Why You Shouldn’t Be Scared Of Solo Travel

I’m not going to lie – being on your own in a foreign country with little more than the belongings on your back can be terrifying. You don’t speak the language, your friends and family are hundreds of miles away and you have no clue how to get to your hostel…it’s fair to say that one of these things alone would give you a case of the heeby-jeebies, let alone all of them.

So why do we do it? Why do thousands of people year after year travel on their own – whether it be a weekend or a gap year – when it can seem so daunting? Why do we not go with friends or tour groups but instead brave it all alone?

Quite simply, because it’s a complete rush. The feeling you get when you realise you just navigated your way through a foreign metropolis or survived a hellish train journey makes you feel invincible. And it’s also completely addictive, for as soon as you feel content in one place you often move swiftly onto the next, yanking yourself from the comfort zone that you’ve just managed to build around yourself to do it all over again.

Anyone who’s ever travelled on their own will know the immense pride that comes from being completely independent and a master of their own travel-destiny. I know so many people who say they would love to do a trip on their own but they have a multitude of excuses as to why they would rather wait… they want more money/a new partner/more confidence – but what they really need is to just believe in themselves a little more, and be comfortable with the fear. It’s normal to be scared of going it alone, but don’t let this fear dictate your life, because you’ll miss out on some pretty amazing stuff if you do.

So what do you do if you’d really love to set off on your own but not sure you could do it? My advice is to get inspired – there’s so many wonderful boooks and blogs out there written by ordinary people who despite their fear of the unknown took the leap and did it anyway, and had the time of their lives. So get reading – use their experience as your motivation and don’t stop until you are so filled with confidence you’re about to explode.

I remember back to about two years before I upped and moved to London and I’d borrowed a book from the library about moving and living there. It completely freaked me out. At that point the idea was little more than a distant dream and after reading that book I remember feeling like I’d never be in a place where I could actually go ahead and do it. So I continued to read more, spoke to people who’d done it and loved it, and low and behold, fast forward a couple of years and I was a Londoner!  I must admit that there had been no less uncertainty at this point, but my confidence had grown so much – I had a lot more belief in myself and a lot more knowledge of how to go about moving there. I’d also ‘tested’ myself with a week long trip around Fiji a few months before and I’d had such a blast and coped brilliantly that my dominant thoughts were no longer ‘I cant do this’ but rather ‘I have to do this, or I’ll regret it forever’.

So get out there and challenge that fear, educate yourself and remember all the times you thought you couldn’t cope, but ended up flourishing. Take a few test drives like I did – even if that’s a day trip on your own to prove to yourself you can do it. There’s always going to be things that get in the way of course, but Armageddon seems extremely unlikely so stop making excuses and start thinking about where you want to go!

Even when things go wrong (and they will!) – it’s raining on your beach holiday or you missed your flight – just smile. You’re travelling the world and there’s no one to answer to and no one to convince that an afternoon of attaching yourself to a giant rubber band and launching yourself off a bridge really isn’t the best idea you’ve ever had. It’s like a choose your own adventure novel, but for grown ups. You decide where you stay, if you’re a social butterfly in one place and a recluse in another and what to eat for dinner each night – it’s all up to you.

When you realise you can completely rely on yourself and be self-sufficient anywhere in the world it’s a pretty amazing feeling – Just give yourself that chance to shine!

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