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The Case for Traveling Alone

When I tell people that I spent three months traveling around Asia by myself, they look at me like I’m crazy. It defies logic, they tell me. I mean why on Earth would anyone want to do anythinng alone, especially something as momentous as traveling?

But think about it. When you’re alone you never have to do what anyone else wants to do! Imagine the freedom you can experience!

When I was studying in Thailand, I went on short trips both alone and with my friends and they were two totally different expereicnes. Sure, it was nice to have company, but having to wait around for everyone to make up their minds got old pretty fast.

People often seem to wonder if it gets lonely on the road. The beauty about traveling alone is that if you decide you want company, it’s not too hard to find. It’s ridiculously easy to meet other travelers, especially those traveling solo. Right there and then you have a common bond to strike up a coversation about. I’ve met some truly wonderful individuals with who I’ve decided to travel with for days at a time. We were going the same way, so why not share transportation, meals and hotel rooms to offset the cost? And the best part is if you don’t get along, you just go your seperate ways!

In nearly every city I visited I was able to connect with fellow travelers, but the best example of this was at the “Dragon’s Backbone” Rice Terraces in Southwest China. It was a pretty remote place and I banded together with the only other tourists on the bus (a French-Canadian fellow and a French woman, as well as 5 (mostly) English-speaking Chinese nationals). We shared accomodation and spent a couple of incredibly memorable days trekking together before each going our seperate ways.

Gang at Ping'An
My fellow travelers and I sharing a meal at the very chilly Ping’An village

When I’ve traveled with my friends, I haven’t had these experiences where I’ve met such fantastic people. When you’re alone, you seek out company rather than being insular. Not to mention the fact that it’s easier to partake in that fantastic cultural exchange called CouchSurfing if you’re alone.

Since my return, many people have told me that they couldn’t do what I did. My question to them is, why? Sure, I was absolutely terrified before I flew off on my very first trip to Laos all those years ago, but the second I got off that plane in Bangkok, I suddenly had no clue what I was worried about.

Yes, the unkown is frightening, but it’s a truly wonderful world out there! And if you go alone, there’s company on-demand more than you’d ever expect!

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By Aaron

Hey there! I'm Aaron and this is my travel site, where I document my adventures to all corners of the world. My love for travel started at the ripe old age of four, when a midlife crisis uprooted my family to Ecuador for five years. Since then, I've been to countries on 4 different continents. When I'm not blissfully on the road, I reside in New York City, where I become the ultimate travel junkie and spend my days dreaming up my next great adventure! Read More...

6 replies on “The Case for Traveling Alone”

Love this! And it’s so true… It’s a lot easier to make friends if you’re alone, as you appear much more approachable than a group of people!

I can’t wait to start my solo RTW trip, although everyone I’ve spoken to about it thinks I’m insane for wanting to go alone!

People always look at me funny when I tell them I travel alone. I always have to explain that it’s actually a really amazing way of traveling and that I’m not some anit-social person! When are you off on your trip?

I’m with you on this…I always meet people when I travel alone. Most of my greatest adventures have come about traveling this way. And the funny thing is–I meet so many people that I sometimes need to…be alone! I also enjoy the freedom…nothing quite like it!

Well the upside of being alone is that it’s very easy to do that too! 😛

I fully agree! And my friends were very surprised when I told them that I don’t like travel with a bunch of friends. It’s just a different type of travelling. Someone needs a huge company to have fun, others enjoy the trip itself rather than spending time on sorting out who and when wants to go. So i’m glad you wrote this post. I feel much better now as I’m not alone who had to tell others “let me alone”. (I travel with my hubby, and we are pretty good in doing it together, loving it.) I agree that you can travel more often and see heaps more and experience more when you are on your own. xx Natalie

I agree. It’s a totally different way of traveling. One which I realized I liked better when I took a trip with some friends. Having been spoiled by the joys of not having to do what anyone else wanted to do, I ended up ditching everything I wanted to do, resigned to being dragged to malls and bars. After that experience, I said “no thanks!” to traveling with others…

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