Why Everyone Should Experience Solo Travel At Least Once In Their Life

Solo travel may sound like an intimidating idea to many people and I can understand why. Thoughts of being all by yourself in a foreign land, unfamiliar with your surroundings and not knowing a soul! It’s a true definition of stepping out of your comfort zone. And although that idea may be a little unnerving, if you can get past the intimidating part, it also represents a true definition of freedom.

I was very privileged to start traveling at a young age. By my teenage years, I had already visited a handful of countries. My summer breaks were always spent vacationing out west. I had family spread out all around the US and I was lucky enough to visit them on various trips throughout the years. By the time I reached my early 20’s, I was already pretty well-traveled. But there was something more I always yearned for that wasn’t truly satisfied until I took my first solo trip.

Solo travel is an experience like no other. It’s an experience in learning, humbling, self-love, and self-growth. I can remember clearly when I first started warming up to the idea of solo travel. The day-dreams and fantasies I was having about traveling on my own seemed too big and risky to actually go through with. I was scared to tell my friends and family that I was thinking about solo travel for fear of ridicule or discouragement. Once I got over those fears and started putting plans in place to make my dream a reality, I felt like I was experiencing true freedom for the first time. 

I ended up taking my first solo trip in March 2017 and ventured through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala for three weeks. It changed my life and my perspective on almost everything. I truly believe that everyone should have the experience of solo travel at least once in their life and here are some pretty good reasons why:

Solo Travel Forces You Out of Your Comfort Zone And We All Know “Life Begins At The End of Your Comfort Zone”

Although this quote may be a little cheesy and over used, it holds so much truth! Throughout life we tend to get really comfortable in our relationships, with our careers, and in our routines. There is nothing wrong with being comfortable in life. However, when we are comfortable all of the time, are we maybe doing a little less living and a little bit more of just existing?

Solo travel pushes you out of your comfort zone and directly into an intense, living life to the fullest zone. It makes you responsible for all of your decisions instead of maybe relying on someone else to make choices for you. It forces you to talk to people and throw yourself into social situations that may be slightly uncomfortable. Solo travel challenges you in numerous ways, persuading you to meet life with a passion that you may have never encountered before. And that is something that everyone deserves to experience.

Solo Travel Helps You Realize What’s Truly Important To You (Not Just What Society Claims To Be Important)

When you’re traveling by yourself, there is plenty of time for self-reflection. Self-reflection is an extremely important practice that most people don’t find time for in their daily lives. But when you’re traveling alone, you’ll be surprised how much time you have to just think. . . 

You’ll start asking yourself questions such as, how satisfied am I with my life? What are my dreams and goals for the future? Am I doing something that I feel passionate about? Can I really see myself at my high paying, highly stressful office job for the next 40 years of my life? Am I happy with this particular college degree I’m pursuing? Are material things more important to me than experiences?

Solo travel really gives you the clear headed space to figure out what’s most important to you and how you’d like to live your life- for yourself- and not for anyone else. Not only will you start to piece together these important thoughts but you may even start envising how you can make them a reality for yourself. This is one of the reasons why solo travel can be such a life changing experience.

You Will Undoubtedly Make Unique Friendships That Will Last A Lifetime

The thing I found most comical about solo travel, was that 85% of the time, I was never solo! I met friends at every turning corner and I’m sure that’s the case for most. One factor that I believe made my experience really special as a solo traveler, was staying in hostels. For anyone who may be unfamiliar, a hostel is a shared, dormitory style accommodation. I’d recommend staying in this kind of accommodation as a solo traveler because it gives you the opportunity to meet other like minded individuals and like I said, you’re never truly alone.

Now, one of the hardest parts about solo travel was making such strong connections and bonds with other people that you feel like you’ve known them your whole life, and then usually within a couple of days you’ll be going your separate ways. Saying goodbye never gets easier no matter how many times you have to do it. But those connections last a lifetime! And it’s a really incredible experience getting to visit your travel friends once again, possibly in a new place that you haven’t been to before. 

You Will Learn More From Solo Travel Then You Did In All of Your Years of Schooling

Solo travel isn’t just an amazing life experience but it’s an incredible learning experience as well. There is only so much that years of schooling can teach you. But out in the world, there is an infinite amount of learning to be done and incredible lessons to encounter. Solo travel gives you the opportunity to dive into that first hand. 

If you’re traveling to a different country, or possibly multiple countries, you may be introduced to new languages, cultures, customs, religious beliefs, and even cusines that you were not previously familiar with. You will encounter people that look different than you and live differently than you. You might possibly be introduced to some harsh truths about prejudice and corrupt governments. Our world isn’t a perfect place unfortunately, but it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in it, and these are things that you will most definitely encounter. They will change you for the better, and if anything, it will help you have some realizations about what you have been given in this life and how lucky you are to have it. That is something you will never learn in school.

You Will Have The Opportunity To Re-Meet Yourself

In our daily lives, how much time do we really spend with ourselves? Without interruptions from family members, friends, significant others, work commitments, social media, or Netflix. We are often so busy in our regular day-to-day that we don’t check in with ourselves.

When you’re traveling alone, you will find that special time to just be with yourself. You will find yourself to be much more present than you are in your regular daily routine. You may start to pay more attention to your thoughts, dreams and goals, likes, and dislikes. It is truly like re-meeting yourself and it is a beautiful, life-changing experience.

There are many benefits and incredible experiences in traveling in a group or with another person. Travel in general is just good for our soul and our mind. But I am steadfast in the belief that solo travel is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lives. It is a very different experience to traveling with someone else and there are aspects of it that just cannot be matched by traveling any other way. 

I hope that this post has given you some insight into solo traveling and if its something you would consider doing in the future. One important thing to take into account as a solo traveler is how you will document your memories and take incredible photos while traveling alone. Check out my friend Andrea’s new blog post on tips for taking stunning solo travel photos!

If you have considered solo travel but aren’t really sure where to go from there, feel free to reach out to me to answer any questions, concerns, or even just to have someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of. Also, feel free to check out a past blog post I wrote about helping your family get comfortable with your long-term/ solo travel plans if that is a concern for you. I’d love to hear any feedback! Thank you for reading & happy travels.