Travel…By Myself?!?!?!…Alone?!?!?!…. You must be crazy!!!.
After years of traveling by myself (and sometimes with people), I can definitively tell you that solo travel, hands down, is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling adventures you can have. Solo travel gives you benefits that only occur when you are traveling alone.
So weather you are single, recently divorced, have a long term partner, or even happily married, consider a solo trip to get these 5 benefits of solo travel!!!
Benefits of Solo Travel
There are so many benefits of solo travel!!! However, these are the benefits that I find rewarding and uniquely the experience of a solo traveler.
No. 1: Do As you Please.
One tremendous benefits of solo travel is that you are not tied to anyone’s schedule or doing things “because you should”. We all like different things. We all value different things and different experiences.
Maybe your dream is to explore a big city. Or maybe its to go rural areas and chase the best small vineyards. With solo travel, you don’t have to worry about other people and what they want to do. You don’t have to come to Paris and spend you time in art museums and absorbing culture if you’d rather take a food tour. If you travel with someone, you may feel compelled.
No. 2: Be Flexible.
One of my favorite benefits of solo travel is that I can be flexible!!! If I decide last minute that I want to spend a few extra days in Southern France before heading to Spain – guess what – I can without having to consider what someone else wants to see or do. This is a huge advantage.
Often times when traveling with someone we feel compelled to follow a schedule to insure we are “fair” to the other person. Sometimes we may even go so far as to fail to articulate what we want out of fear of coming across as being “greedy” with hogging the time available for the trip. When you are by yourself, you may decide to skip certain sites, or even entire cities or countries, all together.
No. 3: People Are Nicer.
One of the odd benefits I have found is that people are more friendly to solo travelers than they generally are to tourists. Most major religious faith have tenets about how you should treat foreigners or guests. And these values are deeply ingrained inside many of us.
I have found this to be particularly true when people learn that I am traveling solo. I think there is just an instant subconscious feeling of empathy and relating that occurs. To hear some stories about things that have happened to me as a solo traveler, where folks showed me great kindness, watch my video below!!!
No. 4: More chances to Interact.
Traveling solo gives you more time and opportunities to interact with people. This means you have more chances to learn more about culture, or the language, or to even make new friends. More importantly, you may make a friend who is different than your usual group of friends!!
Think about this. If you travel with someone, you are likely to go to dinner and talk to them. If you travel alone, you may sit at the bar and talk to the person next to you. Or the bartender. All of these interactions may expand your knowledge and enrich your life!
No. 5: Learn. Grow. Evolve.
Traveling solo gives you time to think. It gives you time to have experiences that force you to get to know yourself even better. And it gives you the opportunity to have to rely on yourself when maybe you would normally not. In doing so, you might learn a new skill. You might learn something about yourself.
So…. Have I convinced you?
I hope you will consider taking a solo journey!!! In the coming weeks and months I’ll be publishing more blog posts and youtube videos on solo traveling and my adventures!!! Stay tuned to get more.
The Video.
Check out my youtube video on the advantages of solo travel!!!