Abduljabbar Ali If you searching for a reason to start traveling solo, I have something that will convince you.
There are so many benefits of being a solo traveler. You are likely to gain more than lose when you travel alone.
When you think of being in a new country alone, this scares you.
You have so many ifs and uncertainties about any of this.
Maybe you have the opportunity to travel with someone, but you don’t feel like doing it because all you want for now is to be alone.
Are you missing out on anything by deciding to travel alone?
What will you gain when traveling alone instead of with your friends, family, or partner?
To know what you are going to benefit from traveling the world alone, let me share everything you need to know.
This is why it is a good idea to travel solo;
1. You get to learn more about yourself.
When you start traveling solo you will learn things about yourself that you never knew before.
If you are in the middle of a strange country alone just exploring, this is when you will start knowing your strengths and weaknesses.
It takes someone to be out of their comfort zone for them to truly know who they are.
The moment you are in your comfort zone, it won’t be possible for you to push yourself beyond your limits.
You won’t know what makes you tick as an individual. But when you are in a strange destination and you know that you have to get around, this is when the other sides of you will start appearing.
This will enable you to know if you are afraid of being in the wild alone or if you enjoy it.
If you can travel comfortably around the world without anything holding you back you will know that your strength lies in exploring.
This will give you the idea that being alone in Nepal or Indonesia, only makes you stronger and independent.
You don’t need anyone to be around to enjoy your trips and live up to your lifestyle.
If you are excited about exploring solo, you are always hyped to do so many activities, you will eventually know that you were born with the spirit of adventure and you always go for what you want.
When you are alone and you have to get through tough situations with nobody around you to help you tackle your challenges, it’s when your strengths and weaknesses will show up.
You can learn so much about yourself and this will be the best opportunity you will have to develop yourself into someone better.
Traveling alone is a good idea for anyone who wants to know more about himself or herself.
If you want to know the limits you can push yourself, this is the best way to do it.
When you are out of your comfort zone, you will do what is required of you to get where you to be.
If you can’t manage traveling alone because of your need to want to be around someone always, it will appear to you that you are used to being around someone and you are emotionally dependent.
As you are out there for months exploring, you will have no choice but to start working on this issue.
You will have to be okay traveling alone because that is what you want.
The more you learn about yourself, the easier it will be for you to shape yourself into the person you want to be.
This will all happen when you start traveling alone, it’s one of the benefits of traveling solo.
2. It’s one way of becoming independent.
When you start traveling solo you will have no choice but to rely on yourself to do everything right.
You will need to plan your trips, you will have to budget how much you will spend per day, where you should sleep, and what to do when you are stuck in a strange and stressful situation.
Read also; Solo Travel 101: Why Planning Is Essential for New Adventurers
All these things will force you to rely on yourself. Since you want to travel and explore the world alone, you will have no choice but to be the only person you need.
As you are traveling the world, exploring new places, and meeting new people, everything you do will be on you.
Whether it’s successful or not, you will have to face the reality of things. You won’t have anyone to blame but yourself.
If end up booking a bad Airbnb because you didn’t read the reviews because you were in a hurry, you won’t blame anyone but yourself.
This will shape you as you keep traveling. If you were someone who always depended on someone else for everything for you this will start to change.
It will click that you have to do everything for yourself, if you mess it up it’s all on you.
When you know that you are responsible for anything that is going to happen when you are traveling alone, this will make you smart since you will always be searching for a way to make things successful.
If you have to wake up early in the morning to check out of your hotel and start hiking to the next destination, you will always remember to sleep early enough.
This will make you plan your time effectively and you won’t do anything that will put what you are working on in jeopardy.
When it clicks that you have no one to rely on with your plans, challenges, and budgets, you will start being independent.
If you keep traveling alone for more than 4 months, you will change to someone else and the people who knew you will even fail to recognize you.
Being out on the road, exploring, trying new things, and being responsible for anything that happens, will teach you to always stand up for yourself no matter the problem you will be in.
Traveling solo is a good idea because it shapes you into a new person, and makes you smarter and independent.
3. You don’t have to be accountable for anyone but yourself.
Another benefit of traveling solo is that you don’t have to be accountable for anyone but yourself.
You only do what you want without worrying about someone else wants.
If you want to go to the beach early in the morning before you start exploring other parts of the country, you will do as you please.
You won’t have to check what your partner is going through before you think of something to do.
When you are traveling with someone you will have to ensure that anything you do is something that they will also enjoy doing.
This will force you to always observe and listen to what they say about certain activities before you put them on your plans.
