Traveling alone without company, experiencing solitude far from home, finding empowerment in unknown surroundings – the powers of Solo Traveling.
Throughout the past years, we’ve experienced a profound shift in the perception of Solo Traveling, as it gained a lot of popularity. Whether to pursue freedom, self-discovery or empowerment, Solo Traveling serves as a tool to develop and improve as an individual.
Why you may ask? Well, this is what we want to discover in this post!
After I finished school I started working abroad on Fuerteventura for a couple months. Some might not consider this Solo Traveling, but I undeniably put myself into an unfamiliar situation, alone and in a country far from home. With that, I forced myself to step out of my comfort zone and make an effort to, honestly, get my sh*t together. Independence is a key word which resonates particularly well here.
On this trip I learned a lot about myself, found friends and made unforgettable experiences – I‘ll always cherish these memories in my heart as they now became a part of the person I am today. These ’small‘ decisions – applying for the job, accepting the job, leaving for some time – they’ve changed me and my life, they’ve formed me to be a stronger version of myself!
And that, that is what Solo Traveling is about.
It’s about the small moments, the people you meet, the experiences you make (good and bad ones), what you learn about yourself and another country – everything is full of insights and interesting details.
So, with all of that being said, I hope you are interested to learn more about Solo Traveling, because this is only the beginning. Let’s dive deep into the many facettes of Solo Traveling and see how long it’ll take until you book your first solo trip!
Digital Detox: Why Solo Traveling Helps You To Reconnect With Yourself.
Have you seen this post? Have you seen XYZ‘s new story? Have you seen the new memes? – What do you mean you don’t know them? Literally everyone does!
Horrible, right? But sadly, these questions are nowadays reality. We live with constant societal pressure to be online, connected and updated to the latest trends – trends which happen to only last a few days at best. Fast isn’t enough to describe the paste at which life is moving nowadays. And what does that have to do with Solo Traveling?
Digital detox – that’s the key word here. Step away from constant connectivity, social media pressures, and the noise of notifications. Solo Traveling is your opportunity to recharge.
Focus on what’s in front of you, focus on the place you’re visiting and the people you’re meeting. This will enable you to embrace mindfulness, while increasing awareness of yourself and your surroundings.
Through social media we start relying on external validation, which blocks creativity and individuality. Rediscover the unique parts of yourself and find joy in solitude through Solo Traveling.
How Solo Traveling Pushes You Out of Your Comfort Zone
As I’ve mentioned before, traveling alone requires you to step out of your comfort zone. Yes, I know that sounds scary, but also yes, that’s a good thing – because that’s the whole point.
When traveling alone you’re frequently put into unfamiliar situations without being able to rely on friends or family. Even though this might not sound favourable at first, these moments will foster deeper awareness of yourself and the world around you while also challenging your abilities to adapt. How? You have to understand what you don’t know in order to deal with it – whether it’s the way to your hotel, the laundry instructions or yourself. For many, Solo Traveling is a source of anxiety, but it’s often confronting these exact fears which causes our most powerful transformations.
To visualise what we’ve just established just a little better, let’s look at my Fuerteventura experience once again:
At the time I went to Fuerteventura I completely forgot who I am, I lost trust in myself and my abilities. I was only 18 years old, a child, not knowing anything about the world. I thought of myself as antisocial and boring, and fully quiet down.
In Fuerteventura, this mindset was not possible to maintain. I had to interact with costumers and colleagues, forcing me to be more open and social – something I believed to be impossible for me. Guess what, this was my greatest fear, yet it turned out to be unfounded. I met many wonderful people – some of which I still am in contact with today – gained new insights and learned about new perspectives.
Solo Traveling, while being a great opportunity for solitude, can also help you to meet people you might not usually run into – but people with whom you will share the love and the thrive to learn about the world.
What do you fear about Solo Traveling? This might give you a lot of insights about yourself! Listen to your mental barriers and discover hidden parts of yourself through Solo Traveling – another important aspect, we want to discuss further in our next chapter.
The Influence of Solo Traveling on Self-Discovery and Personal Growth
Besides fearing social interactions, I said I forgot who I was by the time I started working abroad. What do I want in life? Who do I want to be? What do I dream to pursue? – Questions we all come across sooner or later.
