What are the benefits of travelling alone

There are endless benefits of travelling alone. The word alone may be off-putting but alone does not mean lonely. Travelling alone provides a sense of freedom rather than a feeling of loneliness. You have the best of both worlds. Be alone whenever you wish or be around others anytime you crave company or simply crave a busier surrounding. Solo travel provides complete independence, you can go where ever you want, whenever you want. You have all the power! Below I cover 5 of what I personally think for me are the best benefits of travelling alone.

1. One of my favourite benefits of travelling alone is that you are in complete control

The main reason I love travelling alone is that I can do what I want when I want! This is definitely one of the major advantages of travelling alone. If you want to get up at 5am to see the sunrise, then you can do it! However, if you are with friends, then generally I have found in my experience with fellow humans that they prefer to lie in after a night out drinking before lazing on the beach all day. Whereas I would rather be up early to go and explore! They say the magic happens outside of your comfort zone. Although I agree with this as solo travel has many magical moments, you still have to have a certain level of comfort. Otherwise, the situation just feels stressful.

Travel anecdote – Around 2 years ago, I spent a few days travelling solo and had the best time by myself. Following this, I spent a week with a friend in a nearby city and instantly felt completely out of control. I was very much outside my comfort zone and not in a good way. I was staying at the girl’s parents house which made things worse as I generally was eating what they made. However, I feel very anxious about eating unknown foods and certain textures. To make matters worse, I generally didn’t like the food. This was just one issue, there were many but my point is that if I had been alone or even staying in my own accommodation then I would have felt comfortable and in control of the situation. Instead I was hungry and frazelled because my friend would not give me a seconds peace.

2. Travelling alone means not being let down

A huge disadvantage of travelling with friends is that it means you are relying on others for plans to fall into place. I’m sorry but this is rarely successful! Three months leading up to a trip away, another friend was supposed to be joining us but all Summer she kept making excuses. Rather than saying she wasn’t coming, she would just be vague. I can’t be bothered with that, I far prefer just making my own solo travel plans. This way, I am not let down by others.

Now, I am free to say ‘come visit me if you want’ and if they don’t then it doesn’t affect me because I am still able to do what I want. It’s my plan and no one else’s! This also means your plans are flexible. Not enjoying Timbuktu? Then head to Gao instead. The world is at your feet (well check where is safe first of course and where is open – silly Covid).

3. I can choose when to have company

As I explain in my first blog post, I am highly sensitive, also known as sensory processing sensitivity. This means many sensory things affect my nervous system more strongly than they affect most people. For example, if I am in a noisy place then I can’t stay for as long as most people. I become overwhelmed and tire more quickly compared with others around senses such as loud noise. This means that I require a lot of time alone, otherwise I experience sensory overload. This means, the entire next day is required to be a day of complete rest. So I would rather take an hour here and there to myself to prevent this from happening.

So for this reason, one of the many benefits of travelling alone is that I can choose when to have company. I absolutely love to read and with modern technology these days, I am able to put my earphones in at any time and read a book curled up in my bed whenever I wish.

However, I do enjoy being around people (well certain people), so when I feel re-energised, I can choose to go to a communal area in the hostel or a local bar if I’m house-sitting. I can simply feel the buzz of the surroundings or join in if I feel like it. The beauty is that it is entirely up to me. Whereas if I was travelling with friends, they would likely want to go clubbing which I absolutely refuse to do from now on – my idea of hell!

4. Solo travel is a complete escape from reality

A simple but wonderful advantage of solo travel is that it provides an entire escape from reality. Obviously, it is still real life but your other ‘back home’ reality has been left behind. You can now truly be yourself. You have no one with you from ‘back home’ so be you and feel free.

Many people don’t understand a love for travel because it isn’t something they would be comfortable with. Therefore, there can be many doubters. A large part of their doubt can simply be due to jealousy. The comments like’ lucky for some’ can be very irritating. However, you can leave that all behind when you travel solo and be surrounded by positivity instead.

5. A vital benefit of travelling alone is that it increases your self-confidence

Travelling alone boosts your confidence a lot. Yes, there are moments where you will think ‘what am I doing?’. But in general, when you start to see the progress you’ve made, you feel a sense of accomplishment and belief in yourself that you never had before. You realise you are capable of more than you thought you would be.

Travel anecdote – Upon arrival in Lille, I headed to the hostel to be told I might not be allowed to stay as I didn’t have the French health pass QR code. However, I had not realised that this was a requirement for non-Europeans. I had thought, only residents of France could get this pass. However, since then, I have realised that the hostel is letting anyone in with a QR code, even English people but just not Scottish because we don’t have a QR code.I was made to feel like I absolutely should have had the pass and that I would not be allowed anywhere without it. I started to feel like I just shouldn’t be here, as if I’m not allowed and should just go back home.

Travelling alone always will have moments of uncertainty but you have to push through as best you can. For me, this means watching comforting tv shows with a cup of tea. However, the hostel kettle looked quite disgusting and had no mugs :S.

Go travel solo!

I do feel more confident with every issue I overcome though. Travelling alone is an incredibly enriching experience. There are many more benefits of travelling alone, I could write about it for hours but I need to get out and explore Lille! Well, the streets at least seen as I can’t go in anywhere or even sit outside a cafe. But like many mishaps or unfortunate moments in life, they often provide funny stories for later. So the more ridiculous the better I guess!