If the person you are traveling with is sick, your trip will also stop there until he or she gets better.
You will have no choice but to stay with him or her and take care of him or her until things are better.
If you were planning to explore more places and your visa was running out of time, you would end up doing half the things you planned because you had to take care of someone you were traveling with.
When you are traveling alone it won’t bother you if you are sick or not. As long as you can get on a train and hop to another destination, you will get yourself there.
But when you notice someone you are traveling with is not in shape you won’t push them to do what you want.
You will have to sit back and take care of them until they are better.
When you are traveling solo the only one you have to take care of is yourself.
Trust me, being accountable for someone isn’t easy because you won’t always be on the same page.
You will always have to remind them to do things especially when they keep forgetting about the important things when they are traveling.
This means you will always have to be the bigger person and it sucks sometimes.
Instead of thinking about yourself, the exotic destinations you are exploring, and the new plans you want to add to your trips, you will always consider what the other person you are traveling with thinks about.
When you are alone exploring you won’t need to be worried about someone else but yourself.
This will enable you to enjoy your trips without looking over someone’s shoulders.
It’s a concrete reason why you should travel alone.
4. You can budget and plan your trip the way you want.
When it comes to budgeting and planning trips, it will take so much time when you are traveling with someone.
You can’t budget and plan the trip without hearing what your partner will have to say about it.
Maybe you want to travel luxuriously this time, you saved enough money to do that. Deep down you know you can manage to stay in fancy villas in Bali.
On the other hand, your friend wants to travel on a budget because he or she doesn’t have enough money in his or her bank account.
This will force you to change your budget and take yourself to the level where he or she is for you to enjoy the trip.
In one way or another, it won’t make you happy because you had a different budget in mind.
You might go on this trip but you will never be happy but you will have to pretend you are.
This can turn out to be the worst trip ever for you.
What if it’s the other way around? You are on a tight budget but your friends just keep pushing to expensive destinations and activities to do.
This trip won’t work out because you are on different pages.
Your friend won’t be happy about it when you push him to choose the cheap destinations because of your financial situation.
So, do you see why traveling solo is a good idea?
When you are traveling alone you don’t have to worry about someone else but yourself.
If you want to go travel on a budget or luxuriously you can do it without a problem.
Now let us talk a little bit about planning your trips. When you are traveling with someone you can’t just plan the entire trip without involving them.
For every activity you choose to do, your partner or friend will also have to be okay with them.
If you want to explore the Himalayas mountains but your friend or partner is not up to it you will have no choice but to get it off your plan.
The same way goes for your friend or partner, when you are not happy with certain activities or destinations you want to visit he or she will have no choice but to take it off even if it was on his or her bucket list.
At one point this will develop into a conflict when it turns out you don’t have the same taste when it comes to exploring.
Maybe you plan to visit the villages in Slovakia but your friend or partner prefers the cities.
It will be hard for you to agree and even when you force yourself to do what your partner or friends want, you won’t enjoy it.
This is the problem of traveling with your friend or partner.
When you are traveling alone you don’t have to spend so much time planning for activities.
You can even decide to explore the country you are in without a plan, just winging it around the city.
Randomly you visit places you want and spend a night at any hotel or Airbnb you want.
When you are alone you are truly enjoying your freedom.
Planning doesn’t become that crucial to you, it is easier to go with what your feelings tell you and do what pleases you.
This is another benefit of traveling solo, it’s just easier that way when you don’t have someone else looking at you over your shoulders.
5. You can travel at any pace you want.
When you are traveling alone you can travel at any pace you want.
You can choose to travel fast or slow because you don’t have anyone with you.
If you are with someone else you will always have to talk to each other about the pace you want to travel at.
Maybe your partner or friend prefers to travel fast, but you are the kind of a person who always takes time to digest and absorb anything you see and learn in a new country, you won’t be on the same page.
You can’t force yourself to travel fast the way your partner or friend wants because your trips will lack meaning and you won’t get what you want from them.
Even when your friend or partner forces himself or herself to travel slowly the way you want, he or she won’t be happy at all.
At one point you will just step on each other’s toes.
It’s a good idea to travel solo because you can move at any pace you want without worrying about someone else.
If you want to travel fast in other countries and slow in others, you can do whatever you feel like. As long as you are happy with the pace you are traveling at.
Sometimes it’s just better to travel solo if your methods of traveling and exploring are different.
The person you may want to travel with may have a different perspective when it comes to what you do.
