Are you a solo traveler? Travelling alone can be scary, rewarding and fun in equal measures, and it can help you to grow as a person.
Check out 15 things only solo travelers would understand.
1. You Will Never Come Back The Same Person
Traveling the world alone normally means you will arrive home a better person; it will renew your spirit and make you feel energized. You become more self-aware and open with every trip, and you will have more confidence within yourself.
2. You Are In Control Of Your Emotions
Solo travelers experience various levels of stress on a regular basis, from timing flight connections to misplaced hotel rooms. You quickly teach yourself not to get upset or angry easily, and you know how to remain calm even when you are feeling worried.
3. You Are A Great Negotiator
Any solo traveler understands the importance of negotiation, as it is often necessary to negotiate when you need something or you are being taken advantage of.
Solo travelers can’t rely on their friends to back them up, so instead they teach themselves to become master negotiators – handy!
4. You Can Live In The Moment
Solo travelers know how to live in the moment – you are only in a set place for a limited amount of time, so you know how to seize the day. It doesn’t matter that there is a thunderstorm happening outside, you will make it to that outdoor wine festival!
5. You Will Learn Something From Every Place You Visit
Every location and culture is different to the next, and there is so much to see and learn. When you travel alone you get the chance to truly connect with your location, and you always end up learning something new about the world whenever you go.
6. You Understand The Importance Of Leaving Your Comfort Zone
If you can travel to an unknown country alone, you are probably pretty good at leaving your comfort zone. You are very happy to push yourself, because know the best experiences happen outside of your comfort zone.
7. You Don’t Have To Commit
One of the best parts of being a solo traveler is not having to commit; you can cancel and change plans without annoying anybody, you can change your destination on the spur of the moment, and if you love a place, you can stay as long as you’d like!
8. Your Perspective Is Always Changing
Being a solo traveler means you really get the chance to speak to strangers and connect with them. Every time you speak to others abroad you see the world through their eyes, and your perspective changes slightly, and can make you more open-minded.
9. You Know How To Ignore Fear
You have dealt with fear before; what if traveling alone is scary? What if I lose my passport while I am away? Despite these worries, you ignored the fear so you could experience traveling alone. Now you can often ignore the fear, because you know you are capable of dealing with anything.
10. You Are Aware Of Your Strength
You have traveled hundreds of miles alone, paid for out of your own bank account, following a plan that you made yourself. You have learned how to roll with the punches, and you are aware of your how strong and capable you can be.
11. You Trust Yourself
You have to trust yourself if you are planning on travelling solo; no-one else will book your flights and arrange hostels. You know you won’t let yourself down, and if anything bad happens you trust yourself to fix it.
12. You Know How Important Other People Are
As well as trusting yourself, you value others highly. Travelling alone means you have to rely on strangers all the time, from cab drivers to the customer service desk in the airport. You accept that you are not always in control, and you can rely on others to help and assist you.
13. You Know Yourself Well
Spending time alone is the perfect way to really get to know yourself. You love the people in your life, but you also love how travelling solo gives you the opportunity to spend some quality time with yourself.
14. You Can Fake Confidence
Often there are a few semi-disasters per trip, from losing your room key to getting lost on the way back to the hostel. Solo travelers have to fake confidence regularly to help solve problems, which often helps them to become genuinely confident people later in life.
15. You Want To Travel Solo Again
You’re happy to travel with friends or your partner, but you know at some point you will travel alone again. You get to truly connect with the country you’re visiting, you can do whatever you want and you get to spend some quality time with yourself – perfection.
Featured photo credit: Man Celebrating Freedom In nature With Glacier/Dan Cooper via stokpic.com
