Some find it to be daunting, but once you try it, you realise solo travel can be blissful. No buddies to cancel plans last moment. Plenty of room to try new things impulsively. You get to choose wherever (and whomever) you want to be. The perks are plenty.
But it isn’t just that. Travelling solo brings with it lessons, and a change in perspectives and attitude. So this year, let’s celebrate this individuality. Here are 5 ways in which travelling solo changes you:
1) You’re ready for anything
Can’t get a hotel room in the dead of the night? No maps? Heavy rain? Solo travel sometimes hurls obstacles at you.
But over time, you get used to these obstacles, so much so that you’re ready to face them head on. And you start noticing how these setbacks make for the most memorable and interesting stories!
2) Making new friends is easier than before
Solo travel doesn’t mean you’re alone. In fact, it could mean quite the opposite. Travelling solo makes it easier to befriend locals and other travellers, and you’re more likely to make new friends. Even when you opt for group travel, chances are a large number of the people in the group are solo travellers themselves.
Here’s Gayatri Iyer (our frequent traveller and a person who prefers travelling alone herself) talking about this: The Irresistible Perks Of Group Travel (as told by a solo traveller). Click here to read more…
3) You learn to embrace ‘You’
Spending time by yourself helps you to be more comfortable in your own skin, and embrace yourself for who you are.
You begin to learn more about yourself, a journey that acts like a break for retrospection, learning what your strong and weak points are, and being at peace with your habits and qualities.
4) You realise getting lost is a good thing
It’s the best thing ever – to find something you wouldn’t have, otherwise. And when you’re alone, it’s easier to wander and get lost. Solo travel sets you in that path; it takes you out of your comfort zone and puts you in the thick of things, away from the the protective shell that you’re used to when you’re with your loved ones.
Just like Supriya Sehgal discovered:
“What I remember most is the lunch that I bagged at the auto driver’s home, meeting his family and an extra zealous friendship, which won me time at special local hideouts. This would have never happened if I was travelling in a group or with a companion. We would have spoken to each other, found respite in the company we already had and never have the space to ‘let in’ someone else with complete trust.” ~ Supriya Sehgal
5) You start appreciating the freedom it brings
You get to decide how you explore a new place, where you want to go next and what food you want to eat, without worrying about another person’s preferences. You start enjoying a sense of freedom and power that comes along with travelling by yourself. Matt, an award-winning travel blogger, couldn’t agree more:
“You wake up and it’s just you — what you want, where you want, when you want. In that freedom and infinite space of possibility, you meet yourself. You hit the limits of what you like and don’t like. There’s no one to pull you in any one direction or override your reasons. Want sushi? Get sushi. Want to leave? Leave. Want to try bungee jumping? Go for it.” ~ Nomadic Matt
We know travelling solo can sound scary and unpleasant at first, but it sure can turn out to be life-changing!
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