It won’t be okay for you to force yourself to fit into someone’s ideas just to make them happy.
If you make them happy you will be hurting yourself. What for?
Just travel solo and just move at any pace you want. In this way, you will give yourself the things that you want from your travels around the world.
The way you may want to move around and the definition you may have for fast and slow travel may not be the same as the person you want to travel with.
We all have different goals and perspectives when it comes to traveling and that is why it’s always a good idea to travel alone.
6. It’s easier when it comes to making decisions.
When you are traveling the world, you will have to make decisions that weren’t even in your plans.
Some of the decisions will be harder and someone else won’t be okay with you making them.
So, when it comes to deciding anything when you are all cornered in Thailand, you won’t be in a position to decide anything unless you talk to your friend or partner.
This means you can waste so much time when it comes to deciding on what to do in the tricky situations that you find yourself in.
It’s easier to make decisions when you are traveling alone because the only person you have to consult is yourself.
If you are in a situation that needs you to deviate from your daily budget, you will know what to do about it.
Maybe the cheap hostel you were planning to book around the city center is full, if it’s you alone you can just book any hotel and stay for the night without spending hours searching for another one when you are super exhausted.
If you are with someone, you will have to ask them first about their budget and how they feel about sleeping in an expensive hotel for that night.
But if your friend or partner can’t afford the hotel you are planning to sleep at for the night, it will be tricky.
You will have no choice but to keep walking around the city in search of a cheap hotel or Airbnb to sleep in even when you are super tired.
The thing is that you can’t just abandon your friend because he or she can’t manage to sleep in the hotel you want him or her to.
You will have to go struggle with him or her with your heavy bags down the city streets until you find a place that favors him or her.
It can be super frustrating when it reaches this point.
That is why it’s always better to travel solo because you can just make compromises and you will figure out how you will cover it later on.
When you are traveling alone it will be easier to make last-minute decisions. You won’t spend hours stuck in a position you don’t like just because your friend can’t deal with the reality of how things are.
We all respond differently when it comes to uncomfortable situations.
7. Traveling alone enables you to make friends.
If you want to make friends while traveling the best way to do it is to go solo.
When you are traveling alone you are approachable than when you are with someone.
Someone will easily say hi to you and want to get to know you better especially if they are also solo travellers.
If you are traveling with someone, they will just conclude that you are dating and this will just prevent them from making their moves.
The person you may be traveling with maybe your friend, but the first thing other people will see is different.
On the other side, you will also limit yourself from interacting with other people when you are traveling with someone.
It will be harder for you to go out of your comfort zone and interact with strangers because you will always have someone to talk to.
You won’t also want to make the other person you are traveling with feel neglected by paying so much attention to strangers you meet while traveling.
This will prevent you from making connections with people all over the world just because you are traveling with someone.
Travel alone if you want to make friends and make connections out there.
The connections you get to make with the people you meet across the world usually hit differently because you have so much to share.
You will always look at these people you meet when traveling differently thus making the friendship one of a kind.
Not only can you make friends when you are traveling solo but also you can meet your soul mate.
You end up meeting your future wife or husband in Colombia if you play your cards right.
Traveling with someone means putting a restriction on your end thus preventing people from getting closer to you.
8. You become more focused and productive.
When you are traveling alone you will have to focus on what matters the most.
I can’t lie to you that sometimes you won’t feel a little bit lonely.
Read also; How To Travel Alone But Not Feel Lonely
But the loneliness sometimes will push you to do what matters the most.
When you are alone in your travels the only thing you will focus on are the destinations you go to.
This will enable you to learn more and absorb as much as possible thus making the trips meaningful.
When you are alone you will take it all in because you don’t have anyone around to start sharing how incredible the place is.
If you have to take pictures and videos of the destination, you will do it when fully focused on it.
When you are solo in your Airbnb after a full day of exploration, you won’t give yourself an excuse to start sharing stories with your friend or partner.
The loneliness will push you to keep yourself busy. You will focus on blogging, editing videos, and working on any extra gig you have just to keep making money while traveling.
Read also; 5 Ways To Make Passive Income While Travelling
When you are traveling alone with someone sometimes you will just feel guilty of working so much when they are around you.
If it’s your partner, you will want to give him or her your time and this means you will have to stop working on some things you care about.
But if you are traveling solo you won’t have to feel guilty about working so much. You can work until the middle of the night and then go to bed.
This is why traveling alone is a good idea, it keeps you focused and productive in ways you have never imagined.
9. Traveling solo builds your confidence.
Traveling alone builds your courage to face the unimaginable.