The mix of solitude and friendship, chaos and uncertainties, joy and loneliness, helped me to rediscover myself. Solo Traveling is paired with a wide range of emotions, emotions you can’t explain sometimes. Pay attention to your reactions and reflect on them.
In day-to-day life most situations are familiar, and so are the corresponding reactions. They feel natural and we stop acknowledging them as mindfully as we have at first. This is normal and very important – we‘d constantly feel overwhelmed if we were super aware of everything. Nonetheless, this gives new environments the ability to become such a hyper aware place. Embrace this opportunity to uncover insights about your values, desires, and priorities which are overlooked in the busyness of daily life.
Embracing Solitude With Solo Traveling: How to Be Alone Without Feeling Lonely
Yes, it’s finally time to address the obvious: Solo Traveling teaches you to enjoy your own company. Many people mistake being alone for being lonely, but that does not have to be the case. You can choose to be with yourself and this does not mean you are lonely. The ability to feel fulfilled in solitude is a great strength everyone should work on (in my opinion). Solo Traveling challenges you to reconsider your perception of loneliness, just as well as your relationship with yourself.
Eat alone at a café, explore a city on your own, or watch the sunset in silence – deeply valuable experiences with the possibility to enrich your understanding of, relationship with and confidence in yourself. Realise that you don’t need to rely on anyone and develop independence to embrace personal growth.
To share my personal experience, let’s look at my working abroad experience one last time:
In case you didn’t know, Fuerteventura is a part of the Canary Islands. The island is very rocky with mountains and it’s always windy. The place I worked at was located directly at the beach, but I had to walk down a lot of stairs to get to the sea.
In my breaks I would walk to a supermarket nearby and buy gazpacho, a cold spanish tomato soup, and bread. Then, on my way to the sea, I would sit down somewhere at the cliff to eat there. I was able to overlook the entire sea and observe all the people at the beach, and even though I was seeing them no one was paying attention to me.
These breaks were my special moments of solitude. I spent them in silence, eating my food and reflecting on my experiences and myself. I felt free and at peace, and even though I saw families and friends playing together, I not once felt alone. I realised that my own presence is enough – and in those moments, even the most grounding and insightful company I could have kept.
How Traveling Alone Boosts Creativity and Inspiration
Next, let’s switch it up and talk a bit about the artistic side of Solo Traveling. There is something about new environments that sparks creativity like nothing else. Maybe it’s the sensory overload of new environments, maybe it’s the chaos developing when planning on your own, or maybe it’s the excitement emerging from seeing unknown things – either way, Solo Traveling has the ability to just hit the spot that was turned off at home.
Many creative entrepreneurs cite their solo adventures as turning points in their journey – I mean, I am relating to them with this post as well. Whether you’re sketching a street in Lisbon, writing poems on a training Japan, or recording music in the Andes, being alone with your thoughts in inspiring places can unleash untapped potential.
Another way to engage creatively on your journey is through the old reliable journaling. Once again, journaling can be a transformative practice, offering space for introspection and reflection while also acting as a valve during hardships. Write about experiences, special moments, people, new perspectives, insights, and anything else that’s stuck in your head. You could create a habit of writing journals for your travels which could serve as a meaningful memory of your journey.
Increased Self-Reliance: How Solo Traveling Helps You To Build Independence and Confidence
Where do I have to go? What does this sign say? How much does this cost? Especially language barriers are a big challenge during each Solo-Travel-Trip. When it comes to written language, translation services can be a great help for navigation – at least as long as the letters used are ones you know – but when it comes to communicating, translation apps can be a clunky tool.
So, as we all have enough of my first Solo Traveling experience (I could talk about Fuerteventura for days), let’s move on to the second one as an example for this chapter. This time I was truly alone – yes, alone alone – and I realised how lucky I was on my first Solo Trip. Why? Because my second trip was CHAOTIC.
I was determined to come home with a set of … can you guess? Correct, beautiful pictures (Yes, I am Gen Z). That’s why I deliberately made the decision to … can you guess? Correct again, take my phone with me when going swimming (Yes, I truly am Gen Z).
To defend myself, I was also scared that someone might steel my phone if I left it in my bag, and google said my phone was waterproof.
