After explaining, all the ways and possibilities to meet people on your journey, I hopefully convinced you that even if you’re traveling by yourself, doesn’t mean that you’ll be lonely. But there are so many more reasons why you should travel by yourself.
Reason 2: If you want to be by yourself, you can be
And believe me, after some time you’ll appreciate these moments, and you’ll enjoy these moments, even more, when you return to your normal life. You’ll learn to appreciate the time you have for yourself, without anybody else. And if you get to the point where you can enjoy these moments, they will be real quality time for you.
Of course, you want to meet people and speak to somebody and have a laugh, but sometimes it is just right to be alone and to have time to think. You won’t have this much when you’re traveling with a friend or in a group. Going in a group or with somebody else always means to make a compromise and to decide things together. If you need your time in the morning, or you’re in a bad mood, the other person may not understand you and ask for attention. While solo traveling, you can stay away from people in the morning or at times you’re in a lousy mood for example.
But it’s not only this, solo traveling gives you the possibility to do whatever YOU want, and you don’t have to take care of somebody else. If you want to eat pizza you eat pizza; if you want to sleep all day, you sleep all day. You and only you can decide for yourself what’s on your schedule, not somebody else. For example, if I want to visit the city on my own, I start walking, and if I want to do it in a company, I take part in a walking tour or another tour. Sometimes I enjoy it to have a long walk through a city and watch and see what the city is like. I like it to get lost in my thoughts while sitting on a bench and enjoying the sun when I need a rest from all the walking. And if I have enough from being on my own, I take part in a pub crawl in the evening or met people in the Lobby of my Hostel. Being on my own doesn’t mean that I’m lonely, it means I enjoy the time for myself and have a good time all by myself because I decided to do so!
Reason 3: You can do what you want
As I already mentioned in the previous point, one of the best things is to do what you want. It’s not only about the decision to be on your own or to meet people. You can travel where you want and when you want without anybody holding you back. In March I went to Porto, and because I didn’t find somebody who had the time or money to come with me so, I decided to go by myself. And I had a perfect time there! The same applies to my WorldTravel, imagine how difficult it must be to choose a route in a group so that everybody is happy. And if I want to stay longer in a country or a place I do it, without asking someone or having a discussion. Or if you’re meeting people and you want to travel a while with them, you have the freedom of changing your plans and join them. On the other hand, if you meet people and after a while, you see that you do not have the best connection to them (and this will happen too) you can “walk away” and continue to do your thing.
You’re just FREE. People always speak of freedom – well solo traveling is the ultimate form of freedom!
Reason 4: You’ll meet people from all over the world
Shared Hostel rooms are the most internationalized places you’ll find. There are few places in the world where you can find a wider variety of people. Of course, the big nations like the USA, Australia, and Germany are always present, but apart from that, you’ll also meet people from most of the other countries in this world. If you’re staying with your travel buddy in private rooms, the chance of meeting people from all over the world is far smaller. And this argument directly leads me to the next point – which I’ll explain to you in next week’s post.
58 Days to go!
Flo's WorldTravel 