Solo Travelling — Why it’s important for you to travel alone

In the era of Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, we’re used to sharing everything — our vacations, our daily lives, even our lunches. We are becoming more and more dependent on approval and confirmation, on likes and clicks, and on showing the world that we are spontaneous, popular and active. When do we do something just for us? When do we jump headfirst into an adventure without anyone holding our hand? Travelling alone is often just completely beyond the realm of possibility. Does it mean that I am lonely? That I am a loner?

Solo travelling is becoming increasingly attractive and for good reasons. Because the adventure of travelling alone is courageous and exciting. There are plenty of challenges waiting for you, rewards that you might never have experienced with your friends or partner. And spoiler alert: you’re never really alone.

First things first. Travelling alone does not make you a loner. It is anything but uncool to pursue your own dreams, regardless of whether others have the time and desire to do so. Travelling together with friends or your partner can be wonderful, but it also always means compromises and sometimes cutbacks. And that brings us to the first and best realization we have made after several solo trips. You do you! Because with you alone, you (mostly) don’t have to compromise at all. Do what you want to do. You can design your itinerary according to your own wishes and only include the things that really interest you in your planning. If you continue earlier or stay longer than planned in one place, you have to discuss it with yourself. Are you an early bird or a late riser? It doesn’t matter! Do you prefer to go out to eat, or do you prefer to cook for yourself? No cuts, no problems. Take your time and take what you need, because it’s your journey, your adventure, your own personal experience. It boosts your mood and allows you to get everything you want out of your trip.

And if you do crave socializing on your trip, you may find it much easier to approach and make friends with other travellers and locals when you’re alone. It’s also easier for other people to approach you when you’re alone. You’ll meet people from all over the world, whether you’re cooking in the hostel kitchen or at the beach party. As I said — you are never alone if you don’t want to be. You can get involved with new people, open up and have valuable conversations. Maybe you even join a group for a short time, and you leave together to the next destination. It’s entirely your decision! I have made many long-lasting friendships while travelling and regularly visit my new friends in the US, Sweden, Chile and France, to give some examples. Maybe you are lucky enough to learn a lot about foreign cultures and new languages along the way. Alone you are pretty much forced to communicate and cannot leave it to anyone else, in case you want to meet others. Pro-tip: If your goal is to learn other languages and cultures, socialize as little as possible with people from your own country. Who knows, maybe you’ll stumble upon the next big love along the way?

And if not, you’ll definitely find someone even more important — yourself! Nothing pushes you out of your comfort zone like travelling alone. You’ll outgrow yourself, face your fears and develop a whole new set of skills. This gives your self-confidence a well-deserved push and prepares you for almost any challenge that will come your way. You will make and implement plans, learn to make decisions, even to say no sometimes. Along the way, you’ll improve your language and communication skills, challenge your sense of direction, and learn how to manage money. You can no longer hand over tasks. And in the end, you’ll be prouder and more confident in yourself than ever before. Travelling alone makes you your own best friend. There is nothing more beautiful and valuable than the relationship with yourself.

I don’t want to make you travel alone if you don't want to. But I would like to suggest that it can be a valuable experience that will take you far. This does not mean that your social environment is unimportant. On the contrary, you will become grateful for your family, friends or partnership and learn to. We don’t want to advise you to travel alone. But we would like to suggest that travelling alone can be a valuable experience that will take you far. This does not mean that your personal environment is unimportant. On the contrary, you become grateful for your family, friends or partnership and learn to appreciate what you have.