After a few peculiar years of lockdowns and uncertainty, a lot of people were left feeling disheveled, anxious and a lot less confident in everyday life. Most of us hadn’t been able to go and travel, some were itching at the bit to go jet setting again, while some felt a little more nervous, especially about traveling alone. However, the purpose of this blog is to reassure and inform you on how beneficial travelling solo is, especially after a few years of hardship and a knock on our confidence. Covering not only benefits, but past experiences and tips, you’ll leave this page ready to book your next adventure, solo style.
Top 5 Benefits of Traveling Solo:
- Stepping Outside your Comfort Zone
Stepping outside of your comfort zone is often feared, but it is actually the best thing you can do for yourself. When traveling, you are in a whole different environment, not in your usual surroundings and so there is an exhilarating feeling about doing things you wouldn’t usually do.
- A Healthier Well-Being
It has been proven that traveling alone is the healthiest option, it allows us to release stressful toxins and focus on ourselves. You are the best company that you can give yourself; traveling in groups often means you must sacrifice things and so it is more likely you will experience more by traveling solo.
- Cost Effective Travel
It comes as no surprise that traveling alone is more cost effective. You are in control of what you spend your money on, ranging from accommodation, food, attractions, or transport. You are in demand and will be able to utilize things for cheaper, whether that’s picking up a snack on the road or renting a room for one.
- Language Skills Improve
When traveling with others there is no necessity to talk to locals because you always have someone in your group to chat with. When traveling alone you will be interacting with locals frequently and will pick up common phrases from the language, which you can use for your own benefit.
- Making Friends is Easier
You’re never alone when you travel. You meet so many people throughout your trip that it is actually harder to not make friends at all. You interact with more people on your trip alone, than when you are traveling with others. Fellow solo travelers are in the same boat as you, and you will bump into many on your journey.
Solo travel is full of benefits; however, it doesn’t always work for everyone, but you won’t learn that until you try. You need to be able to trust yourself to make decisions, or this is a skill that you most defiantly will develop quickly while traveling alone. You will be able to hit the limits of what you like and don’t like, giving you the greatest award of personal growth. This is one of the key experiences people highlight after coming back from a solo trip, as well as the following points formed from experience, to give you the best tips for travel:
- Look at the people, not your guidebook
- Have a 10 second intro about yourself
- Always keep a couple friends updated on your whereabouts
- Know your strengths
- Do your homework before travelling – what you want from your trip and where do you want to go
- Learn how to say “no thank you” in the local language
- Use social media to make connections when you’re travelling
- Using your phone – it means you can book accommodation ahead of time and ensure a safe pick up at your destination
- Learn local lingo
- Get an early start
If you keep these tips in mind on your journey, it should help squash any doubts and make your first solo trip a lot easier and stress free.
To conclude, solo travel is an experience you will never forget, and will hopefully be the first of many solo travels. A key thing to take away from this is the importance of bringing your phone. Keep friends updated on your whereabouts, book accommodation ahead of time, and secure connections through social media as you travel. Don’t get caught out by roaming charges, and don’t risk your security by connecting to free WiFi, grab a Dataroam SIM card before you travel. Dataroam will connect to European networks at fast 4G speeds at low costs!
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