Everybody loves a holiday, whether you’re a fan of full-board resort holidays in the Caribbean or would rather be on a hiking holiday in the French Alps, but very few people travel solo. Getting away with friends and family is always fun, and travelling alone can often seem daunting, but if you pluck up the courage it can open you up to a lot of new experiences. Make sure you’ve got your passport ready, because there are a number of reasons why you should book your next trip alone.
Navigating an airport alone is no simple feat, but you figure it out pretty quickly when you have to. Travelling solo means you’ll learn everything you need to about airports (and train stations, and bus stations…), from how early you need to show up to the fastest way to get past people and the best cafes to stop at for a drink. Next time you travel, you will know exactly what you’re doing and breeze through the airport like a pro. Plus, you’ll impress everybody with your travel knowledge and cool-headedness when you do travel with friends.
It’s inevitable, something always goes a little bit wrong, no matter how many times you’ve travelled before and who you’re with. When you travel solo, you learn how to sort out any hiccups quickly and don’t put things off until the last minute. You learn early on that everything is normally easily sorted and that people are normally willing to help you out. Next time something goes a little wrong you’ll not only be the calmest person in the room, you might even know how to sort it – and if not, you’ll know who to ask.
Travelling solo sounds a bit lonely, we know, but it’s definitely not. If you’re travelling alone you’ll often find curious or like-minded people willing to stop and have a chat wherever you go. Plus, you’re more likely to open yourself up to others and try talking to people. You won’t have a group of friends to head down to the bar with, so you might actually start up a conversation with the girl at the other end and find a new best friend. By the time you come home, you’ll have a whole new set of Facebook friends from around the world to stay in touch with.
Spending time alone can be a great way to learn a lot about yourself. You’ll discover what restaurants you really want to go to when nobody else is asking, what books you want to spend the evening reading, what drinks you like to order at the bar and who you miss the most from home. It’s always interesting to discover what you like and who you are when you don’t need to worry about anyone else. Quite often, too, you’ll grow as a person while you travel solo and relearn a few things about yourself you thought you already knew.
Possibly the most rewarding thing about travelling alone is the freedom you have to do anything you want. No more compromising and arguing about the best way to spend the afternoon! You won’t feel guilty if you want to spend a day here or there just in your room, and you don’t need to feel bad if you really want to check out that museum you know your friend would hate.
As well as having free reign over your day, you’re under no obligation to have a set plan or to-do list. It can actually be quite fun to spend a day wandering around a city, finding new things to do as you go along; and if you end up late for dinner then nobody is going to get mad at you. On your way to the beach when you spot a market you really want to check out? No problem. Planning your next stop in Amsterdam but find yourself tempted by another city? It’s entirely up to you where you end up next.
Lastly, you’ll fly home with a camera full of photos that your friends will actually be excited to see. All those fun stories and weird experiences you weren’t expecting? Because you decided to travel solo, you’ll get to relive all the memories again when you share them with friends and family.
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