Traveling can be pretty daunting as you will be filled with questions and worries being away from the comfort of your home. From you will return alone late at night from a club, or how uneasy will it be to eat alone in a restaurant to how you will pull your car out of the ditch or what if you get lost because two minds indeed work better than one, solo traveling can quite stingingly plague the minds before the first trip.
Is skipping solo travel worth all the worries?
The important question is; are all these questions worrying enough to skip traveling solo because of the lack of a traveling partner. A series of rewarding and life-changing experiences and memories will be bared behind if you do that. Sure, you will have to be extra alert while going out alone at night in a foreign country, or to be safe in an area known for pick-pocketing, but isn’t it good that you be careful even if you are traveling with a friend or a whole group?
Is loneliness even an issue?
Another central stigma around traveling independently is loneliness. Even introverts worry about being homesick, however, traveling alone doesn’t necessarily means you have to be alone or feel lonely. If you are traveling for volunteer work, you can choose to go with a group of participants and make some of the best friends you have ever had, or if you are just traveling to feed your lust for wandering around, you will find so many fellow tourists in your dorm, or even choose to live with locals so you don’t have to be alone and learn the culture, traditions, and religions of your localhost. You can learn to enjoy your own company if you are all by yourself, meditate, let go, be completely and irrevocably free.
Trails and tales of independent travelers
Millions of solo travelers have taken Thailand flights, leaving behind the comforts of their houses to find comfort in the soul by running through running through Thailand’s rainforests or spending early morning meditating in temples. Banana pancake trail is quite a famous backpacker route for all of you who want to loop around the islands, forests, waterfalls, and beaches that have the memories of thousands of independent travelers that have taken steps on the grounds.
You learn to be independent
Even if you are a grown up, how many times can you remember to have taking care of every traveling essential all by yourself? How many times have your mother not asked you if you have your passport and airline ticket with you or your assistant or co-worker have made sure you do have your passport? And you know if they hadn’t asked you or made sure, you might have lost it? Going solo will teach you how to manage the details all by yourself and to be aware of my things you wouldn’t be if you travel with your friends or family because you have them to depend on. The freedom and being independent is a thrill that allows you to do what to do whenever you want to.
You learn the sense of direction
You might be scared to hike through Thailand’s rainforests alone because you are bad at navigating your way. Especially when you are traveling alone, you are put to test is the only navigator. You learn to be a little more alert and aware of your surroundings.
You hear your inner voice in the silence
Imagine all the fans are off in a cold house and you can hear the clock tick-tocking hitting the four wooden walls in the eerie silence. That is exactly how the inner voice work. Being alone in a secluded forest will not only allow you to hear your thoughts but heighten them to the point where you can shut and twist them however you want to. You will understand and learn about the world from a whole another perspective and let you dig deeper into your soul. This can also improve your mental health.
Traveling to countries which focus on meditation and religious rituals such as Thailand, India, and China where Yoga retreats, spiritual healers, massage, hiking, and meditations will all help you relax and open the gateway to the third eye. When your thoughts are racing and you zone out of your physical surroundings, you can’t really command yourself to stop fretting over regrets of past and worries of what is to happen next, but you can tell it to focus on what is in front of you. Positive thoughts are a game-changer and so is breathing out your worries. Especially when you have an amazing mountain view in front of you.
Learn to go with the flow
Your main goal of traveling solo is to establish this connection with nature, God, and inner realm and to search for as many secrets of the world as possible. When you are traveling solo, you are your own decision maker and you don’t have to worry about your friend who doesn’t want to share a hotel bed with you. Alone, you can stay and go anywhere you want to. You can literally sleep a night on a hammock. Meeting people from all phases of life and discovering places and foods tends to relax you in a way no antidepressant can. You will learn to be tolerant and to compromise and accept life throws your way.