Is it Weird To Travel Alone? 5 Great Reasons To Travel Solo
Solo vacations are becoming more and more normal for travelers, have you taken one? Some ask is it weird to travel alone. They feel like it could be weird to get on a plane by themselves and explore, while others don’t want to travel any other way. If you are thinking about solo travel, hopefully, this post can help you. There is no reason to miss out on an opportunity to travel if none of your friends or family can go with you.
Is It Weird To Travel Alone?
Here are 5 reasons you should travel alone, even during the perilous pandemic times.
You get to know yourself better
When you travel solo, you have to rely on yourself to figure things out. There is almost no better way to get to know who you are than having to fend for yourself in a different country. It brings out the best in you and makes you a stronger person.
You don’t have to wait for anyone
What a hassle it is when you are ready to go and your friends aren’t. You have to wait around trying not to get angry because they are taking so long to get ready. When you travel solo, you can adhere to your own schedule which gives you unlimited freedom.
Plus, if you decide you need or want a bit of extra time, you can stay in bed with your personalized travel blanket and coffee as long as you want!. Get your “good mood” mug here!
You can make your own rules
What if you don’t want to go to a museum? Or you have no interest in taking a tour? Usually, when you travel with friends you have to acquiesce to their wishes at times and end up doing things you don’t really care for. When you travel alone, you don’t have to worry about that at all. Your time, your rules.
You don’t have to feel guilty about what you can spend
Sometimes when you travel with other people, their funds may be a little tighter than yours. When that happens, you may feel guilty for wanting to eat in a nicer restaurant than they can afford. You will likely wind up eating where they want. Or if you want to see a concert and they can’t afford it, what do you do? When you travel alone, your money can be spent any way you want. You won’t have to waste a second feeling guilty for the life you have chosen to live. Oh and if you are that friend with less cash, see how I save money for travel.
If you are deciding whether to travel solo or with friends, ask these five crucial travel questions to your friends before you decide.
You will learn to live outside of your comfort zone
We all like to be comfortable and there is nothing wrong with that. However, when you travel alone there are times where you will have to stretch your boundaries of comfort. Stretching your comfort zone makes you grow in ways you never imagined. It may be scary to sit in a cafe alone or go to a museum or exhibit alone at first. It’s ok to be scared or anxious, you simply embrace the fear and do it anyway. I even have some great tips for dealing with your travel anxiety. More than likely you will realize it was no big deal and that you become a better person for it.
I travel alone 98.6% of the time.
Sometimes I’ll meet people I know at the destination and maybe we’ll connect for a meal or an event, however, solo travel is most rewarding for me. I love meeting NEW people!
Recently, I was on one of those get-on-the-bus, get-off-the-bus, hurry-up-and-wait-trips. I nearly exploded!
Traveling with people that have conflicting agendas and levels of comfort with uncertainty is extremely uncomfortable to me..
Traveling solo allows me to EMBRACE vulnerability.
I’ll approach a stranger with a query when I’m solo. Invariably enriched by their response.
Strangers are less intimidated by a soloist.
Inside a posse, people generally speculate based on their own experiences and so many times are just plain incorrect in their assessment of a situation.
I am LUCKIER on my own.
For example, on a visit to Havana last month, I had it fixed in my mind that I wanted to visit Fabrica de Arte. I had no idea where it was or how I would get there or when. On a lark, I ducked into a a little cafe for tea. After an hour or so of whiling away the afternoon, a Norwegian guy struck up a conversation with me. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he invited me to sit with him and his European entourage. Long story short, I mentioned that Fabrica de Arte was on my agenda. No sooner than the words escaped my lips, all five people turned to smile at the one Cuban lady at the head of the table. Turns out her brother OWNED Fabrica de Arte! Turns out, she was a Cuban pop-star! In short order, I was offered VIP access to Fabrica de Arte and found it to be MORE incredible than I expected!
Opportunities like that happen less often when you’re in group, closed off from the beauty all around you.