I know many of you out there would never think of venturing out on vacation alone, whatever the reason.
Maybe your other half would never hear of it. Perhaps you don’t want to ditch your yearly girlfriend
getaway. Fear may rear its ugly head, making you scared to spend THAT much time alone with yourself.
But for those of you who have already traveled solo, or some of you that may be teetering on the fence, I offer you 5 reasons to go solo.
1. You can do what YOU want. “What do you wanna do today?” , “I dunno, what do you wanna do today?” Sound familiar? Yeah,we have all been there. When you have one or more people in the mix trying to figure out an itinerary, someone always gets the short end of the stick, someone gets pissed off and lets face it, it is frustrating for everyone. If you go solo, you get to skip all the drama and do whatever you want.
2. You never miss a trick. When you travel with other people, you spend lots of time talking to them. When you travel alone, you can become a better observer and soak up everything happening around you. You have more time to appreciate hidden details that would otherwise go unnoticed because you are focused on your companions. These details and captured moments may very well make your trip that much better.
3. Set your own pace. Remember when you were in the car as a kid and Dad had to stop for coffee, Mom wanted to stop a few miles later for food and then a few minutes later your brother had to pee. You were the one whining and rolling your eyes in the back seat, crying “C,mon, we are never gonna get there!!” You can avoid all of that by going alone. Stop at a cafe if your feet hurt, leave the museum early if you are bored, take 50 pictures in the park without your traveling companions pacing back and forth crying “Aren’t you done yet? How many pictures of the park do you really need?”
4. Score that deal! Picture this, you find that deal of a lifetime on the Internet, but you sigh because you have to check with so-and-so. Gotta make sure the dates and times work for them. By the time you coordinate and hem and haw back and forth-the deal is long gone. Well, if you are the only one going- you get to pick the dates and book that deal! And these days if you find it- you have to book it right away!
5. Make new friends. If you are traveling alone, you may find others traveling alone and strike up a conversation. Maybe with one of the guests in your hotel, maybe with a stranger in a restaurant. You will meet other travelers that you may never have met if you were traveling with someone else. Perhaps you will make fast friends with folks of different cultures, in different parts of the world, that last a lifetime. How nice that would be.
And as an added bonus, if you are lucky enough to have a significant other who supports your solo travels, best friends or parents that are staying behind, maybe you’ll just have a built in ride to and from the airport!