The Traveling Single: Exploring The World Individually

The world is a wonderful place and getting outside your bubble to explore new places and meet new people is a fundamental need of every open-minded individual. But unfortunately, not all of us can claim to have someone available to join our quest for adventure and fun. We are not here to explore the reasons and mechanisms behind being alone. Our mission is to prove that travelling alone is a healthy and rewarding activity which gains more and more adept each year.

Traveling alone is an excellent argument for establishing deeper connection with locals. “Navigating” in a new and strange place will force you to reach for other people and rely on them for information and services. This is a method that will drive every loner out of its shell in a way not possible at home. As you connect with people you thought to be different, you will soon learn to look beyond skin color, clothes and spoken language.

You will discover that people living at the antipodes of your existence share the same basic needs for love, happiness, validation and peace of mind. You will probably be put face to face to alternative lifestyle, some of them completely different from the western paradigm you came from. Simpler lives are sometimes able to render the same decency of living but with a higher spiritual charge.

Going in a journey alone could be seen as a turning point in someone’s life. Being exposed to something new can trigger a deep desire to change yourself and reshape the life you live. Every tourist going alone is just a projection trough time of the aboriginal of Australia enjoying a walkabout. As you are leaving your daily life you no longer experience time in a linear fashion.

Routine is no longer your ally to help you speed things up and numb your thinking. The mythical time spent outside your usual existence will give you an extra sense which can reveal your true purpose in life. Changing the perspective from which you look at your own life can ultimately give you the courage and mental energy to embrace the change you desired for years.

The current touristic recipe for success promoted by our society is a tour de force trough landmarks, foreign cuisines and extravagant experiences. Travelling the world alone can enforce you to write your own rules. Don’t let others tell you what is best for you, as a vacation is not just a race to tick things on your list. Take your time and learn to look beyond the glossy magazines your travelling agency is putting on display.

The bigger the attraction, the more tourists will flock to it and the slimmer your chances to really get in touch with the essence of the place you are visiting. Authenticity is usually found on the backstreets, in places were brainwashed tourists don’t dare to venture.

Going alone in a touristic expedition has also many practical advantages. You make your own schedule and don’t have to wait for others to get ready. Large packs of tourists are rarely coordinated and cover far less ground than you would normally do by yourself. Don’t regret lacking a guide, as information is waiting for you at the nearest Wi-Fi.

Also, finding ad-hoc accommodation and transport is easier for a single person. Of course, not having someone else beside you means you have to take responsibility for all decisions, rely on your sense of direction and be skilled enough to get out of possible difficult situations.

Traveling single is far from being a walk in park. There are some parts of the world where this kind of travelling comes with a serious dose of danger. Remote places, places which experience military conflict, political instability or terrorist threats, are definitely not the places to go if you want to be stress free.

A single woman is always perceived as being more vulnerable and there are even countries in which it is prohibited to go alone. Take some time to inform yourself and learn from the experience shared by other tourists. But leaving beside the negative karma of the last paragraph, exploring the world alone is definitely something you need to try at least once in life.