A trip alone? Eating meals by yourself? What should you do? How do you decide where to go? These are common questions that can hold you back from traveling solo. The idea of packing a bag, booking a flight, and venturing somewhere new alone can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. Traveling solo can be empowering, rewarding, and deeply inspiring.

Here are my 5 reasons why you should take a solo trip:

You will discover so much about yourself

Traveling alone will uncover various strengths and weakness. Are you avoiding planning our things and prefer to just wander? Does mapping out public transit make you anxious? All these things you will discover when it is up to you to figure out. You will learn what activities you like doing, how you like to spend your days, and so much more. You might discover you enjoy museums or plays more than you thought you did or you don’t enjoy walking around and prefer to take public transportation.

You will learn to trust yourself

Traveling solo means relying entirely on yourself. From planning the itinerary to making spontaneous decisions, everything is in your hands. You’ll gain confidence in organizing your schedule, navigating public transportation, and managing airport transfers. Through these experiences, you’ll build self-trust and independence while on the road. You might also discover you are capable to doing things alone and you can depend on yourself, and trust yourself, more than you thought you could.

You will strengthen resilience

It is inevitable that things will not always go as planned. In those moments, you must stay strong and persevere. You will need to develop a backup plan, learn how to pivot, and adapt. Although these challenges may feel stressful at the time, they ultimately build your character and resilience.

You will have ultimate freedom

What you do is entirely your choice! When you wake up, how you spend your day, where you eat – you have complete freedom. You can even change your plans as many times as you want! The best part of solo travel is that there are no compromises; you are in full control.

You will live in the moment

What I mean by this is you will be so present you might forget you are alone. Not that you are not present on other trips you take with other, more so you will be so excited and running off adrenaline that you just want to do anything and everything and are ready to get started. You might take more pictures and videos or spend a little more time reflecting at a park or on a walk.

My Experience With Solo Travel

I took my first solo trip to London, on the end of a trip to Italy with a friend. Wanting to stay in the States, I took my next solo trip to New York City. When I went to London, I had never been. From immigration to customs to figuring out a foreign city and country was intimiadting. I had been to New York before, but it was about a decade prior. On both solo trips, I was dependent on myself for figuring everything out. This overwhelmed me and intimidated me. Both of these things were true but were not as bad as I anticipated.

I truly enjoyed making my own schedule, deciding what I wanted to see, where to go, and changing plans from my own itinerary. I loved being able to dine alone or take a sandwich or bagel to the park whether it be Hyde Park or Central Park. I was nervous on that first day of both trips, but once I took that first subway/tube ride alone and figured out the route to my hotel from the transit stop, my confidence only grew.

The best part about solo travel? It doesn’t have to be abroad. It can be down the cost, another town over, or abroad if you choose. I have done two solo trips: one in London and one in New York City. I love both of these cities for solo travel and can’t wait to add more.

Wherever you decide to go, whether it is 200 or 2,000 miles away from home, I hope you book that trip and fall in love with solo travel.

As always, safe travels!