Change Your Life and Travel Solo

“You’re doing that by yourself?” everyone always asks me a-gaze when I tell them about my upcoming solo trip. Yes, I am doing it by myself, and I believe solo travel is an activity that is so quickly overlooked and that isn’t even fairly considered by most people. Here’s why.

Sure, traveling with close friends is always a blast. But it’s a different kind of blast than being completely on your own. To travel with friends is to to be adventurous with them — but there’s a limit to that adventure. To travel alone — that is an adventure in itself, and why I find it so much more rewarding¹.

It Builds Independence and Personal Responsibility

When you’re traveling with a group, the group makes decisions, not just one person. When something goes wrong, the group decides what the solution will be, not just one person. When events are being planned, the group plans, not just one person.

But when you’re traveling solo, the “fate” of your trip rests entirely in your own hands; more specifically, in your own decisions.

Miss the last bus for the night? It’s your fault, and your job to decide what the next plan of action will be.

Run out of gas on the side of the road? Welcome to solo travel, nobody is coming to save you.

Don’t feel like sightseeing anymore? Stop.

Hungry for expensive Japanese sushi? Nobody to convince but yourself.

Want to switch your entire itinerary around just because you feel like it? Who’s going to say otherwise?

The point is, when you’re alone, you do what you please, go where you please, eat what you please, sleep when you please and enjoy the entire adventure in the way you see fit. There is something completely invigorating when you realize that the only person you have to look out for and cater to is yourself. You call all the shots.

But with this freedom also comes a form of responsibility. There is nobody to blame when something goes wrong, and even worse, there’s nobody to even bounce ideas off of. The decisions are yours and yours only.

It’s More Adventurous

Being in a foreign city or climbing a distant mountain has a different feel when you are alone compared to when you are with you friends. Both good feelings, but both very different.

When you’re with your friends, the focus is more on each other than where you actually are. The travel was just another means to get the friend group back together.

In contrast, when you’re by yourself, what else is there to focus on than your surroundings? I encourage everyone to at least once in their life walk down a foreign city’s streets at midnight — watching the lights in the buildings turn off, the distant laughter of a dinner party, music from a show, and if you’re lucky, light snowfall on the sidewalk. A lot of these feelings and experiences are missed when you’re with a group, and can only be truly brought into the open when there are no distractions.

To reiterate point one as well, being alone causes the adventure to feel richer. You are more immersed in the culture because you are completely open to it. You are less willing to stick to your old traditions and thought processes because they are 1,000s of miles overseas. You see the world in a slightly new way.

You’re More Approachable

Even without being outgoing or friendly, you automatically become more approachable when you’re alone. Not only to the locals of wherever you’re visiting, but also other solo travelers! Think how intimidating it is to go up to strangers, let alone a group of strangers. But when you’re solo and you see another solo traveler, you immediately have a common ground and know they are going through a similar experience.

I can’t tell you the amount of times (specifically in Norway and Yosemite) I befriended another solo traveler. In Yosemite, Steve was a rock climber from Southern California, camping for the weekend and bouldering the lower half of El Capitan. We immediately hit it off in our campsite, not because we were actively making an effort, but because two solo travelers naturally feel more connected to one another.

Or in Norway, when Lukasz, a solo travel from Poland, told me he was “trying out hitchhiking for a couple days” and had traveled 300 miles away from the airport by solely holding up a sign that says “I’m from Poland and I’m hitchhiking.” We ended up driving around the next 3 days together.

Travel solo and you’ll be amazed at how many more people you’ll meet, and at how many more people are happy to open up.

Sometimes Your Schedule is the Only One That Works

One of the more sad realizations of getting older is realizing that you aren’t always going to be able to do everything with your friends. Sometimes your schedules align, but more often than not, they don’t.

If you continue to put off traveling, waiting for the perfect summer week where “the whole gang is getting back together,” you’ll never travel. It’s fortunate when you are able to travel with a friend, but understanding that travel can still be just as rich (if not richer) without your friends beside you is something that truly helps you grow.

If you haven’t solo traveled before, make an effort to this year. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy, maybe just a weekend drive through the Oregon Coast or a 4 day backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. Travel solo once and you’ll realize it’s not as scary as it sounds, and if anything, it’s better and more rewarding than you imagined.

I’d love to see where you’re off to next — hit me up on Instagram to connect!

