5 Reasons to Try Traveling Solo

Although traveling with a friend is great, there’s a lot to be said for hitting the road - or trail - on your own. 

Solo travel is an exciting and humbling experience. You will see new places (probably fall in love with some of them!), meet new and diverse people, and try different things.

And when you return, you will have a greater sense of independence and confidence from having to do absolutely everything on your own. 

I want to open you to the world of goin’ solo, and why I’m so passionate about never turning down the opportunity for a trip - even a weekend getaway - whether or not traveling buddies can join you. Truly, I could go on and on.

These are just a few of the reasons why you should give solo travel a try. 

Reason 1: Absolute Flexibility and Freedom

You have the freedom to plan your own route.

This is arguably one most obvious benefits of solo travel: you can make any adjustment to your itinerary and there’s no one to complain about it.

When you travel alone, you don’t have to worry about passing your travel choices through one or more traveling companions. No, my friend, the choices are all yours - the world is wide open, limited only by your personal preferences and budget. 

You have the freedom to plan...well, everything.

You have complete control over literally every decision, not just the “big stuff,” like choosing destinations or booking hotels.

I really mean EVERYTHING, even and especially the mundane. See a great photo opportunity on the roadside? Pull over (carefully!) and take it! See a dozen more? Go ahead and take those shots too. Have a sudden energy burst and feel like driving six hours instead of four? Go for it! 

 This can’t be harped on enough - you have the freedom to do what you wish. Take advantage of it.

Reason 2: Forced Ejection Out of Your Comfort Zone

The very act of solo travel is a confidence builder. 

I still remember driving home after my first long-distance solo trip - to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, 12 hours away from my home in northeastern PA.

I had overblown my budget on that trip, and barely, barely had enough money for the gas to get home. Stubbornly refusing to ask my parents for help, I calculated the bare minimum number of gallons I needed to make it back, then cobbled together money on old debit cards to buy the gas. 

In hindsight there’s obviously nothing wrong with asking for help, but pulling into my parent's driveway, in spite of the odds and my mistakes, made me feel like a superhero. 

There’s just something about planning a trip on your own and returning with all these cool sights and experiences that fosters this truly empowering sense of “I can do anything.” 

Getting comfortable interacting with…other humans!

Okay, so I just made myself sound like a badass, but I also happen to be an introvert with a touch of either social anxiety or just a plain lack of confidence.

While I can look back and see the enormous growth I’ve made in this area, making phone calls (for work or otherwise) has always been tough for me (ohmygosh remember your script! Remember your script! Wait what was I going to ask again!?). 

Similarly, approaching service people to request directions and all related interactions are not my definition of fun. But I can firmly say that solo travel has helped me improve in this area. 

See, all of these scenarios are basically impossible if you don’t get over that fear and talk to another human being.

And guess what? In that process, you learn that other people aren’t that scary. Most of them are indifferent and don’t think twice about your stutter, or the stupid way you replied “thanks, you too!” to the waiter who hoped you’d enjoy your meal. 

Most of the folks you interact with on your travels are actually pretty nice human beings. And even when you do encounter rude people, you learn to brush them off and realize it’s not the end of the world.

What’s the alternative? Allow the one super nasty bus-ticket lady to ruin your whole trip? (Well, okay, I did that once, but I’ve since learned, and you can learn from my mishap!)

Reason 3: Enjoying your own company: Get to know yourself

Travel is a great opportunity for thinking.

I can hear you now: “gross! Get to know myself? Why? That’s boring.”

Here’s the thing: if you’re taking a solo trip, there’s going to be a LOT of silence.

I’m not even talking about straight-up dead noise, but the figurative kind of “silence” when you’re on a rumbling bus on the highway and other passengers are talking or the guy across from you is blasting his music so loudly in his earbuds that you can hear it. 

But all that’s okay, because this is a time where you’re essentially alone with your own thoughts. It’s “you” time: time to reflect on your current situations back at home, to look forward to arriving at your destination, or plan out strategies for whatever your next cool endeavor will be.

People think I’m weird for saying it, but I actually enjoy travel time for the very reason that it grants me this special space to reflect while grooving to some mood music.

Reason 4: Making New Friends and Connections.

