If you’re on the fence about solo traveling, I’m here to tell you that that urge, that desire, that curious feeling is something you totally need to follow.
If you read my last post about how to start solo traveling, you’ll know that I was pushed into solo traveling because I didn’t have anyone that wanted to go where I wanted to go, and spend the money that I needed to spend to make my dreams come true.
I mean, my first solo trip was to Sri Lanka for a month!
While Sri Lanka is popular now, nobody was going to Sri Lanka back when I went in 2011.
So believe me when I say I know that you’re terrified of solo traveling. I was terrified too, but I faced my fears, saved my money, and hopped on a plane to Sri Lanka.
That trip totally changed my life because it opened my world up to not just traveling solo, but it opened me up to do a ton of other things solo.
I went to a handful of countries solo, lived and worked abroad, and even volunteered abroad.
There are a ton of rewards to solo traveling, and in this post, I’m going to give you my top 10.
So if you’re super-duper nervous about solo traveling, I know these tips will help you go forth and take your first solo trip.
Empowering & a Huge Confidence Booster
The number one benefit to solo traveling is that it is empowering.
It’s definitely a confidence booster to know that you handled being in a country alone, planned for that trip, prepared for it, and did all the organizational tasks.
From calling the credit card company and letting them know you’ll be abroad, learning some of the languages, and creating a budget.
You did it all by yourself!
While I’m sure you’re reading this and thinking I’m just bluffing, trust me, there is just something golden about traveling solo and how you feel about yourself after you finish that trip.
You will definitely feel empowered and have the confidence to do many things you were afraid of doing.
That Confidence Spills Over To Other Areas of Your Life
The newfound confidence you gained from solo traveling will spill over to other areas of your life. You won’t have a problem doing many different activities ALONE!
You won’t have a problem going to the movies alone, going to a concert alone, or eating at restaurants alone.
Because of that relationship you’ve built with yourself when traveling alone, you won’t have any issues doing many things alone when you get back to your country.
And guess what? You might feel like you want to do many more things alone because you see the benefits of doing things alone.
You’re Decisions, and Yours Alone!
The next reason you should solo travel is that you get to make all the decisions on what you will be doing when traveling.
Do you want to go to spend the morning at a museum?
Or lay on the beach all day?
Or people-watch at a cafe?
Whatever you want to spend your time doing, no one is there to tell you NO. Even more, there’s no negotiating. You get to do what you want to do.
Your TIME is ALL Yours
To piggyback on my last point, The next benefit is that you can spend as much TIME doing what you want to do.
If you’re like me and want to spend one hour at the museum instead of 3-4 hours like most people, that’s cool!
When I go to the museum with my sister, she likes to walk around and see everything, and the whole experience just takes a long time.
I like to be in and out when I go to the museum. Unless it REALLY interests me. When I’m ready to go, I go.
A Whole New World of Possibilities
The next benefit of solo traveling is that a whole new world is opened up to you.
When you realize that you’re able to do things on your own, you will start having a lot of other goals, dreams, and desires because now you see that nothing is stopping you from doing whatever you want to do. You can just do it on your own.
It doesn’t matter if someone’s coming with you or not. You don’t need anyone to be interested in what you want to do.
There are no barriers to you following your dreams, which opens up a whole new world for you.
See a Part of Yourself That You’ve Never Seen Before
The next benefit of solo traveling is seeing a part of yourself that you’ve never seen before.
You get to fully see who you are in different situations.
You get to see who you are when you’re in a foreign country ordering food off the menu you barely can read.
You get to see who you are when you’re trying to navigate back to your Airbnb by yourself, and everything is in a different language.
You get to see who you are when you’re feeling lonely, and there’s no one there to comfort you.
Solo traveling will show you a whole different part of yourself that you’ve never seen before, and it’s super cool.
Meet New People From All Walks of Life
The next benefit of solo traveling is meeting new people from all walks of life.
You know what it’s like going on vacation with a group and sticking together in that group, doing just about everything together.
Yes, you’re having a great time with the group. However, the good thing about solo traveling is that you’re in a situation where it’s easy to connect with people because people are more open to approaching you. And vice versa, you’re more open to approaching people.
I know I’m not the only one nervous about approaching a group of people verse approaching a single traveler.
What’s also funny is that when you’re solo traveling, you can make these one or two day temporary friends.
Say you meet someone at the hostel, bar, or wherever, you chat and find out that you’re both going to the same site the next day, you can go to that site together and have a friend for a day.
It’s possible that you can stay connected to them for years. I’m still connected with people I met years ago.
It’s fun to make friends, and it’s definitely easier to make friends when you’re solo traveling.
Fully Engage With Your Experience
The next benefit of solo traveling is that you get to have a fully connected experience with where you are.
I noticed that when I’m solo traveling versus when I’m traveling with other people, there are many distractions.
It’s not a terrible thing, but when I’m solo traveling, I see that I’m more engaged in whatever activity I’m doing.
When I’m with other people, we might be busy laughing about something, we might be talking about what we’re gonna do next, or we’re going to eat next. Again, we are enjoying ourselves, but I find that it’s distracting.
When you’re alone, there isn’t any distraction.
So whether you want to be at a museum and stare at an art piece for two hours, hiking, or just getting lost in nature, it’s much easier to do that when you’re by yourself.
All The Space To Yourself
This might sound a bit silly, but the next best thing about solo traveling is that you have a lot of space to yourself.
I’m talking about physical space. You don’t have to worry about someone dirtying the bathroom, AND the TV is all yours! Watch whatever you want on Netflix.
I know I’m not the only one that appreciates my personal space.
When you’re solo traveling, it’s all yours.
Travel Faster & Further
The next benefit of solo traveling is that you get to go off the beaten path and travel faster.
There are just some places that are easier to go solo.
I like to go to small villages, towns, and places off the beaten path. It’s harder to do those things and travel faster and cheaper with bigger groups of people.
When I’m traveling by myself, it’s just easier to visit these smaller places, these towns, and cities just off the tourist track.
So when I’m traveling with bigger groups of people, for example, my family in the summer, I plan to go to bigger cities and do the touristy thing.
To be honest, it’s just easier. So just keep that in mind.
I hope this blog post pushed you to take that first solo trip! There are just so many benefits of solo traveling.
I know that when you take your first solo trip, you’ll see what I’m talking about. You will experience many more benefits that I haven’t mentioned in this blog post.
Let me know in the comments what you are looking forward to about traveling solo.
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