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Why Solo Travel Is Awesome and Why Everyone Should Try It

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I love to travel the world and I typically prefer to travel solo.  A lot of people think I’m crazy for traveling solo, especially as a female.  And people who aren’t familiar with backpacking and solo travel think I’m literally alone for the duration of my trip.  But this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Just because I choose to travel solo does not at all mean that I’m alone all the time.

With solo travel, whether you’re alone or not is often your choice.  You can choose to be with others or you can choose to be by yourself when you want to.  I highly recommend solo travel to anyone and everyone, whether you’re 18 or 80, male or female, introvert or extrovert.  Everyone should experience solo travel at least once in their life because you learn independence, confidence, assertiveness, and how to read people, which are all essential life skills everyone should learn.

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Panna Meena Ka Kund stepwell in Jaipur, India.  And it’s free to visit!

 

THE PERKS OF SOLO TRAVEL

 

YOU HAVE THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM

No compromising here- you can do what you want, when you want on your own agenda.  It’s your trip and you worked hard to save money for it, so you should be selfish about how you choose to spend your time.  And you can be more spontaneous when you don’t have someone else to consider.

YOU MEET WAY MORE PEOPLE

Many people travel alone and everyone who travels alone is more open to meeting new people because they want to.  And the people you meet often make the place that you’re in.  A lot of the most inspiring people I’ve met have been people I met while traveling.  On the other hand, if you’re traveling with a friend or partner, it’s easy to stick together and not be as social with new people; therefore, you can miss out on one of the best parts of traveling.  When I traveled “solo” in Ecuador and Vietnam each for 3+ weeks, I was only alone for a day or two because I kept meeting awesome people to explore with.

YOU GAIN AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF INDEPENDENCE, ASSERTIVENESS AND CONFIDENCE

Which is important for everyone, but especially women.  You also gain intelligence and the ability to read people because you constantly have to think for yourself and look after yourself in new, foreign situations.  You learn how to take control, make quick decisions, listen to your intuition and navigate foreign cities on your own.

Hong Kong

YOU COULD WAIT AROUND FOREVER IF YOU WAIT FOR A FRIEND TO TRAVEL WITH

It’s difficult to find someone who wants to travel to the same places, has the same budget and the time to go traveling.

SOMETIMES GOOD FRIENDS AT HOME DON’T MAKE THE BEST TRAVEL FRIENDS

So you may not come home as friends.  Traveling is very different from being at home and inconveniences are common and, consequently, some people don’t handle these very well.  And traveling with someone means you’re going to be together, more or less, 24/7 and that doesn’t always go well either.

YOU LEARN A LOT ABOUT YOURSELF

When you’re on your own, you have more time to reflect.

Jodphur, India

YOU’RE MORE OBSERVANT OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS

When you’re exploring a new place with another person, you’re less observant of the the sights and smells and atmosphere around you because you’re engaged with the person (or people) you’re with.

IF YOU GET SICK OR INJURED, YOU DON’T HOLD ANYONE BACK

I’ve been extremely sick while with a travel companion and also while traveling solo.  Both situations clearly aren’t ideal, but I would prefer to suffer alone.  Even if you get sick while you’re traveling solo, there are a lot of good people who offer their help, so you don’t have to worry about being left to rot.

But…

 

THE 2 UGLY TRUTHS OF SOLO TRAVEL

 

IT’S MORE DIFFICULT (BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE) TO GET GREAT PICTURES OF YOURSELF IN ALL THE BEAUTIFUL PLACES YOU VISIT

This is a First World problem and not everyone wants lots of pictures of themselves, but I need to make the effort as a travel blogger.  I used to dislike pictures of myself, but I had to make an effort for my blog.  Now I really enjoy it and have a lot of fun with it because it’s a creative outlet.

Even if you dislike pictures of yourself, I highly encourage you to take some or you may regret it later.  Landscape and architectural photos are great, but sometimes a person gives perspective, life and personality to photos.

You can use a selfie stick, a mini tripod or ask a stranger to take your photo.  You’ll learn that many people aren’t the best photographers, BUT sometimes you luck out and meet some really amazing photographers!  Every photo of me in this article was taken by a stranger.

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Badi Lake, India

SOMETIMES SOLO TRAVEL CAN GET LONELY

Sometimes you meet people, but you don’t connect with anyone and sometimes you don’t meet anyone at all.  But the positive experiences always far outweigh the few negative and lonely experiences.

 

Regardless, solo travel isn’t as scary as it sounds and it’ll make you a more independent, confident and stronger person.  I promise.

 

For more travel tips, see My Best Travel Tips From 11 Years of Travel.

For budget and money saving tips, see How To Save Money For Travel, How to Save Money While Traveling and How to Plan Your Travel Budget.

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