Travel alone and enjoy the complete and ultimate freedom and independence, or rather spend your holidays together with another person? Would it be better to travel alone or in groups? Which of these different ways to travel is more beautiful, better or more desirable is not easy to answer.
I now know the different types of travel quite well. In former times I undertook all journeys together with my friend at that time. During my trip around the world I was mostly alone. Often I am with a friend, now and then also with my mum on the way. Each of these ways to travel brings its own advantages, but unfortunately also disadvantages. But is travelling alone really as desirable as you can now read everywhere and on many different travel blogs?
To get to the bottom of this question, in the following article I have written down my very personal thoughts, as well as the challenges and the pros and cons that travelling alone brings with it. In addition there are my best tips, which I have learned through my own travels over the years. I hope you enjoy reading it!
To travel alone means complete freedom.
If you are travelling alone, you can really do what you want. You don’t have to account to anybody for anything, you can stay lazy in bed until noon and decide your daily routine yourself. Pure freedom!
This independence is a huge plus for me when travelling alone. Because believe me, I know unfortunately from repeated personal experience, how strenuous it can be to be on the way with humans, who have completely different interests and preferences. Usually someone has to give in and do without something, which he would like to do. This constant struggle can be a real nerve-wracking experience. Sometimes it even goes so far that one only wishes that the journey should go by as quickly as possible. That is mega a pity.
You can do whatever you want
When travelling alone something like this cannot happen to you. You can eat what you want, go to the beach when you want and live your holiday according to your mood. If you are already solo on the way, then enjoy this ultimate freedom and taste every moment to the full!
If you are travelling alone, you will get to know yourself better.
Maybe nowhere else in life will you get such a damn good chance to get to know yourself as well as on a longer trip while you are alone on the road. I’ve done things I wouldn’t even have dared to do a few years ago. If you master a challenge on the way, then be proud of it and cause your success again and again!
But I have also discovered many weaknesses in myself, where I had not even dreamed before that I would have problems with it. When you travel alone, you automatically learn to be at peace with yourself, to listen to your heart, your stomach and your common sense. You gradually become calmer and calmer and trust more and more these voices which are inherent in us in a very natural way!
Through travelling solo I have also been able to find out wonderfully what is really important to me in life and which things I can very well do without. Which habits I would rather get rid of and also what, and above all which people, make me happy. Take this perhaps unique chance consciously and trust completely on your belly and your feelings!
Very important: Don’t let failures and setbacks discourage you. They are quite normal and belong to travelling as well as to everyday life. Learn from them and just try to do better next time!
Are you going to feel lonely travelling alone?
If I am completely honest, the answer to the question of whether I often feel lonely when travelling alone is probably predominantly no. I have always been a person who can be quite alone with himself. Also at home in my normal everyday life it was always like that. For this reason it probably doesn’t bother me so much to be on the road solo from time to time.
What type of person are you? Do you also endure silence, boredom or just yourself? If you know that you rather have problems with it, then it doesn’t have to be an obstacle for travelling alone. Maybe it makes the challenge bigger, but then you can also grow a lot more and develop further!
By the way, it’s really like everyone else says. You really get to know new people all the time, whether you want to or not. The decision is then up to you: Just start a nice conversation and maybe even spend a nice time with the new acquaintance, or frighten them away again with a silence.
Make contact with other travellers
As I’ve just written, solo travel doesn’t mean that you have to stay completely alone at all times. You have the complete freedom to decide for yourself when and for how long you want to share your journey with someone. Here I have the probably most important tip for you, which makes getting to know other travellers on the way a bit easier:
Instead of staying in hotels, sleep in hostels. Meanwhile there are really beautiful hostels all over the world, which have nothing in common with the narrow, loud and stinky 12-bed dormitories of the past. For example, I like to book a single room in a hostel when travelling alone.
Then I can sleep well in any case, but still easily find a connection to other travellers while cooking in the common kitchen, or when in the evening everyone is still hanging out a bit in the common room.