The thought of you being alone in a hiking trail taking on the mountains and forest areas, camping alone in the middle of nowhere, and having to let someone strange host you is just scary.
People who don’t have an idea about traveling and exploring wouldn’t be okay with this.
They even won’t understand if something like this makes sense.
All they will tell you is that it’s not safe to travel alone in the middle of nowhere.
It’s dangerous to sleep in a stranger’s house.
Listen to what they will tell you and you will exactly know why traveling alone means a big deal to your confidence.
If you can manage to travel alone, explore cities, sleep in different hotels, and hike in strange places with no guide but your Google map, you are just going to be an exceptional person.
This is going to build you in a way you have never imagined before.
People who rarely travel won’t manage to do the things you do when you travel alone.
If you want to build your confidence, traveling solo will make sure you attain this.
When you are traveling with someone it will be hard for you to build your confidence because you will always be in your comfort zone.
You won’t need to work through tricky situations because your friend or partner will be there to help you out.
It will be hard to completely rely on yourself because there is someone you can lean on when things are hard for you.
Traveling with someone will limit your growth but alone will develop your courage.
The things you will do to work out your fear when you are in the middle of a populated city while vlogging will develop your courage so immensely.
10. You grow by traveling alone.
When you are traveling you will come across so many highs and lows and you will have to push yourself through all these.
You will have no choice but to find ways to solve every problem you come across when you are traveling.
At times you will have to take care of yourself when you are sick because no one is around you.
You will have to rely on yourself to get everything you need to be able to keep your travel going.
All the challenges you will come across while traveling solo and all the things you will do to get over them will help you grow as an individual.
After half a year of traveling alone, you won’t be the same person you were before you started traveling.
Apart from that, the exposure and experience you will get while moving from country to country will also open your eyes and mind.
Your mind will grow and you will always think out of the best and the taste of life you will build will be different.
You will attain all this by traveling alone. This is why traveling solo is great for anyone who wants to develop in every section of his or her life.
The things you will see and what you will do to keep yourself safe in every country you visit will help you grow too.
Every country is different on its own, but if you always figure out how to get around and get yourself where you want to be without any problems, this will give you the power to handle yourself in any situation you will be in life.
You won’t be the same person after traveling solo for a while.
11. You find yourself traveling alone.
If you are heartbroken, you don’t see the meaning of life anymore and your life is just a mess because you feel stuck, start traveling solo.
When you first start traveling alone to just get yourself into a new environment to try and get a different perspective on life, things will start working out for you.
The things you will see and do when traveling alone will take you off from what was holding you behind.
If you were stuck and in pain because of the things that happened in your past, traveling alone will give you clarity.
When you are traveling solo only one thing will matter to you; that is how you will get from place to place and find a place to put your head down.
It will be like you are occupying your head with a different program which will reset everything that was in there.
If you were heartbroken and couldn’t see anything in front of you but the pain, solo traveling will help you get rid of that.
People travel far from their homes to get a different perspective on life so that they find a reason to live for something.
When life is pushing you hard against the ground to the extent that you can’t see the hope of excitement and joy, traveling will help you find yourself.
It’s through solo traveling you will be able to let go of your life behind and find something new to hold onto.
For those who don’t have an idea of what to do with their lives because they have nothing to fight for, taking themselves out to the world helps them find the correct path to follow.
Some people travel solo to just run away from their problems but it’s through it that they find something else to hold on to.
So, if you are stuck in your 9-5 and your life is meaningless and boring, get a one-way ticket to your dream destination and start searching for yourself through the travels.
Solo traveling isn’t only about moving around the world alone, it’s also one method of finding yourself and turning your life into something more meaningful and memorable.
Lastly…
If you are asking yourself whether it’s worth it to travel alone around the world, you now have the answer.
Traveling alone is a good idea because it is going to help you change your life and build you as a person.
I am not telling you that it is going to be a walk in the park when you start solo traveling. You are going to come across so many challenges.
Sometimes you will wish someone was around just to help you make the right decisions because you are cornered.
But that is what will grow you as a person, give you a new perspective on life, and help you make the most out of your life.
You can turn solo traveling into your career, what a beautiful thing to do!
When traveling alone you are opening yourself the doors of opportunities and growth.
Don’t let anything stop you from traveling solo if you want to because there is so much you can gain from this.
Read also;
- Traveling Alone For The First Time? [Your Ultimate Guide]
- How To Travel Alone But Not Feel Lonely
- I Want To Travel The World Where Do I Start? Do This
