What if changing your life, and discovering who you truly are, is as simple as getting on a plane?
If you knew only three steps separated you from finding your true love or your true calling, would you risk taking the first step?
For many, traveling alone is that first step and the Internet is teeming with stories that bear witness to the life-changing power of traveling the road solo.
Here’s why you should experience solo traveling at least once in your lifetime.
1. You will be inspired to live a story worth telling.
Most people settle for far too little adventure in their life, and they choose existing over truly living. But as Anna Quindlen says, “The life you’ve had doesn’t have to be the only life you have.”
Nothing can remind you that you’re part of a much larger story than going solo.
2. You will learn there’s no Us and Them. There’s only We.
Everyone everywhere is essentially the same. We hope for the same things. We fear the same things. We want to love and be loved.
When you meet people you once viewed as “them” you realize that the differences between us are insignificant compared to what connects us.
3. You will expand your soul.
Most of our daily experience is confined to a finite, predictable pattern of places, people, and things. Pushing beyond our norm reveals a world is far more wonderful and unexpected than we realize.
Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.
4. You will own your experience for yourself.
No one can discover the world for you. You can read about other places, cultures, and people all you want, but you’re simply learning facts.
Truly experiencing life requires taking the ride yourself, firsthand. No one can live your life for you, and no else is to blame if you die unfulfilled.
5. You will learn to be more present.
The mind’s autopilot switches off when confronted with new situations and environments. The world comes into sharper focus when you have to pay attention.
Solo travel forces you to be aware and see the world around you, and not simply look at it passively.
6. You will gain new perspective.
We’re all accustomed to seeing only one side of any story: ours. Traveling alone opens you to experiencing daily life through another set of eyes.
There is no better way to learn about your own culture than to see it from someone else’s view.
7. You will turn your new perspective into a new way of living.
Many solo travelers return home with a new paradigm of the world and the role they play in it. They can’t un-see or un-learn what they experienced, which changes not only how they see the world but how they live in it.
If you want to be ruined for the status quo forever, the shortest path is a solo trip.
8. You will find freedom.
Our culture attempts to define what is acceptable as a “normal” or “successful” life. Most people live the life they think is expected of them.
Traveling alone reminds you that you have a say in the matter, and that the prison of expectations you’re standing in is locked from the inside…and the key is in your pocket.
9. You will learn to trust your intuition.
Modern technology puts a bottomless reservoir of data, facts, and figures at our fingertips. But it’s easy to use technology as a crutch.
Life isn’t about facts. It’s about knowing through direct experience and the most powerful tool that’s served man for over 10,000 years is instinct.
As you travel, you’ll sharpen your ability to read between the lines of situations and act with confidence.
10. You will realize that home can be anywhere.
Home isn’t a place, it’s a way of being fearlessly connected with yourself and others. It’s a moment when you’re willing to open your heart so others can truly see you.
And that can happen anywhere and everywhere.
Featured photo credit: hipster modern stylish blonde man on rails in daily life via shutterstock.com
