ll grow as a person. Travelling solo takes you completely out of your comfort zone, no matter how many times you do it. You’re in a whole new environment, surrounded by a new and different culture and you’re on your own. You’ve got to fend for yourself, enjoy your own company, navigate around – all which you may do at home but it’s completely different in a foreign country.
I’m not saying that you’ll be a new human being, but with every trip you take you’ll find growth in yourself. Travelling solo takes courage and I believe it’s genuinely a great achievement.
There you have it. 5 reasons you should travel solo. Just a heads up, you don’t have to go across the world to travel solo. Maybe start with another city or a country on an hour flight way. Would love to hear your thoughts and comments (:
Check out photos from my trips on my Instagram page.
Wow. All great reasons to travel alone. Although I never have looking back there were times where I wished I had ????. Kudos to you for going for it!
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Its never too late! You should definitely take a solo trip – even if it is to another city (:
Very true!! I traveled alone for the first time in my early 20ies and it was such an amazing and scary experience! I am so glad I did it!!
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Amazing! Once you’ve done it once, you will definitely do it again and again (:
Up until I met my husband, I always used to travel alone as i was sick of getting let down by people all the time. I had the best time of my life on my travels!
This gives me the go to pursue my solo trip! Thanks for the push. I am looking forward to my solo adventure.. <3
Great post. One of my guest authors wrote a similar post in my website. If you are interested, we can link to each others post. Please let me know your thoughts. My website has my contact form.
Coming to the article, solo travel gives you the freedom to do what you wish to and you can discover yourself.
I do find that traveling with others can be a logistical issue. Everyone wants to do different things and it can be tough to please everyone.
I agree! I have traveled solo in my younger years. It was fun, liberating, and as you said, you really aren’t alone for long. I always met other cool people to spend time with.
I agree with you, Travelling brings maturity and life lessons.
Travelling alone is empowering, not only you will learn to be more independent but also to build self confidence.
Cheers to more Travels!!
Traveling solo is so much fun. I really need to do it more often. I don’t mind compromising when I’m traveling with friends or fam, but sometimes you just want to do what you want to do and have that be it. I love that you touched on the growth aspect because I don’t believe that many people understand how much traveling can change you as a person most of the time for the better.
yay, I am happy for you! I always wanted to do it. it is definitely fun and exciting !!!!
You don’t have to convince me that flying solo is awesome but the rest of the world certainly needs to read this!
You don’t have to convince me of the benefits of solo travel but you bring great awareness and encouragement to tss as king on solo trips.
I’ve never traveled solo but these reasons are very accurate. My daughter is 22 and has done some solo travel and loves it.
Loved this article! It is so true that when you put yourself in new situations, that’s how you grow as a person.
I’ve not really fully traveled solo before, but these are some great points to consider. I miss traveling and look forward to doing it again someday.