I used to joke that “my friends who have the money to travel, don’t have the time and my friends who have the time, don’t have the money”. It can be hard to decide what to do, but I finally decided to just start going alone if I had to.
Advantages of solo travel
- Not compromising on the itinerary you want
- Keeping your own schedule
- An opportunity to learn more about yourself
- Meet new people along the way
- Not being disappointed waiting to go somewhere with others
- Coming out of your shell and learning what you really love to do
- It can be easier to move around a place by yourself
- It can be easier to go with the flow and do whatever suits you at the time
Disadvantages of solo travel
- It can be scary to wander a new place alone
- It can be more expensive for accommodations without someone to split costs with
- Lonely until you meet new people
- All the planning responsibility lands on you
- Eating alone
- You have to feel comfortable alone
My first international solo trip
- A hybrid of alone days and joined a bus tour
- Perfect way to dip my toes into the solo travel thing without having to plan everything by myself
- I booked day trips as a solo passenger on bus tours, so I wasn’t truly alone navigating Ireland
- Met so many amazing people on the day trips and the full bus tour
- I learned so much about what makes me happy and how I can truly just be me, after years of guarding myself around others
- Huge self esteem booster, confidence boost as well
- I would do it again in a heartbeat
Solo travel
As a female is can be even more daunting to think of going to a new place all alone. Many people criticized me for even thinking of going alone. I know some of that was out of genuine concern for my safety and came from a place of love, but it can be hard to hear those things when you really want to experience solo travel. Most of my solo travels have been because I did not have anyone to travel with at the time. But I am so glad I didn’t let that stop me from experiencing vacations on my own. I have done solo day trips, mountain hiking trips, Disneyland and Ireland. All came with their own types of challenges, but I planned carefully and was aware of the risks and ultimately had an amazing time. Be brave and experience solo travel if you have ever thought to!! Feel free to reach out and ask any questions you may have while planning a solo adventure.
Group travel
On the other side of the equation is going with others. This is also a fabulous experience. But be ready for some conflict, especially if you haven’t traveled together before. The worst is when no one will say what they want to do in fear of the rest of the group isn’t interested, or in hopes of appeasing others. If there is something you really want to do then say it and if others want to join you great, or maybe you plan to do that activity alone. The key is open communication about what everyone wants to see and do. When I traveled to Germany and Austria with my two friends, we had an amazing time and we had very little issues. We planned some activities that were important to each of us but also left some days completely open and just went with the flow after waking up. Our hotel itinerary and train schedule was set before leaving Canada and two day trips were pre-booked, otherwise we just made a plan for the next day at dinner each night, or over breakfast in the morning. One day it was very hot in Vienna, and we were trying to do the usual sightseeing, but the weather was breaking us down. We decided to find an outdoor pool and ended up joining hundreds of locals at a lovely swimming pool at one of the Castle grounds. What an amazing afternoon we had there. Something completely unplanned but turned out to be the best way to beat the heat that day. Did we miss out on some of the sights in the city, sure, but not getting heat stroke and having a leisurely afternoon at the pool was amazing. I have found it is important to travel with the right people, ones whose personality you match and enjoy spending constant time with. Especially if you are going for a week or more. That’s a long time to spend with people you may not normally see that often. However, joining my bus tour in 2019 as a solo person, I was traveling with 80 people for nearly two weeks, and we got on very well. I even made a travel soul mate friend on that trip. You’ll learn more about our friendship story over various posts.