1 — I would like to briefly address that I, being male, am far more safe and in less danger traveling alone than a female solo traveler would be. Don’t get me wrong, there are many friends of mine who are female who travel alone and many articles I’ve read on Medium of female solo travelers. Just please be safe and smart whenever traveling alone, male or female.“You’re doing that by yourself?” everyone always asks me a-gaze when I tell them about my upcoming solo trip. Yes, I am doing it by myself, and I believe solo travel is an activity that is so quickly overlooked and that isn’t even fairly considered by most people. Here’s why.

Sure, traveling with close friends is always a blast. But it’s a different kind of blast than being completely on your own. To travel with friends is to to be adventurous with them — but there’s a limit to that adventure. To travel alone — that is an adventure in itself, and why I find it so much more rewarding¹.

It Builds Independence and Personal Responsibility

When you’re traveling with a group, the group makes decisions, not just one person. When something goes wrong, the group decides what the solution will be, not just one person. When events are being planned, the group plans, not just one person.

But when you’re traveling solo, the “fate” of your trip rests entirely in your own hands; more specifically, in your own decisions.

Miss the last bus for the night? It’s your fault, and your job to decide what the next plan of action will be.

Run out of gas on the side of the road? Welcome to solo travel, nobody is coming to save you.

Don’t feel like sightseeing anymore? Stop.

Hungry for expensive Japanese sushi? Nobody to convince but yourself.

Want to switch your entire itinerary around just because you feel like it? Who’s going to say otherwise?

The point is, when you’re alone, you do what you please, go where you please, eat what you please, sleep when you please and enjoy the entire adventure in the way you see fit. There is something completely invigorating when you realize that the only person you have to look out for and cater to is yourself. You call all the shots.

But with this freedom also comes a form of responsibility. There is nobody to blame when something goes wrong, and even worse, there’s nobody to even bounce ideas off of. The decisions are yours and yours only.

It’s More Adventurous

Being in a foreign city or climbing a distant mountain has a different feel when you are alone compared to when you are with you friends. Both good feelings, but both very different.

When you’re with your friends, the focus is more on each other than where you actually are. The travel was just another means to get the friend group back together.

In contrast, when you’re by yourself, what else is there to focus on than your surroundings? I encourage everyone to at least once in their life walk down a foreign city’s streets at midnight — watching the lights in the buildings turn off, the distant laughter of a dinner party, music from a show, and if you’re lucky, light snowfall on the sidewalk. A lot of these feelings and experiences are missed when you’re with a group, and can only be truly brought into the open when there are no distractions.

To reiterate point one as well, being alone causes the adventure to feel richer. You are more immersed in the culture because you are completely open to it. You are less willing to stick to your old traditions and thought processes because they are 1,000s of miles overseas. You see the world in a slightly new way.

You’re More Approachable

Even without being outgoing or friendly, you automatically become more approachable when you’re alone. Not only to the locals of wherever you’re visiting, but also other solo travelers! Think how intimidating it is to go up to strangers, let alone a group of strangers. But when you’re solo and you see another solo traveler, you immediately have a common ground and know they are going through a similar experience.

I can’t tell you the amount of times (specifically in Norway and Yosemite) I befriended another solo traveler. In Yosemite, Steve was a rock climber from Southern California, camping for the weekend and bouldering the lower half of El Capitan. We immediately hit it off in our campsite, not because we were actively making an effort, but because two solo travelers naturally feel more connected to one another.

Or in Norway, when Lukasz, a solo travel from Poland, told me he was “trying out hitchhiking for a couple days” and had traveled 300 miles away from the airport by solely holding up a sign that says “I’m from Poland and I’m hitchhiking.” We ended up driving around the next 3 days together.

Travel solo and you’ll be amazed at how many more people you’ll meet, and at how many more people are happy to open up.

Sometimes Your Schedule is the Only One That Works

One of the more sad realizations of getting older is realizing that you aren’t always going to be able to do everything with your friends. Sometimes your schedules align, but more often than not, they don’t.

If you continue to put off traveling, waiting for the perfect summer week where “the whole gang is getting back together,” you’ll never travel. It’s fortunate when you are able to travel with a friend, but understanding that travel can still be just as rich (if not richer) without your friends beside you is something that truly helps you grow.

If you haven’t solo traveled before, make an effort to this year. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy, maybe just a weekend drive through the Oregon Coast or a 4 day backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. Travel solo once and you’ll realize it’s not as scary as it sounds, and if anything, it’s better and more rewarding than you imagined.

I’d love to see where you’re off to next — hit me up on Instagram to connect!

1 — I would like to briefly address that I, being male, am far more safe and in less danger traveling alone than a female solo traveler would be. Don’t get me wrong, there are many friends of mine who are female who travel alone and many articles I’ve read on Medium of female solo travelers. Just please be safe and smart whenever traveling alone, male or female.