Why Solo Travel is Great for Adventure

I love solo holidays.  Sometimes I just want the freedom and flexibility to do what I want, when I want.  I mean, it’s a vacation, right?    I have the right to enjoy myself!

Aside from freedom & flexibility, I think that solo travel also affords you the opportunity to find some serendipity and really have that great experience that only a foreign destination can offer.  Sure, sometimes traveling alone can be a little daunting and perhaps scary, but for the most part all of those fears are not as realistic as you make them.  So get out and explore – here are a few reasons why solo travel  is great for adventure.

You Aren’t Really Alone

Here’s the little secret about traveling solo: you aren’t really alone.  When you’re in shops, touring at attractions, or even at dinner, look around as there is bound to be others who are either traveling alone or someone looking to strike up a conversation with someone new.  If you’re shy, maybe consider one of the many singles holidays that can afford you a safer environment to me like-minded people.  But otherwise, just relax and enjoy yourself.  Savor a local coffee and people watch at a cafe.  Wander around an open market and see what’s selling.  Find a great place for some height perspective and enjoy the view.  Sitting in your hotel room and yes, you are alone.  So get out there and see what’s happening – look around, because you aren’t alone at all.

You’re Building Character

Traveling solo can be a bit scary.  But it also builds a heck of a lot of character.  Once you’ve negotiated a tricky border crossing with nothing but a smile and a phrasebook, once you’ve swallowed that slimy-fish-thing and unable to tell your friends at home exactly what it was, and once you’ve had an entire conversation with a stranger using only eye contact and hand signals, nothing else in life will feel quite as difficult.

I also think that while you’re out and about on your own, you’ll find yourself doing a lot of internal reflection.  You might learn something new about yourself that you didn’t know,  and maybe you can take some of those learnings back home with you.  Even if it is something as simple as a profound new love for sushi.

You Can Choose Your Own Adventure

Remember those choose-your-own-adventure books, where at the end of every chapter you had three or four choices for what to do next?  I loved those.  And that’s what I think of when I think of my adventures traveling by myself. From adventure holidays to simple cultural tourism, it’s an adventure.  In some sense, all travel is an adventure because you’re dropping yourself in some foreign place and then seeing what happens.  But solo travel, you have a chance to really craft your own perfect little adventure.

If I want to go on a hike, I can, or I can stay in town and wander down the alleys and streets.  I can take a daytrip if I feel like it, or sleep in without having to answer to anyone else.  I can even overeat at the breakfast buffet and then skip lunch while walking it off.   It’s my travel adventure, and I get to choose which leap to make to the next chapter.  After that, it’s in the hands of the travel gods to decide what happens next.

Photo credit:  Neil Better

This post was sponsored by The Adventure Company but the opinions expressed here are of the author.