Several people have asked me how is it to travel alone. In one word – great!
Technically yes, I’m traveling alone. But it doesn’t feel that way. I’m constantly meeting up with friends, meeting new people, making new friends and going dancing. I’m never lonely. I have never wished that there would be more people around me. In fact, sometimes I feel I need to get the hell out and away from people after I have spent too much continuous time with them.
Benefits of traveling alone is that I can stay out however late I want, I can decide to stay at home (especially if it has a fantastic view) and read all day, I can choose not to see the touristy stuff and instead hunt for the best coffee shops.
Its easier to meet new people if you are traveling alone. For example, while I was in Singapore exploring the botanical gardens, I had lunch at the cafe there. There was only one free table left. I asked the girl about my age sitting next to it whether the table was occupied. Of course it was free. Right after she started conversion with asking me: “Are you traveling alone?” She was traveling alone as well. She is from Belgium on her way to Australia to take a year to travel and work in farms. She quit her school to do that. She started with psychology, then switched to IT, but she didn’t like that either. So she decided to quit to figure out what to do.
If you travel with somebody its too easy to just stay comfortable within the other person’s company (The Lost Girls talked about it as well).
But most importantly, when traveling alone, it is much easier to practice being yourself and discover your true self. This is because you can take action on exactly how you feel without regard to the other people.
Of course, it would be useful to travel with somebody else as well, in order to learn different skills. For example, how to get along with people and make compromises. Another benefit of traveling with somebody is that there is somebody you can share your happiness with at the exact moment when you are happy. But I still believe that at some point in your life you should travel alone.
@ Ubud, Bali