My name is Elizabeth, I live in NYC and have been solo traveling for 2.5 years. It all began in 2016 when I had a job and vacation time, I wondered, okay what next? I would ask friends and family if they wanted to travel along. How ironic that their response was that they had no time and no money. I decided to hell with waiting, I was going to go on a trip. I decided Italy would be a great first start. Study abroad, multiple metropolises, and home of the Amalfi Coast, because after all, I am a beach bum. Italy would be a great country to start a solo travel lifestyle. As long as you have access to public transportation, you can get around fairly easy. Italy also seemed like an acceptable spot, because you would be around people, I mean college students travel for school and come back to tell the tale, I was sure, at 25, I could travel alone for 10 days.
I explored Florence, Tuscany, Pisa, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast. I purchased two one-way flights, two Airbnb locations and placed my credit
card on a travel watch. I would say, I was ready to explore. Why two one-way flights? It can be cheaper! Why Airbnb? I love to get a local’s perspective on “where to really go, that isn’t just for tourists” experience. Why a travel watch on my credit card? Well, you can guess the answer! What an invigorating feeling that was, to be solely responsible and accountable for organizing your own trip and to travel alone for the first time. I felt invincible, I felt mature, I felt ecstatic.
My first meal alone was a Florentine steak, directly in front of the Duomo. Yes, it can be awkward eating out alone. Especially as a female traveler, there is still a double standard. We cannot be alone, without someone giving you a pitying look. Well, let me tell you ladies, embrace it and own it! You placed all that time and effort into planning the trip, now sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Two and a half years later and I laugh at the couple that looks over with a sigh of relief it is not them, alone at the table. Or the host that looks at you funny when you say, no a table for one and then proceeds to ask where is the boyfriend. Ugh, boy bye!
There are so many pros to traveling solo. I meet more people when I travel solo than when I travel with a friend. Do you want to know the secret to meeting people? Ask them to take your picture. I met a couple from France just by asking them if they would like me to take a picture of them instead of them trying to capture everything with a selfie (of course I had every expectation they would ask to take my picture and I would graciously and impishly accept),. Three months later when I was headed to France for my birthday, they invited me out to dinner and held a birthday party for me at their flat in Paris.
Solo travel can open you up to a plethora of ideas, challenges, and opportunities. I do not think I would be the same person I am today, without my travel experiences. I enjoy every moment of travel, good and different. I revel in the opportunity to learn about a culture, but to also learn about myself in the process. What I like, what I thought I liked, what I can learn to like, this is the beauty of traveling alone. You can take the time to explore areas about yourself (someone you know), while at the same time learning something new (something you thought you didn’t know).
I think that there is a beauty and juxtaposition to this concept, over time you will learn that activities of daily living can be mirrored in any society, it is the individual, the inner you who can change each minute, day week or year. Traveling alone allows you to recognize these distinct and unique facets of yourself. Go ahead take the plunge, you may enjoy it. And if you don’t, well, hey, at least you tried!
