Our parent website’s name is gotravelyourself.com, so let’s see why you should go travel by yourself. We are of a general opinion that it is good to travel by yourself, at least from time to time, and here is why.
Because one word: freedom!
Freedom to travel whenever and wherever you go, visit attractions you like, avoid boring tours and places (and company), enjoy places without distraction and the list goes on and on! Imagine, you can go to a restaurant and order food and drinks without waiting for 5 plus people to decide who is going to eat and drink what, who is going to share with whom and who is allergic to which food (and elaborate story about it what you’ve heard dozens of time).
The main purpose of a holiday is to take a break from a routine, and what is the best break than not socializing with people you see often (or even every day).
Ok, freedom is great and all, but let’s see what other aspects of traveling by yourself is there to consider.
Step out of your comfort zone!
No matter how great your life is and how comfortable you are in your everyday journeys, sometimes it is important to step out of all that comfort and step into the unknown. Traveling by yourself is a perfect opportunity for this. It will expose all your fears, your stereotypes, your misconceptions, and all the other stuff lurking deep inside of you quietly while you are in your comfort zone. Once you face all this, you will determine what you are made of.
Increase your independence
Traveling by yourself will make you truly independent. You will be on your own, responsible for yourself only, and not depending on others (you will depend on transportation means, lodging, and food, but you know what we mean).
You will learn new skills
Since you will be on your own, you will definitely have to learn (and will learn) new skills. Maybe you were bad at map reading and navigation and there was always somebody in your group who was good at that, now it is you who will have to be good at that, as simple as that.
Learn to be alone and start loving it!
There is nothing wrong with being alone, people frequently misinterpret being alone as being lonely, which are two different concepts. Being alone (during your travels or otherwise) should be comfortable and enjoyable, especially during long trips. You will enjoy this more and more as you travel more by yourself.
Boost your confidence
If you could go to Peru by yourself, that complex spreadsheet thrown at you by your boss to update it cannot be that difficult now. Ok, we are simplifying it now, but do you get the idea? Our everyday problems look much bigger with time and taking some time outside of that mindset will make you reset yourself and boost your confidence.
Why is it important to travel by yourself in this case? If you travel with your friends or colleagues, you will most definitely bring your problems with you by discussing them and keeping them alive. And that’s not a holiday.
You can become a completely different person if you want!
You arrive at your all-inclusive holiday destination in Cancun and you meet a group of people at the bar. You start a casual conversation and they ask you to tell them about yourself. Will you tell them that you are a home appliance sales assistant (your current job, for example, and nothing wrong with that, btw.) or that you are a Russian princess running away from secret agents? It is up to you!
We know it is not nice to be lying or exaggerating, but if there is no harm to be done, it could be fun. Just keep your stories believable, we already went overboard with a Russian princess. ????
Improve your self-discipline
No matter whether you will be on holiday, you will have to be disciplined while you are traveling by yourself. If you don’t wake up on time you will miss breakfast in a hotel or if you don’t pack quickly, you will miss that cheap bus to see those ruins.
You will learn a thing or two about yourself when you are traveling alone.
You will be on your own and this will be a great self-learning experience. You will learn about your patience levels, your social skills, and your overall capability to enjoy time on your own. All this looks like something you know already, but you will be surprised.
Your holidays might be cheaper
As we described in our other article about getting cheap tickets, being flexible with your departure dates and times and airports, will probably cost you less to book a flight or a hotel. When you are traveling in a group there is much less wiggle room to reschedule departure and return dates as different people have different schedules.
Is it safe to travel by yourself?
Yes. Actually, it should be as safe as if you are traveling with a group of people. Mind you, if you have friends who tend to get in trouble, it is probably safer to travel without them. Yes, this is selfish, we know, but remember when your friend Matt tried to drunkenly fight the policeman in Bangkok and you spent a night in jail as a group? And you were scared to death that you will end up like in that movie, what was the name, yes, ‘Bangkok Hilton’. Yes, that.
Another thing that is very important, your safety concerns are very different if you are a man or a woman traveling by yourself. Actually, it is a huge difference. We will write separate posts about female solo travelers to specify several aspects of this. In the meantime, you can read about solo female travel advice here.
What should I do in the case of an emergency?
The same rules apply as if you were traveling in a group – standard precaution, avoid problematic places, don’t go off the beaten path if the place is not secure, and don’t attract unnecessary attention. Make sure you have all necessary emergency information at hand, embassy, police station, etc, and your folks at home know your itinerary, at least in general.
Are you going to get bored if you travel by yourself?
There is nothing wrong with being bored from time to time. Once your brain stopped being stimulated by external factors, vision, sound, smell, etc, it starts to work, finally?! Now seriously, getting bored during vacation is normal, but since you will be in a place you’ve never been before, chances of getting bored are minimal.
If you still manage to get bored, you can try a few things:
- Start your travel diary or travel blog and record all your travel adventures as they happen.
- Find other bored people – they are everywhere. If you don’t mind socializing, you will find people willing to chat everywhere – bars, restaurants, buses, museums, etc.
- Change your daily routine: you might get bored because you didn’t plan your day properly and have plenty of time for resting and consequently get bored.
- Cut your holiday short – you might not be cut out to travel by yourself and that is absolutely fine.
Are you going to have a great time when you go travel yourself?
Probably yes, but how can we tell? We cannot guarantee a great time, every person has different (travel, and other) needs and also, and every person’s perception of a great time is different. While somebody is super happy to have a nice book and read it on the bench in a park, somebody else will not consider a great time without bungee jumping or skydiving. It’s personal. But, like with everything in life, no need to force it. If you are not having a good time while traveling by yourself, that’s fine, keep traveling with company.
Conclusion
Traveling by yourself is a great opportunity to explore different countries without distraction – by friends, cousins, and family. It will also help you improve yourself, much better than if you travel in a group. It also raises some concerns about safety or simply – boredom. All this needs to be counted in when deciding to go travel by yourself.