Solo Travel

When I told people I was going to travel on my own I was asked, “what is wrong with you?” Nothing is wrong with me. I needed a break from life, from work, and I don’t want to have to answer to travel companions while I am on vacation. I was also asked, “won’t you be lonely?” There is a difference between being lonely and finding solitude. Being an introvert by nature, I know the necessity of being alone. Traveling alone allows people to explore new environments, which allows a replenishment of the brain and the soul. Solo travel opens us up to places and experiences in an entirely unique way from travel with others.  The solo traveler is self-contained, untethered from obligations and expectations. When you travel alone, you have no one to answer to but yourself. 

Yes, traveling by yourself can cause anxiety, but traveling by yourself can open you up to a world of possibilities. For instance, the first day of the cruise I fell asleep for a couple of hours—I slept without anyone else’s itinerary. I drank coffee while watching HGTV. I also ate in the Main Dining Room the last night and met people I would never have met otherwise. I love people watching, and traveling on your own allows you to be a part of a group, but not really be a part of a group.  

For me, being alone, provides an opportunity to problem solve. I researched the trip before I left, but things arose that I did not plan for. Being by myself allowed me to figure things out without the import of others. Doing so reminded me of when I lived in Greece and had to fend for myself. Yet, there was a safety in the cruise ship. Honestly, people who learned I was traveling alone, thought it was interesting. No one tried to hit on me, and I never felt uncomfortable. Most people minded their party, and they did not pay me any mind. While I was attending the rock show, 2 older ladies sat with me to make sure I was not alone. On the last morning, I was walking along the sky deck, and an older man asked if he could take my picture with the ocean behind me, so I said yes. I also met people on the excursion, who I spent time with the rest of the trip. Under normal circumstances, I would not spend time together with them, but they were enjoyable company the 4 days I was on the cruise. 

I can do things on my own time. On my own schedule. I live by my planner—I take it with me everywhere. My planner is full of appointments and deadlines, etc. Being on vacation, especially alone, allows me to move at my own pace, and not answer to anyone/anything. If my body let me sleep in, I could sleep in, but even then, I can stay in bed for as long as I walk. I can walk slowly and enjoy the walk, instead of always hustling to get somewhere. 

Being alone provides an anonymity that traveling in a partnership/group does not provide. While on the trip, I experienced a psoriasis flare (super fun) with bloated tummy and a patch on my stomach about the size of a half dollar. I felt self-conscious wearing my bikini around others because my stomach looked and felt gross. What I realized is no one on the trip cared. They were not looking at my body. In fact, a lot of people were wearing outfits/swimsuits I would not dream of wearing. People were enjoying their trip. I decided to enjoy mine. So, I even let my travel companions take pictures of me in my bikini, which I posted online, because that was part of my trip. I did not hide away from my body, or what it was experiencing.  

In that same vein, people watching uninhibited people is one of my favorite activities. I loved going to the High Seas Karaoke and watching people (badly) sing their hearts out. While I was not brave enough to participate, I did sing along with them to help them out! Lol. I love singing, but I won’t sing when people can hear me, so karaoke is the perfect solution! I also joined along with the 80s Rock ‘N Glow Party. I cannot dance, but I love to dance like no one is watching. On an anonymous vacation, I can (and did) dance.  

Being on my own allows me time to connect with my inner writer. Without all the distractions and noise, I can focus on my “muses.” I can sit in quiet and listen—I can write what I feel in my heart and my soul. I can write without distractions. I can write. Truthfully, the water renews me. I have always loved the water. I find a magical healing in the sounds and sights of water. The blue Carribean waters did not disappoint. The ocean was SO blue and SO clear. I swam with tropical fish and even cradled a Bahamian nurse shark! Big Boy and I are now well-acquainted. No one else is in the pictures with me because I was alone, so I did not have to share the experience with anyone else. While that would not have been a terrible experience, swimming with sharks has been on my wish list for a long time, and if you remember, there were no sharks in sight when I went to Florida in 2020. Unlike that time, this was a guaranteed shark encounter. Big Boy was not smooth/slimy like I expected him to be, he felt like sandpaper. Holding him is not an experience I would trade. 

