10 Reasons You Should Solo Travel

These days, everywhere I turn, someone is posting content about their solo travel trips. I remember being 16, sitting in my room in Colorado, dreaming of being that person. I would watch hundreds of videos of solo travelers adventuring across Europe or Southeast Asia or even just hiking the Colorado Trail.

The first solo trip I decided to go on was a scary decision. Solo traveling can seem incredibly daunting. Thoughts of boredom, safety, and loneliness crept in. I wondered what I was supposed to do all alone in the middle of the woods for the night. What was I supposed to do if I felt in danger? Would it even be any fun? 

But that trip is still one of my favorite trips I've ever taken. I got to my campsite, only 2 hours from home, turned on some music on a speaker and cooked myself some dinner over a campfire. I sat in my hammock for hours, just reading and listening to music with the stars overhead.

Of course, this was all a buildup to my solo backpacking trip I would eventually take in May of 2023 and again this January.

If you are still determining if solo travel is for you, here are 10 reasons you should give it a try, even just once in your life. 

You will discover yourself in a way you never thought possible. 

Everyone always talks about how solo travel can teach you so much about yourself, so it's no surprise this is the first on my list. However, it isn't just about finding yourself but discovering a new part of you that otherwise never would have surfaced. 

You don't have to put on a show for anybody else when you are alone. You aren't forcing yourself to act a certain way or do things you don't want to just to appear cool. Instead, you don't know anyone around you, so what does their opinion matter? You can reinvent yourself. It's the ultimate restart. 

Not to mention, spending time alone gives you a lot of time to think. It gives you time to reflect on who you are and want to be. It is a form of solitude and peace I have never found anywhere else. 

You are on your own schedule. 

How often have you gone on a trip with your family or friends and got dragged to somewhere you didn't want to go? What about when you are really excited to get going for the day, and the rest of the group is taking forever to get ready? Nobody can agree on a restaurant for dinner? You're the only one who wants to see a sight, so you just don't get to go? 

Traveling with others is great but can be incredibly frustrating sometimes. When you solo travel, you are completely and entirely on your schedule and itinerary. You get to explore the sights you want to see and stay for as long or as little as you would like.  

You can set your alarm for 5 a.m. and watch the sunrise or sleep until 10 a.m. It's entirely up to you where you go and when you do it. It's complete freedom. 

You will meet so many amazing people along the way. 

Being alone doesn't have to mean being lonely. In fact, I meet so many more people solo traveling than with my friends. 

When you are alone, you are forced out of your comfort zone. You have to sit in the hostel's common room and talk to the big group, or go to the bar and talk to another solo person while getting a drink. 

You find yourself talking to everyone you meet; in a coffee shop, a bakery, or the grocery store. No matter how much of an introvert you think you are, the part of your brain that craves human connection tends to take over. 

And you'll find that these people satisfy an itch in your brain that you didn't know was itching. They will teach you things you didn't know you needed to learn. You will share stories about your lives back home or your crazy experiences on the road. The next thing you know, ten of you are heading out to a bar or on a day trip to another city. 

You will learn independence and resilience. 

When you are solo traveling, there is nobody to fall back on. That may seem terrifying initially, but you will be a pro by the end of your trip. Each trip gets easier. 

Independence comes as you go through your trip. You learn to enjoy being by yourself, and things like eating dinner alone or camping feel much less scary the more you do them.

Resilience comes with each setback. This is the scary part: knowing that you have to mess up to learn a lesson. However, I will tell you this beforehand: your trip will not go perfectly. You can't control every single moment and factor of your trip. There are bound to be setbacks. 

However, how you react in those situations determines your trip and future trips. 

On my first day in Nice, France, I took a train into the city and got off at the wrong stop. I exited the station and realized my hostel was over an hour's walk away. With the 45 pounds strapped to my back and the blistering heat of June in the South of France, I was not exactly jumping at that opportunity. Not to mention, the city didn't look incredibly safe. The next train wasn't scheduled for an hour, and I was beginning to panic. 