Now, what else could have happened than my phone acting up afterwards. When I got back home I realised, that it stopped charging – and yes, I freaked out. I was alone in a country without orientation besides google maps, not speaking the language, and a trip to hike the Caminito del Rey planned for the next day.
I left my phone outside to dry and later it actually started charging again. You can’t believe how much of a relief that was – at least for the moment.
After returning from the hike the next day, my phone didn’t charge once again – and this time, no matter what I tried, it didn’t work. To make things worse, I was supposed to fly home two days later and (remember Gen Z) my bus and flight tickets were all on my phone. Besides, there was only one receptionist who was able to speak english.
My phone died by the end of the day and I truly felt lost – there was no one I could rely on to solve this problem for me.
So, how did I get back home you may ask. After trying to get dirt out of my phone (you’re not supposed to do that), washing the charging plug with tap water because I thought that maybe there was salt in there (yeah no comments please), and letting it ’dry‘ on my balcony (it was very hot, I left it there for hours), I found out that there was nothing wrong with my phone. What actually broke was my charger. Yes. What? Disbelief? I reacted the same way.
The receptionist had an induction charger which charged my phone fully. Afterwards I managed to get a new cable which worked perfectly fine (to this day). So, I was able to fly home safe and sound.
Now, what did this experience give me other than gray hair and heart attacks? Resilience in stressful situations, independence in problem-solving, trust in my abilities, feelings of empowerment, increased self-esteem, confidence and emotional strength, calmness during hardships – the list goes on. Even though my trip ended in chaos, I remember it as a great journey – and I learned a lot from it.
I was able to overcome this horrible situation on my own and that makes me proud. I feel ready to tackle anything that comes my way, in both travel and daily life.
The topic of independence and confidence is a big part of Solo Traveling. This story is surely not everything there is to tell about my second Solo-Trip.
I trusted my instincts when walking around, I was able to decide independently – whether it be selecting accommodations or planning where to eat – I was able to engage in new hobbies while exploring different cultures.
All of these impressions led to a greater sense of agency over my life decisions – this is the effect Solo Traveling can have on you too. It’s not just about pretty landscapes and famous buildings, Solo Traveling is a means to develop life skills.
The Obstacles: Struggling With The Cost of Solo Traveling
Now, after this exhaustingly long paragraph there is one more thing I want to address today: the cost.
Yes, Solo Traveling is great, but also yes, Solo Traveling costs money and time – both valuable and rare in their own way.
I wish I could give you a way in which Solo Traveling is free – trust me I’d be gone in a second. But as we all know, Solo Traveling, or Traveling in general can cost quite a fortune.
The first thing you can do to reduce costs is booking in advance and comparing various options. This might take a while but you can save a good amount of money.
Another thing is to look out for videos online. Some creators post about their travels or special cheap deals they’ve found. Paying attention to these announcements could also help save a lot of money.
Lastly, booking outside of the main holiday season can help find cheaper accommodations and flights.
Now, the second cost, time, sadly has the potential to clash with some of these prior aspects. Creators who post special deals online often advertise flights or accommodations which are only available over a short period of time. Most of you probably work a 9-to-5-job and can’t just spontaneously take time off to travel. For you, taking your holidays apart from breaks is probably the best option.
Another option, which combines the time and money aspect, is considering a traveling destination within your country. Solo Traveling is not linked to a certain distance.
Travel through your home country at first – trust me, there is a lot to see everywhere. This way you don’t necessarily have to pay for flights, and you could travel over a weekend. Maybe you could rent a small camper. Driving somewhere allows you to see many different locations on the way and sleeping in nature can be healing and relaxing as well – digital detox in its fullest.
In a world which is becoming increasingly more expensive, traveling has grown to be a luxury, I know that. Nonetheless, I do hope I was able to show you how much value a trip on your own can provide. At the end of the day, you can decide whether a Solo-Trip is something worth saving up for – this is fully up to you and there are no wrong answers here.
You can adjust your trip accordingly to your preferences, interests and resources – independently and individually. And, if you’re just waiting for someone to join you, stop. You are the best travel companion you can find.
Going on a journey alone really made a difference for me; it transformed me and my relationship to my life.
Solo Traveling doesn’t just help you find new places – it helps you find yourself.