Quitting a full-time job and booking a one-way flight to begin a solo trip was probably one of the craziest decisions I had ever made. I had never solo travelled before and the thought of travelling around the world alone and lost with no set agenda, speaking only English (and maybe 10 words of French), totally terrified me. Being an extrovert, I worried… ‘What if I end up completely alone and don’t enjoy my own company, will I be lonely?’. My biggest worry was regarding my safety as a female solo-traveller, I feared, ‘What if something terrible happens, who will help me?’.  Most of these worries were down to preconceived ideas from family, friends and even myself about solo-travel and some of the destinations I was planning to visit.

Nevertheless, despite the countless worries and fears, I thought to myself, ‘What have I got to lose, life begins outside your comfort zone right? And I was right, it totally does. Solo travelling was a truly life changing and enriching experience and I would recommend it to everyone. Travelling solo teaches you so many things about yourself and the world around you and as cheesy as it sounds, it will change you as a person, your perspective and outlook on life and the ways in which you choose to live your life.

So, here are 8 reasons why you should solo travel and why it is awesome:

You can do whatever you want, whenever you want (Freedom!)

Solo travel is the best way of truly experiencing total freedom. Want to stay up all night and enjoy the sunrise on a beach, hike a gorgeous mountain in an unknown place, party with random people you’ve just met or laze in bed until 4pm, you have the power to decide. You are in charge; you decide where you want to go and when you want to do it (as long as your budget allows). Solo travelling without an agenda allows even more freedom, with no set timescales or restrictions you can change plans easily and just go with the flow. Depending on the length of the trip and your plans, this is not always an option. Booking in advance does save money, ensures availability and allows you to feel organised and prepared, however it can be restrictive.

For my parents’ piece of mind, I ended up booking the first three weeks of my travels. Although it felt good to have some organisation and a plan in place, I am so pleased that I had only booked three weeks as it allowed much more flexibility to adapt my plans and take the ‘winging’ it approach for the rest of the trip.

You meet interesting people from all around the world and make amazing friends

As I said earlier, before beginning my trip I was worried about not meeting people and ending up alone and lonely, however this was a preconception I had around ‘solo-travel’ and never the case on my trip. It was actually quite the contrary. When travelling solo, you are never really alone as there are so many others in the exact same position as you. Travelling solo makes it really easy to meet other people as you are more approachable and less intimidating than a group of people. Travelling alone forces you to ‘put yourself out there’, break out of your comfort zone and speak to others. Wherever you go, there will always be opportunities to meet people, whether that be other travellers or locals. One of the most important things I learned on my trip was that it is not always the places you go where you will have the greatest time; it is the people you meet that make the trip memorable.

It gives your confidence and self-esteem a huge boost!

Being alone forces you to be more confident, or at least pretend you are. Having to rely on yourself, make plans and find solutions if they go wrong builds self-confidence and leaves you with a great sense of accomplishment that you actually managed to do it alone and survived perfectly fine. Encouraging yourself to try new things, interact with strangers and experience new opportunities may seem extremely daunting and yes it can be, however the more you ‘put yourself out there’, the more natural it becomes.

You will feel a huge sense of achievement!

When I boarded the plan to return home, I had a moment of self-reflection where I thought to myself, ‘Wow, one year ago I would not even take a taxi alone in my home time and look at me now, I have managed to backpack alone through two continents and have safely survived the last 10 months of random, crazy experiences and I can’t wait to do it all again’. I felt a huge sense of achievement and pride that I had completed this trip alone and survived #winning.  

You learn to appreciate your own company

For many, myself included, being alone can be quite daunting, especially when you talk as much as me. The beauty of solo travel is that you have the choice to spend time alone or interact with others. In our busy, chaotic lives, alone time can be a rarity. Solo travel gives you that rare opportunity to have some ‘me time’, a chance to unwind, switch off from the world and devote some time to yourself. It is a great way to appreciate your own company and do things you wouldn’t usually have time for. For me personally, I would always worry about doing things ‘alone’ and if someone was not available to do something, I would give it a miss too, being too worried that I would look like a ‘loner’ going alone.  On a solo trip, you learn to appreciate your own company and stop caring what other people think about your solo activities.

It is much easier and simple to organise

As we all know, planning and organising a group trip can be a logistical nightmare with so many things to consider such as: agreeing on a date that everyone can make, deciding on the destination and considering everyone’s needs, opinions and interests when planning the activities. It can take months of discussing, negotiating and adapting plans before something is set in place. Planning a trip for yourself does still require research, however it is far simpler to organise and much less hassle. With only yourself to think about and please, you decide what you would like to do, set your own pace and create your own itinerary.

No need to compromise – you do what you want to do

Often in life, we do things because it makes others happy. We compromise our plans to accommodate others interests in order to please them. As I mentioned earlier, travelling alone means you get to do what you want. If you have no interest in history or art and find museums boring, you don’t need to spend your time trailing around them. Traveling solo means that you plan the trip the way you want and in a way that benefits you the most. If you would prefer to lie on a beach soaking up the sun all day then so be it, you decide what you want to do and there is no need to compromise your plans for others. If you meet and start to travel with others, you may have to do some compromising, however it is about balancing this compromise and this choice is entirely up to you. If you want company and meet like-minded travellers that share similar interests, you’re winning, however if your interests or plans don’t coincide and you’re happier doing your own thing, that is fine too. Do what makes you happy, it is your trip 😊

Personal growth and empowerment

Taking care of and relying upon only yourself, tackling new obstacles and challenges, facing fears and trying new experiences, all provide you with a sense of empowerment and enable you to learn more about yourself. When solo travelling, you are forced to make your own decisions rather than relying upon friends, family members or a partner. You have the opportunity to discover new interests, activities and experiences you thought you would never try, never mind enjoy. I was very apprehensive about horse riding before this trip and now I really enjoy it and want to further pursue this interest.

And.. last but not least… you will have a ball!!

Solo travelling is a truly amazing, rewarding and unique experience providing so many opportunities. If you are considering it and feeling hesitant, I hope this post has inspired you to give it a try!

Do you like to travel solo? Feel free to share reasons below why you like to travel solo, I would love to hear them.