It's easy to feel like your only option is to drop your bags on the ground and cry. It's easy to panic and feel like you've failed or messed up. This isn't even the worst mistake I have ever made, not by a long shot. I've lost wallets, scheduled flights for the wrong days, booked hostels in the scariest part of the city with bed bugs and radiating heat. 

But by remaining calm and being forced to work through it, I made it out the other side. So, when my entire family's luggage got lost on their way to meet me in Italy, I took control of the situation and jumped into action to ensure it didn't ruin our trip. Even though I am the youngest, I was the most prepared and ready to handle a mistake. 

You will step outside of your comfort zone every single day. 

Everyone says, "Do something that scares you every single day," but let's be honest, most of us don't do that in our everyday lives. Yet, when you are solo traveling, I promise there will not be a single day that passes without you doing something outside your comfort zone. 

It's inevitable. Whether you talk to someone new, go to a coffee shop alone, or ask someone to take a picture of you, you will be pushed. Once again, that's where the personal growth happens. You will not be the same person you were when you left. 

You will learn about so many new cultures. 

The people you meet will come from all around the world. They will all have different walks of life and stories to tell about it.

 I've found when you are in groups, you are less likely to introduce yourself to new people and even less likely to take the time to learn about them and their culture. You have your group of people to rely on, so there is less of a push to branch out. 

However, when solo traveling, you have that push to gain a deeper understanding of what makes a person who they are. You will find yourself in your hostel's kitchen at 3 a.m., still talking to the girl you just met from halfway across the world. You will play card games that a guy from Spain is teaching a big group. Someone will cook you a meal from their country you've never heard of. 

Those memories will always be your favorite ones when you look back. 

You can say you did it. 

Now, maybe this isn't a good enough reason for everyone, but I personally love to do things simply for the plot. I want to tell people that I solo traveled Europe at the age of 20. I want my kids to think their mom was cool when she was younger. 

Maybe you don't care about that kind of thing, but it is really good motivation, I'll tell you that. 

Obviously, that isn't the main reason I do anything, but sometimes, when fear is overtaking me, or I can't find that last bit of gumption to do something, I ask myself, "Will my kids think I am cooler if I can tell them I did this?" And almost always, the answer is yes. 

Solo travel is good for your mental health. 

Let's be clear: packing a backpack and solo traveling to Europe will not fix all of your problems. Your depression or anxiety is not going to go away just because you went to a new country for a week. However, being alone can be incredibly beneficial for your mental health. 

Solitude is good for the soul. It can help you work through depressive thoughts, anxiety, stress, etc. It can help you process difficult emotions or manage decisions that are occurring. A certain level of clarity washes over you during solo travel. 

Everything mentioned above- independence, resistance, self-discovery- promotes good mental health. They help you connect with yourself, which is proven to affect your mood positively. 

Why should you wait for the rest of the world to start living? 

There isn't always going to be someone to go with. There are places that your family isn't going to have an interest in. Your friends might have work or school. People are scared to step out of their comfort zone, so no matter how many times someone promises to go somewhere with you, it doesn't mean it will ever happen. 

You have to stop waiting for the rest of the world to start living. Time is precious; we only have so much of it. So yes, you could wait until your best friend is ready to take the leap and go to Greece, or you can book a flight and start seeing the world right now. 

Take the leap. Start the adventure. Someday, the rest of the world may be ready to join you, and by then, you'll be a pro. 

There is always a ticket home. 

You can always go home.  

You can go as far away as you can possibly imagine, but there will always be a flight home. If you get scared or simply decide you hate it, you can board that plane and hold your head high, knowing you gave it your best shot. 

The worst that happens is you don't like it, and you spend a few days lonely. 

So buy the plane ticket or pack the car. Take the chance. The rest of the world will still be waiting when you get back.

If you need motivation, listen to Noah Kahan's "You're Gonna Go Far" and truly take in his words. 

"The birds will still sing, your folks will still fight, the boards will still creek, the leaves will still die."