Traveling alone, especially to another country, can offer a mix of emotions. Excitement, nervousness, thrilling, scary – it’s a balance of both calm and reckless.
Here’s 3 reasons why you should travel solo.
1. Freedom to plan your own itinerary
We’ve all been there. One friend wants to pack up for a beach day, one wants to go to the town and explore the local culture, and one (the adrenaline junky) has already scoped out the best place to bungee jump off the mountain. Traveling with others is exciting. You’re able to share experiences, create memories, and feel the comforts of being with another person. However, when exploring a new country or city with another person, you must also cater to their needs and wants, as they too must cater to yours.
When traveling solo, you have the power to create our own journey, plan your own adventures, see the sights you want to see, eat the food you want to eat, and sleep for as many or little hours as you’d like. The freedom to make impulsive decisions or stick to your itinerary are solely yours to make. When traveling alone, you are given the opportunity to seek out your passions and explore what drives you. We find that many of our solo students leave with a fresh perspective of who they are when they are at their core. They uncover their likes and dislikes, and leave with a better understanding of what the world has to offer them as individuals.
2. Ability to get out of your comfort zone
In a world where we’re constantly connected, we have become accustomed to not being alone. We can connect with others at the push of a button. We have endless resources that allow us to stay in contact with our family and friends, no matter how close or far away they are to our physical locations. None of this is a bad thing! As human beings, we’re meant to find and celebrate unity with others. However, at what point are we so connected with others that we forget who we are on our own?
Traveling alone pushes this boundary. When setting off on an adventure by yourself, you learn to trust your inner voice, your instinct, to be more aware of your surroundings and to do things that you typically wouldn’t do if you had a trusted friend or partner by your side. You become more open to experiencing new cultures and connecting with new people. You often have no choice but to put yourself out there, and test your boundaries. While there might be portions of your trip that feel isolated, we are confident that at the close of the journey you will feel more connected than ever to the land you’re walking on, the culture you’re sharing, the new people that you open yourself up to, and most importantly, yourself.
3. Opportunity to get curious
If we could pick one word to replace ‘solo travel’ with, it would be curiosity. When exploring and traveling by yourself, your mind opens up. You might be more willing to try new foods, talk to strangers on the street, wander into a local shop or seek out new activities.
Most of us live our day-to-day lives under a set schedule. In some form or another, we wake up, we eat, we work, we play, we eat again and then we sleep. We become dependent on those around us – the people we eat with, live with, work with and play with are ingrained in our daily lives. When we set off on an adventure without these people, our minds are given space to roam. We are not concerned with how someone else might feel about a decision we make. We allow ourselves the space to come out of what we know and explore the areas of life that we want to get to know. When we’re curious, we’re growing, and when we’re growing, we’re becoming better versions of ourselves. Solo travel is just that – an opportunity to grow and flourish into a greater version of who you already are.
While each solo traveler has an authentic experience while staying at School of the World, there is one consistency to each of their stories. Students that arrive at School of the World do not leave alone. With them, they take memories, friendships and valuable life lessons that they carry with them to their next destination. A solo travel experience to our home is just that – an experience that becomes your home and leaves you with an understanding of the true meaning of Pura Vida.