Always. Talk. To Locals.

Yes, our glorious leader, Google (located conveniently in our pocket al la our phones) is helpful, I’ll admit. It’s great for locating hotels while you’re on the move, pointing the way to your nearest KFC for a comfort food splurge, and calculating and plotting out exact arrival times down to the minute.  

But in my experience, great tools can also become great crutches.

By this I simply mean: what if there was another way to discover all those awesome touristy spots? You know, ones that are hidden gems, and that aren’t overcrowded when you arrive?

Or what local dive serves the best French Onion Soup, even though Google’s rave reviews have proved to be incorrect?

Enter, the locals. 

This doesn’t have to be difficult. It can be as simple as walking into a gift shop and asking the kid who rings up your purchase, “what’s the coolest place here?”

Talking to the locals will usually result in things like an insider’s scoop on the area’s best “insert whatever dish here.”

Or scenic spots to visit that may be unknown to others.  Plus, this little exercise continues to build on that aforementioned thing about increasing your confidence, enhancing your communication skills, and getting out of your comfort zone.

You get the chance to connect with fellow travelers.

It doesn’t have to be the locals. You could strike up a conversation with another visitor who happens to be on the same trip as you. 

One of my solo trips turned out being not-so-solo after I ended up spending most of the weekend with two older ladies.

On a weeklong hike on the Appalachian Trail, I swapped stories and conversations with many fellow hikers. To this day, I deeply regret not taking down the contact information of some of the folks I met out there (Hey Caveman, Twiggy or Skidmark, if you’re reading this, it’s Eighty! Drop me a line!). 

So take a chance and say hi to a fellow human: you never know where it will lead.

Reason 5: Improve Your Adaptability and Resiliency.

Things don’t go as planned and that’s okay.

Solo travel has a special way of teaching you adaptability and resiliency in a way that almost nothing else can.

Think about it: you’re alone when things go haywire. Scary, right? It definitely can be.

But these are the very circumstances that force you to use a little ingenuity and problem-solving. What’s the use whining about the situation? It’s not like your buddy is there to listen to you complain and can concoct a way out.

Nope, that’s all on you.

When you’re in an entirely new place and you’re alone, you don’t have anyone to back you up if things go awry. How will you react to these situations? 

How will you react to a broken-down car? Or a budget mishap? Throughout the situations I encountered and eventually overcame on my trips, I learned how to roll with the punches, even when the circumstances could be extreme.

Now, in my professional and personal life, I believe that the problem-solving skills I strengthened through my travels make me both a more valuable worker and a stronger person.

At the end of the day, the saying is true: “the best laid plans often go astray.” Obviously, I’m not saying don’t plan at all. That would be kind of dumb.

What I am saying, though, is not to freak out when things go a little nutty. It’s a trip; there’s almost no avoiding this. And that’s not a bad thing. 

Conclusion

Like I said earlier, I could go on religiously about why I’m so fired up about solo travel and all the apparent - and not so obvious! - benefits that come with it.

But I’ll spare you, and leave you with this: If you’re thinking about taking the plunge, but the idea of going out still scares you, well, being uncomfortable can happen on a solo trip, and it will happen in life too.

But why turn those experiences into learning opportunities and the chance to see beautiful sights? Why live life in fear, rather than experiencing what the world has to offer?

Even if your travel plans implode and everything goes wrong, you come back stronger for it.

Not only that, you come back with all these new experiences you might never have had if you chose to play it safe. These experiences can be as simple as choosing a local dive for lunch rather than your favorite nearby chain restaurant.

Or they can be as big as choosing to go on a solo trip in the first place. 

Solo travel helps build a confidence in yourself and in your choices that you can get from almost nowhere else. It can instill a willingness to try new things, to take chances, to be bold while still exercising common sense.

Sounds like a lot of pretty audacious statements, right? That’s because I’ve lived it. I’ve seen how all these traits don’t stay isolated to the experience of “the trip.” Instead, they carry over from your travels to your real life and help you grow as a result.

Solo travel has been one of the most empowering things I’ve ever done, and I hope to keep taking trips as much as I can.

What about you? I hope this article has at least shed some light on the benefits of a solo trip. And even more, I hope it inspires you to take a trip of your own!