I wouldn’t even have started this blog if it weren’t for traveling solo. 22 year-old me during 2015 just graduated college, moved back home, and had difficulty finding her own stride in life. So I told myself, “Time to go to Honolulu!” whether people wanted to go with me or not. I ended up saving every cent to travel to Hawaii and backpack around the beautiful, sandy beaches during my 23rd birthday. I didn’t know it at the time, but it sparked my first steps of independence outside of my comfort zone.
If anyone told me the trajectory of my life would be living in New York City, I might have traveled more (especially before 2020). However, I’m grateful to have enjoyed the full-time years being a nomad, staying in amazing hotels once a month, and experiencing different cultures. If anyone has been curious about why solo travel has been more popular in recent years, keep reading to learn the top 5 reasons I say you should book the flight alone.
Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Travel Alone
You learn how to finance (well)
You quickly learn how to figure out how to save money real quick if you decide to travel alone. Not many people will think about it, but understanding how to create budgets for trips has been an essential reason why I feel confident booking trips in the first place. For those who want to solo travel on a long term basis, it is so important to have a good sense of how much money you’re earning in order to pay for flights, hotels, food, cultural experiences, and an emergency fund. For me, I mastered paying off credit card debt and finding the right credit card to give me travel reward points as well.
You learn the beauty of culture
It’s hard to understand why today’s society still feels divisive with many cultural groups. Whether it’s religious, race, age, gender, etc., solo travel helps you find pleasure in learning the way of life from other countries. Like, who knew siestas existed in other parts of the world? You’ll start to realize how cool and interesting it is to fully immerse yourself in a place that you weren’t born and raised in. Plus, it can feel pretty surreal to see views that are unlike your own country.
You learn how to connect with others
Let me tell you, if I could add an acquired skill on my resume from the years I traveled solo, it would be that I’m fantastic at communicating with people who don’t speak the same language as me. No matter where you live, you’ll surprisingly learn that nonverbal skills can be just enough to first connect with people from other parts of the world. However, when you are able to hold a conversation, don’t be surprised to learn how much you have in common with people from different backgrounds and walks of life. Who knows, you’ll start to learn a few new words from different languages along the way.
You learn how to enjoy your own company
While it’s true that solo travel is pretty self-explanatory, you may not realize how alone you really are until you step out of your flight and start figuring out how to transport from the airport to your hotel room. For some people, this might be no big deal. For others, this can start to make you feel lost and afraid. The earlier in life you start learning how to enjoy your own company – the easier it’ll get to face any obstacle and task on your own. Taking your own photos, dining by yourself, exploring new landmarks alone, and getting lost in a new place can be the right push that you need to love yourself through it all.
You learn that life does not revolve around you (and it’s better that way)
So you’re able to save money, experience new cultures, meet new people, and find self-love in the process of traveling solo. In the end, you’ll learn the most liberating lesson in life: The world does not revolve around you. Living in New York City makes me can’t help but think about the amount of people who constantly depend on the responsibilities I need to fulfill daily. However, I live for the days when I can stroll along the coast of France and be expected to do absolutely nothing for no one – because no one knows nor cares who I am. The fact that your only responsibility is to be in control of where your trip takes you is wildly blissful.
Hope you enjoyed this blog post today! Let me know your thoughts about solo travel in the comments below – I’ll be responding to them! Also, you can always keep up with me and my travel content by following me on my social media as well:
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Until next time!
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