Solo Traveling: How it changed the way I see my life
As a 20-year-old female college student, when I say I started traveling abroad alone, I often got similar responses, like:
“Isn’t it dangerous for a girl to go around alone like that? Aren’t you scared?”
“You must have felt so lonely when everyone else is with their friends, SO, and families!”
“What’s the point of going alone if you can’t share the happiness with someone else?”
None of these questions are completely off. It definitely can be more dangerous to be alone than in a group, it can feel lonely sometimes to be in a travel spot alone, and I for sure wished a lot of times that I could share what I was experiencing with my loved ones. Yet, I think these aspects are exactly the reason why I love solo traveling, and why you should try it out, too.
Why I decided to travel alone
Though I wish I was cool enough to say that I started traveling alone like I have planned to do so all along, solo traveling wasn’t what I intended to do initially. In fact, I decided to travel alone because no one would join me.
Before spring break this year, I really wanted to travel somewhere I’d never been before, especially because covid restrictions were finally starting to get lifted. As long as it was somewhere new and within my budget, I didn’t really care about the location, so I started to ask around if anyone has plans to go somewhere to see if I could join them. After a series of conversations with my friends and acquaintances plus some posts on Facebook groups, I came to realize that there was no one else but myself to take me on the trip that I wanted. (I got tired of waiting for people who went from “That sounds like a cool idea!” to “Sorry, I don’t really think I’m gonna go” last minute before the break.) Especially since I am the type of person who makes extensive plans before traveling, it finally hit me that I’m the one who needs to take the initiative and start planning for myself; people can join me on the way, but I didn’t want to waste any more time.
Though I felt scared at the beginning that I’m going to travel all by myself for the first time ever to a country I don’t even speak the language of, I also felt the ecstasy that I was breaking free to do my own thing. Looking at online resources like The Solo Female Traveler Network hyped me up. I contacted some people from my university who were also planning to travel there alone, and those who live there. I was ready.
My first destination, Türkiye
As one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, Türkiye has always been on my list of places to visit. I chose Türkiye not only because it is known to be a great place to travel for solo travelers, but also because the travel budget was so cheap, including the flight tickets (Thank you, WizzAir for the discounts). I made plans to visit Istanbul and Cappadocia during my 10 days of travel.
Though my expectations were high for this trip, mother nature just didn’t help. Before even flying to Istanbul, Turkish Airlines cancelled a lot of its flights due to snow, and its help line wasn’t available for hours because their electricity went out. I spent sleepless nights trying to change my flight to the closest possible date and convincing my travel agency to refund me. What’s more, when I got to Cappadocia, I never got to get on the hot air balloon ride due to heavy wind, even though I extended my stay for an extra day just for that very ride. After three days of cancellations, the hot air balloons started operating as normal the day after I left. Thanks to yet another series of events that I wasn’t able to control, this trip was much more challenging that I expected it to be.
If you ask me if I regret it, though, that would be a firm no. The problems were quite annoying, and I felt frustrated at times, but I am so glad I went. I still had a great experience, thanks to the beautiful scenery, delicious food, and most importantly, the incredible people I got to meet. The best part of this trip was meeting other female solo travelers and traveling around with them; since they were already quite experienced in traveling alone, I learned a lot from them.
My first step into Europe: Hungary and Austria
After getting some confidence from my trip to Türkiye, I planned another solo trip for after the end of my semester. At this point, I was craving for more and more exploration, excited for what’s to come. Thankfully, this trip went a lot smoother than the one to Türkiye — it was such a perfect place to be around for a solo female traveler like me. This was my very first time in Europe, and as one of the most famous travel destinations in Eastern Europe, Budapest and Vienna did not disappoint. This time, I purposefully booked my stays in different guest houses to meet other travelers, and I made kind friends from Azerbaijan at a tourist spot who were also traveling. I also hanged out with friends from my university, one who was also solo traveling, and another who was a local.
Vienna, though more expensive than Budapest, fulfilled my artistic dreams — I went to most of the museums and art galleries, watched an opera, went to a classical music concert at a local cathedral, and visited areas where Beethoven loved. I even went on a day trip to Halstatt, about four hours bus drive from Vienna, to see the breathtaking scenery that apparently inspired the town in the movie Frozen. I was also able to meet multiple other female solo travelers, and had a great time with them. We were such great photographers to each other!
What I gained from solo traveling, and why I’m going to continue
I have gained these three incredible values from solo traveling:
1. Confidence and Self Trust
Despite all the fun and excitement you often see on those typical #travel Instagram posts, traveling inevitably comes with a lot of problems and challenges. Nevertheless, as I faced these challenges, I was forced to resolve them somehow, as I was the one solely responsible for my trip and myself. One problem after another, I gradually gained confidence in my problem-solving skills, and trusted myself that I will be okay even if something unexpected happens. As a person who is still struggling with building self-confidence, this was extremely helpful, and made me a more adventurous person in many aspects of my life.
2. Independence
As a solo traveler, I spent a lot of time catering the entire trip to myself, thinking about what I’d love to experience and what would make me happy. I often get busy and lost in daily life, failing to prioritize my own well-being and not spending enough time to think about random things by myself. Solo traveling gave me plenty of time to think and act independently.
Also, I am still in the “adulting” phase in my life, learning how to survive on my own. Just the fact that I was successfully executing most of my travel plans in a whole new country by myself made me act more independently even after the end of the trip.
3. Social interactions I never would’ve made otherwise
I believe this is one of the best parts of solo traveling. Since I’m just an ignorant tourist, I often needed guidance from others. And no, this doesn’t ruin the purpose of traveling alone; ultimately, everyone needs others at some point in their life. By proactively talking to strangers, including locals and fellow travelers, I was able to meet so many kinds of people that I probably would have never met otherwise. I broke away from my little “college kid” social bubble and went out of my comfort zone to talk to people, and surprisingly, it was very easy to become friends with them, no matter their age or background. I am so glad I made these meaningful connections with these people, and I’m still in contact with some of them. Even though our paths might never cross again, I gained valuable insights from them that I would have never realized from my normal daily life.
So, why should you try solo traveling?
I wouldn’t say I “found myself” or “realized my true path” from solo traveling, because I haven’t. Unfortunately, traveling a few times alone didn’t give me all the epiphanies I needed in life. However, it did give me a whole new perspective of how I see life, and widened my horizons. And it’s simply impossible to gain such experiences by just sitting at home and reading books; it comes from live, in-person activities. Though you may have doubts about traveling alone, I would recommend you to think less and just go for it while you can. An extraordinary world you’ve never seen awaits you.