I took time to enjoy the world around me. I took a walk along the beach in Nassau—I found a raw coconut. I felt the sand between my toes. I only got a little sunburned (it would not be a trip to the beach if I did not get sunburned). I watched the sunrise over the water—there is something magical about the sun over water. I experienced Waldenesque moments: lengths of time when I can meet life on my own terms, often in solitude, and sometimes in various new social settings. In the words of Thoreau, “To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” Being alone helps me be around people. It is a nice break from all the peopling I must do for work and being part of a large family.  

I am quirky, and I know it, and I love that personality characteristic about myself, and when I traveled alone, I could be that girl, without any reservations. My travel picture album reflects that. Yes, I took too many pictures of the ocean. Yes, I brought my stuffed animal with me. I love sleeping in the middle of the bed and falling asleep to the waves. I watched too much HGTV and Travel Channel. I love learning about new things, so I read everything I could get my hands on.  

The best part—there is no timetable. I did not have to be on anyone’s schedule. While I did have to be at dinner by 6, if I wanted to eat in the Main Dining Room—I did not have to eat in the Main Dining Room. I ate at the restaurants around the ship: the deli, Pirate’s Pizza, Guy’s Burgers. I do not mind eating on my own. When I eat alone, I focus more on eating, and I enjoy my food more. I tried duck and Baked Alaska for the first time. I almost tried frog legs but decided against doing so.  

I do not mind traveling with other people. But, traveling along is a distinct experience. Traveling alone is an experience of body and spirit. Journeying alone is a trip out and in. It’s both a deep dive and a shallow indulgence—I get to do it my way in every way. I came home refreshed, rejuvenated, and with a new perspective on life that distance and a block of uncluttered thinking time can provide.  

There is a certain anxiety that comes with traveling alone. Fear is part of what makes travel so enlivening and revelatory. You are perpetually off-balance and on guard. One may yearn for the mindlessness of familiar routines, but when you travel alone you do not have that luxury. You appreciate that luxury more when you return home.  

Travel is a truth serum. Travel makes us porous to new customs, beauties, ideas, and dreams. As we struggle to reconcile what we are experiencing with what we take for granted, we strip away what is arbitrary in cultural practice and approach what is universal. 

Traveling alone does not mean you have to be lonely. Here are some tips for traveling solo 

Tips for traveling alone 

• Choose according to what’s comfortable for you. The only right way to travel alone is to do it your way. Do what makes you happy and makes you feel comfortable. I pushed my two twin beds together, so I had a King, so I could sleep in the middle of the bed, like I do at home. I drank coffee while overlooking the water. I exercised. I drank only 1 alcoholic beverage (because I couldn’t justify spending so much money on drinks, and I am not a big drinker.) 
• Guided tours or solo travel? (As one tour operation puts it, “travel solo, not alone!”) I did do activities with others, but I was alone when I wanted to be alone.  
• Check in with others along the way. I made sure to text family and friends while in Nassau, so they knew I was safe and alive. I texted pictures, so people knew I was having an enjoyable time.  
• Be social during your trip. Although I like being alone, I made sure to talk to people—it was fun comparing experiences. It was nice to not have to answer my phone (though when I was once again connected, there were tens of messages to respond to).  

Traveling alone is renewing/refreshing and allows you to see things with a different perspective. Although I know it, experiencing a different culture, reminded me of how fortunate I am to have the time and the means to travel. Traveling prompts me to be more grateful for what I have. To be more positive. To be bolder and braver. I want to try new things. I want to step out of my comfort zone. Once your travels have shown you what it means to see freshly, you discover you can see freshly without traveling.  There seems to be nothing like immersion in another culture for staving off the mind’s tendency to calcification. We travel to grow up, wake up, and stay on our toes. Travel breaks stereotypes. We get to see for ourselves, form our own impressions. To travel is to awake. Travel invites us to see the world anew, it gives us an unaccustomed look at who is doing the seeing (us). By placing us outside ourselves, travel provides us with the distance required to see what it is we are habitually doing, and the anonymity to risk new ways of being in the world. So, we do not travel to get away from it all, even when we travel alone. Travel allows a confrontation–confrontation with our old selves that, deprived of their usual confirmatory surroundings, may yield to a new one. 

While I enjoy traveling with companions, I also enjoy traveling solo. Both have their pros and cons. Both are soothing for the mind and soul. Do what makes you happy and satisfies your mind and soul. Even if you travel in a group, you can ways to be on your own. No matter how you travel, find what makes you happy and nourishes your soul. 

Don’t forget to share your adventures with yourself and with others!