What Solo Traveling Taught Me

4/02/2015


Traveling solo is thing which you should experience at least once in your life. Not because you are traveling, but also because you can learn so many things just from being somewhere alone and on your own. It doesn´t matter if it´s in your country or if it´s abroad, I can guarantee you will gain something from it.
I did my first solo travel when I was 16. I had done a lot of trips with my school or family before, so traveling solo was another thing I was dying to try. And my dream came true few weeks after I had blown candles on the cake for 16th birthday. I still remember how I had to find bus station, how I had to change money into local currency, how I had to use all languages I know to get a direction, buy ticket or souvenir or order a meal at restaurant. And all these things just on my own, alone. It was different country for me and all was new for me, but I survived and traveling solo has been one of my favourite forms of traveling. However, if you think it´s only cheaper and better version how to discover new places, I can say that it´s quite like a "school" and actually you will learn something. 

1. Be more responsible

As I mentioned above, when I arrived to different country for the first time, I was supposed to do everything alone. Exchange my money to local currency, find station of bus/train, buy tickets and etc. All was new, in different language and even though I understood it, it was still quite confusing. But each of these things were small lessons which made me more responsible. When I was going out from hotel, it was only my backpack where I put the keys from the hotel room, it was only me who had to think what to take and what can stay inside the room. I had more freedom, but also a bigger responsibility. When I got lost, I simply couldn´t call somebody and ask for direction or persuade a friend to go and ask for the way. It was only me and nobody else.

2. Getting lost isn´t so bad

It might be scary when you get lost in an unfamiliar place, but you never know what you can find while you are trying to get to a specific destination. It can be lovely coffee shop, stunning piece of local architecture or clever way how to get a beautiful view. I discovered so many places just by getting lost and my photos were and experiences were always a bit different just because of this.

3. People are like me and you

When you travel solo, it´s just normal you will meet a new people. Hostel, hotel, restaurant, coffee shop, market or plane/train/bus passenger, you will be meeting new people everywhere. Maybe your parents, friends or teachers warned you about not talking to strangers, but it can help you. You can make a new friend or simply show you want to be fine with them and you are not there to hurt them or rob them. And if you try and talk more with them, maybe you will discover new things about their culture, life or country they are from and it´s always good to know more.

4. Fear is nothing if you can overcome it

Many dreams are not followed, because people are simply afraid. They have a thing called fear. But they only waste their time. If you have a big fear of something, ask yourself, if it´s real or only imagined. Nothing that I feared happened! Think of things you could experience if you had no fear. Remember one thing - fear is only for some time and you can overcome it, but regret is something what will always follow you, no matter what and you can´t take it back.

5. Bigger confidence

I definitely became more confident, mostly in my languages skills and abilities of communicating with people. Because you are doing so many things on your own and in front of foreign people, your confidence will grow up, because you will get out of your comfort zone. And that is something really important and it gave me a lot of useful experiences in my life.


Have you ever traveled solo? If yes, how did you feel about it? If no, would you like to do it?

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2 comments

  1. awsome, ive done it couple of time, i just affirm tha! thanks for beautiful article

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes, definitely! and thank you for your compliment ;)

      Delete

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