I’m a huge advocate of solo female travel – well, any solo travel (although I feel like women are sometimes a little more hesitant… from personal experience) – and I feel like everyone should do it at least once in their life. Solo travel is my preferred type of travel actually, which if you knew me when I was a teenager, you’d have never thought that would be the case!
I decided to take the plunge when I dropped everything to go backpacking in Australia – I know, way to throw myself in at the deep end, on my own across the other side of the world! But there was method to my madness – Australia was pretty much a huge, sunny version of the UK. So, although I was stepping out of my comfort zone, I was doing it where they spoke English and life wasn’t all that different.
Since then I’ve travelled solo across Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Portugal, and Italy – with plans for Morocco next year and Vietnam the year after that.
The main sell for solo travel is the freedom. There’s nothing quite like it – your adventure, your rules, and no one’s there to change that. Yes, when you initially set out it’s a bit nerve-wracking but in the most exciting way, and you come back a better person than you left… because whether you like it or not, when you take up solo travel, you grow. As cliché as it sounds (and I hate myself for saying it) you do genuinely “find” yourself on your first solo travel trip. Just don’t go around saying you’re off to find yourself, because that’s just the worst.
1. To step out of your comfort zone
Once you decide to go on a solo travel adventure, you’ve already stepped out of your comfort zone, so you’ve ticked this off the list straight away. But being out on your own encourages you to keep stepping out of your comfort zone, once you’ve realised it’s not as scary as you think – and you’ll end up doing loads of things you’ve never done before. From something small like eating out on your own (I’d never done that before I went solo travelling) to something bigger like negotiating a border crossing and working out transport on the other side. It pushes you from the comfortable to the uncomfortable – and you learn so much about yourself.
2. To enjoy your own company
I’m not going to lie, sometimes when you’re on your own it can get a bit lonely. Especially when you’re new to a place – but this leads on to one of my later points about improving your confidence. Sometimes though, hostels might be a little emptier, or you just can’t be bothered to socialise so you have to learn to be happy in your own company. Honestly, pre solo travel, I hated being on my own. But now? I love it.
3. To really appreciate where you are
Sometimes when you’re travelling with other people, you forget to stop and appreciate what’s around you. Either because you’re chatting away, or in my case – getting drunk (what’s a girls holiday without getting tipsy from time to time?) and you don’t stop to smell the roses. When there’s no one there distracting you, you find that you really soak up the essence of a place. Because getting drunk on your own is no fun (or maybe it is – if that’s your jam).
4. To be confident within yourself
If you want company when you’re travelling, you have to get to know people. Hostels make this a hell of a lot easier because you’re crammed in a room with 3+ other people so the conversation comes a bit more naturally. There's also usually social events and tours that you can book at the hostel, where like-minded travellers will be – so it’s not like you’re just walking into a group of people and introducing yourself. Flashback to being a child in the school playground.
5. How to take care of yourself
There’s no one there to sort out anything for you, you have to sort everything out yourself when you’re solo travelling. Whether that’s your travel budget, your onward travel, your accommodation etc.
6. How to be resourceful
I lack common sense but my levels of resourcefulness is up there with the best of them – maybe I’m a rare breed of human, as I’m not sure those two qualities are meant to go hand-in-hand! But solo travel taught me how to be resourceful… I’ve been properly full-out broke three times while travelling, I've gotten lost a few times, I’ve found myself in non-English speaking cities and towns, and I’ve not been sure how to keep going, but I’ve always found a way. Particularly where a travel budget is concerned – I can let a small budget stretch for way longer than it should, and that’s all from experience (or just because there's nothing else I can do!).
7. To be independent in a way nothing else can
Gaining a level of independence with solo travel is not like the independence you gain while at University – it’s like cracking the next level in the game of life. Sure, you’re paying your own bills at uni and washing your own clothes, but when you’re travelling you’re literally going from one place you’ve never been before to another place you’ve never been before on your own!
8. The world isn’t as scary as people make out
This is one of the major lessons I learned from being a solo female traveller – when people hear you’re going off on your own, particularly when you’re a woman, they’re quick to share horror stories they’ve heard or even sometimes tell you not to do it. But it’s not a big bad world out there – sure there are dangers, but that’s the same as home. More often than not, the locals just want to help you – when I went to Myanmar, barely anyone spoke English but they were also the friendliest and most helpful people I’ve met on my travels. I wrote a blog on how to keep safe while solo travelling, so give it a read if you’d like a bit of a safety checklist.
9. What kind of traveller you really are – what sets your soul on fire
There’s no better time to find out who you really are and what you really love than when you’re out in the world on your own. Sometimes I find, when I’m with other people, I’ll go with the flow and piggyback on what other people like to do but after travelling on my own, I’ve figured out what kind of travel I really love. Which means that while I can compromise on holidays with friends and family, I know I can go out on another trip and do exactly what I want.
10. You can do anything you set your mind to!
Once you’ve gone on a solo travel adventure, you come back with a renewed faith in yourself as a person. You kind of feel like you can accomplish anything! Back in 2016 I wrote a post about how it felt to be a solo traveller, and pretty much everything still applies now.
So those are the ten lessons I think solo travel teaches everyone, but I thought I’d do a little section specifically on solo female travel. Because when I’ve spoken to people, I’ve found that it’s the women who are always a little more hesitant to go out on their own. I think it’s all the stories they’ve heard about it not being safe for women – and in certain countries that is the case – you’ve just got to have your wits about you.
To stand on your own two feet
Similarly to the points I’ve raised above, solo female travel pushes you to stand on your own two feet and take control. As women, we grow up constantly being told that the be all and end all of life is to settle down with a family, and that finding your other half is the best thing in the world because you’ll never be lonely. Well, newsflash, not everyone finds their other half and not everyone wants to – and while solo female travel isn’t for everyone either, if you want to give it a go, it gives you a real sense of power, control and it reminds you that you can do life on your own.
That you don’t need anyone else to make you happy
Similarly to the above, solo female travel gives you freedom and allows you to throw yourself into all kinds of experiences. Whether you’re an adrenaline junkie, a beach bum or a city gal – you’re doing what you want to do, when you want to do it and being the boss of your own damn happiness.
How to depend on yourself
Much like the entire tone of this blog post, solo travel is all about being independent and you learn how to depend on yourself.
For all of the reasons I’ve given above, I love solo travel – I won’t shut up about it (even now as I’m writing this, I feel like I could go on forever… but don’t worry I’m coming to an end!). I won’t blab on about these points, but have just drawn up a mini list of why I love solo female travel adventures (in addition to all of the above):
I often meet like-minded solo female travellers.
Solo travel gives me time to myself, with no distractions.
I can totally separate myself from my home life as I’m on my own in a place where no one knows me.
Sometimes I just need the shake-up: Every solo trip is a nudge to step out of my comfort zone, and it’s always a bit nerve-wracking, but in the best way!
So, there we have it – all of the many reasons I’m a fan of solo travel. I hope I haven't come across preachy or anything... I just really wanted to share this, as so many people have said to me that they could never go out on their own but they wish they could - so this is for them.
If you’re considering it, my advice is just take the plunge… once you’ve booked it there’s no turning back! I’m not suggesting you book a trip to the other side of the world, like I did – maybe your first try is somewhere in your home country for a night, then it could be a country close by. You don’t have to throw yourself in at the deep end… baby steps! I promise, it’ll be the best thing you ever do.
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