Solo travelling: the good, the bad & the ugly

As someone who has been traveling the world for years now, oftentimes alone, I definitely have firsthand experience of the best and worst parts of solo female traveling. I will always advocate for solo traveling, but we also have to openly talk about the downsides of it. I am hoping that talking about everything and anything related to traveling will encourage women across the globe to travel alone while also being aware of the potential bad sides of it.

Wondering around in the beautiful island of Madeira

The good:

I could talk about this part for days, so I will try to summarise it. The best part of solo traveling is definitely the self-development element of it. No podcast, self-help book, or life coach can help or test you more than being alone on the other side of the globe, trying to figure it all out, at times even under stress or pressure. Traveling the world alone can help you feel so free, yet responsible. Since you are your own company most of the time, you discover things about yourself left, right, and centre. You will be your best friend and advisor. You will be the one in control and the one who needs to solve problems. Your patience will be tested on a daily basis, and sometimes life will ask you: how bad do you want this? But this is what will shape you into a better human being.

Another thing I would mention is that traveling alone makes you more sociable. A lot of the time when I tell people I travel alone, they think it must be very anti-social. But I beg to differ. In my experience, traveling alone makes you more open to starting a conversation or opening up with people. Especially if you want to find company, making that first move and being courageous is your only chance at socialising and making connections. I admit, this is not something that you will always find easy, but it is definitely a habit that you can get into very easily.

And of course, your increased level of confidence. I mean, after climbing mountains with food poisoning or sleeping on the airport floor because a storm delayed all the flights, you learn to be so confident on your own that simple everyday tasks seem like a walk in the park. Going out for dinner alone? No problem, I do it all the time.

Exploring Peru

The bad:

With your heart opening up, you feel sad leaving your 'new homes.' I know this sounds silly, but I genuinely feel like I have at least 5-10 places on this planet that I could always go back to and feel right at home. When you travel so much, you feel like you leave a little piece of your heart and soul wherever you go through the connections you make. You have that little cafe where you came up with amazing ideas or where you met a new friend. So, naturally, you start to miss the life that you once had in those different places. You can always revisit them, but the feeling lingers; you are missing out on the life that you could be living elsewhere.

The ugly:

You can feel alone and lonely in the most beautiful destinations. It may only hit you after a while because initially, you have that feeling of freedom and excitement. But eventually, that wears off, and sometimes you experience the most amazing locations on your own. Which is good on one hand because you really learn to enjoy your own company. But when you spend a few weeks or months in a great location but don't seem to find the right kind of people to share the experience with, you can feel pretty lonely. Depending on the length of your trip, this may not occur because, in my experience, this is more like a 4-5 week mark when this issue arises, but it's definitely something to be aware of.

I hope you found this honest take on solo female traveling insightful. Obviously, it's all my personal experience and doesn't necessarily apply to everyone, but I hope that it will give someone the courage to book that trip and embark on their own adventures as solo female travellers.

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