Travelling is always fun especially when you do it in groups. But sometimes you may think of doing it alone because you want to try the real adventure behind solo traveling. And if you have done it before and still desire to do it again, there’s nothing wrong in being a solivagant.
If you are looking for some benefits of traveling alone, here are six lists of it:
Benefits of solo traveling
1. You’ll enjoy your me-time to the fullest
Even if you’re an extrovert, you still need some ‘me-time’. An alone time away from society, technology and stress. Traveling alone will let you enjoy your me-time stress-free and hassle-free because you’re just thinking about yourself and nobody else. You get to do what you want to do without any judgement or command. This is the time you get to be selfish without any guilt.
2. Make more friends and grow your network
When traveling with groups, you are mostly focused with one another. You share memories and laugh with each other, then do everything together. But when traveling alone, you are naturally pushed to become friends with local people or travelers. Eating alone, kind locals may offer you their traditional food. Drinking alone, travelers may ask you to join them. Taking a selfie, someone might offer to take a picture of you. These simple gestures will make you love people more and embrace their culture. Once you meet people along the way, you can exchange numbers and share memories. In the end, your social skills will boost and you may have more to look forward to.
3. Know yourself deeper and be stronger
You may think that you already know yourself, but try to travel solo and you will get to know yourself deeper. How? Since you are all by yourself all the time, you will appreciate yourself more because you will soon realize that you don’t always need somebody to make you happy. You will also practice self-dependence because for the most part, you are relying on yourself. You may experience struggle, confusion and hardship along the way. But at the end of the day, you’ll grow stronger as a person.
4. You’ll maximize the trip more
Traveling alone will make you maximize the trip more since you can go to any places you like, whenever you want to. You won’t worry about wasting any time because you might leave someone behind. This way, you will focus more on the destination, the famous attractions, the sightseeing, the foods and the highlights of the place.
5. Enhance self-confidence
They say that you will never enhance your self-confidence if you always depend on people. Traveling alone will push you to the limits, therefore enhancing your self-confidence. You will achieve things you have never achieved before, and do things you have never done before. And by the second time you will travel alone, you will have more knowledge and confidence to try out new things. In addition, according to psychologists, people who can do all things by themselves are those who have higher chances of being successful.
6. More convenient and cheaper
You may think that traveling with groups is cheaper because you get to share expenses with companions, but it’s not entirely true. When you are alone, everything you do is more convenient because you do all the budgeting. You have full financial control which means you get to decide where you will stay and eat without needing to wait for anybody’s approval.
So if you’re thinking of when to travel alone, now is the best time to do it!
But before you decide to go, you may want to consider these safety tips first:
Tips for traveling alone safely
- Always do your research – before booking for a place to stay, research about the area first. See if the accommodation has good reviews and credibility. This will prevent unfortunate events from happening during your stay. Check the security, if it is accessible to restaurants or groceries, and if it is near to transportation services.
- Do not forget to tell your families or trusted friends about your itinerary – inform them your ETA and departure date. Tell them from time to time where you’re going and who you’re meeting with. This will help them identify in case you’re in trouble.
- Have accessible communication – always make sure that your family and friends will be able to contact you easily. Besides, having accessible communication will help you contact people in case of emergency. To do this effectively, choose a place that has a strong connection or mobile phone signal.
- Do not share everything on social media – you may get too excited to share your photos that you forgot to turn off your location. Or you may have a stalker that can recognize the place in your picture. If you want to share your fun traveling experience on social media, do it once you get back home.
- Do not put all your money in one place and do not wear expensive accessories – do not bring all your cash when heading out, leave some at your place. Also, when withdrawing money from banks or ATMs, do it during daytime when there’s many people around. This will prevent your chances of getting robbed. In addition, there’s no need to wear expensive accessories that may encourage pickpockets.
- Place extra security in your place – even if you’re staying in a hotel or apartment, there’s no harm in placing extra security. You can place additional locks on doors, secure the windows, or place anything noisy near entry points that will signal you from an unwanted visitor.
- Do not act like a tourist – some people can easily recognize that you don’t know anything about the place if you keep acting like a tourist. And because of that, they might take advantage of you. So one way to prevent acting like a lost tourist, is to be confident. And in order to do that effectively, you have to be well knowledgeable of the place, which brings us to tip number one.
- Most importantly, listen to your guts. If you feel like something is wrong, then you’re probably right. Since you will be doing all the decision-making, only you will be able to assess which seems right and which feels wrong, so listen to your wits carefully.
Conclusion:
Traveling alone has many benefits not just for the body, but also for one’s personality. And if you’re going to do it, consider the safety tips first to enjoy a danger-free trip.
