Traveling solo was something I’ve always desired, however, I was too fearful to step outside my comfort zone. I am not a planner at all, and I don’t do well with options (I am working on becoming better at making decisions) so I did not know where to begin. or if I was even getting a good deal so I stopped. My fear kicked in. I have travelled before but my previous trips I have been with family or friends and they did all the planning. The only thing I had to do, was purchase my plane ticket and show up where they told me. Sounded great to me! That was until I wanted to visit places with friends that were all in until they had to buy their ticket and I quickly came to the realization that I would have to do all the planning. So I stopped and just didn’t go, and I did not like that solution.
Before I turned thirty, I made a list of things that I wanted to accomplish. One of the things on my list was to travel outside of the US alone. It was 2016 and I finally mustered up the courage to do so. I told myself that I did not want fear or not having a travel partner to be the reason I did not travel. The opportunity to travel alone presented itself when my friend told me she was going to Europe for her sister’s birthday, I invited myself and quickly began searching for plane tickets. All the plane tickets I found had layovers in Lisbon, so I thought to myself this is my chance. I purchased my ticket so that we would all arrive together, however coming home I decided to have a 13-hour layover in Lisbon. I was so excited, until the day came and everyone left me. I quickly began to regret my decision and thought how am I going to do this, I even thought about changing my flight to come back on the same flight as them. But then I thought this is the fear crippling me and I could no longer let fear keep me back.
After I accomplished my layover trip and saw that it was not that bad, I decided to buy a round trip ticket to Spain. It was one of the best decisions I could have made! A mystic philosopher of ancient China once said, “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving” -Lao Tzu. Prior to my first solo trip, I was unaware of how valid that statement is. I know what you’re probably thinking, but if you haven’t travelled alone outside the country or even outside of your state, you do not know what you’re missing or how true this statement is. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind traveling with a small group, but when you travel with a group your whole trip can turn into an itinerary with everything being mapped out. Sometimes there isn’t enough time in the itinerary to just get lost…
Of course there are both pros and cons to travelling solo, as there are pros and cons to everything in life, but this was something that I had to do for myself. If traveling alone is something that deep down inside you’ve wanted to do but are terrified to, my advice would be to do it and you will see it’s not that scary. It’s actually pretty freeing and you get to meet some incredible people, you probably would not have met if you were in a group, that are doing the same thing you are…..Travelling.
“Travel far enough, you’ll meet yourself.”-David Mitchell
Takiyah Travels 