The day will come when your life will be filled with such despair or wanderlust that you will need to get away. When that day arrives, you will cast all your cares aside and plan a trip that you will take alone. Whether the reason for the trip is that you march to a different drummer or because you have decided to take the road less traveled, this trip will awaken a sleeping giant, and you will never be the same after experiencing the benefits of traveling alone.
There are many advantages to traveling, but here are some common rewards that come when you take a trip solo:
1) It’s a self-esteem booster
Traveling alone makes you completely dependent on you. Even if you travel with a tour group, there will be opportunities to strike out alone. When you learn to trust yourself in a different place, in a different culture, you start to see yourself differently. You believe in yourself. Having done this, you come home feeling you can do anything.
2) You’re free
Traveling alone lets you do what you want, when you want, and how you want. It’s understood that all you do is expected to be legal and appropriate, but traveling alone gives you the liberty of being selfish. Everything that you do is done to please only you.
3) You can be the you you’ve always wanted to be
When you travel alone, for a little while, you can be a new person. Those old fears, weaknesses, and personality flaws can be ignored and reinvented. You can become dashing and flirtatious, scholarly and opinionated, coy and alluring. The old you that you have been at home is unknown; the new you is all that they know. Your confidence will soar as you role play “the you” you’ve always wanted to be.
4) Make new friends
Traveling alone makes you have to fend for yourself. Have you ever wanted to connect with like minded people and find solo travellers to share the experience with? When you are with friends or family you tend to stay with them. When you are alone, you can reach out to others without worrying about or being held captive by family or friends.
5) It’s easier to meet people
Traveling in a group makes it difficult to impress others. Regardless of how easy the girls in “Sex in the City 2” make it seem, if you are shy, unassuming, and not drop dead gorgeous, it’s the loud, bold, gorgeous one who gets all of the attention. If its just you, there is no one in your company to be compared with.
6) Get a new perspective
Any kind of travel lets you see the world in a different way. Things that you’ve seen through rose colored glasses in reality are pretty grim. Natural wonders amaze you with beautiful sights that take your breath away. Travel makes you appreciate what the planet has to offer, and realistically helps you see your place in it.
7) You can save money
When you travel alone, you are not trying to impress anyone. You can stick to your budget because you are not being manipulated by someone else’s opinion or taste.
Traveling alone can be very beneficial to the person who wants to strike out in a different direction. It’s the one thing you can do that will one day make all of the difference.
