Finding yourself - Why you should try a solo travel adventure

For me one of the best thing to do is traveling alone around the world. People are always asking me why I do not always take my friends with me? Of course it is nice to travel with friends, but I think nothing can beat the experience of traveling alone. Being alone makes it easier for me to make decisions based on what I really want to experience. When I am traveling with someone else there is always the 'compromise thing'. Oh dear friend, do you want to sit on the beach the whole day? Off course I am coming with you.

[Laos, 4000 islands don dhet]

Compromising is good, because it proves that we are all social beings. But there is also the other side, the selfish part we all have inside us. That part wants to experience the things that makes us happy as an individual, disregarding what other people think of it. For me it is very difficult to balance between being altruistic and being selfish. Traveling with someone makes me feel like I am forcing someone to be a part of my growth as an individual. And I do not want to be the terrible travelbuddy.

[nepal, somewhere close to pokhara]

Traveling alone also helps me to get out of my comfort zone. Being outside this zone makes me feel like I am really alive. In my comfortzone I am only existing and following the same patterns every day. I am not only talking about the patterns in the daily activities like my job, but also in my mindset. For me the only way to really get out of my comfortzone is to be far away from home without knowing anybody. On my first solo travel experience it was kinda scary to wake up at a place I did not know, with people around me I didn't know and without a plan. I only did the things that made me happy and that felt great. Some of the things I had never done before (and I would really not do) inside my comfortzone, like jumping of a cliff.

When you are traveling solo it is also much easier to get to know amazing people, then when you are traveling with someone else. Not only the people you meet in hostels, but also the locals. I can remember that I met a boy in Sri Lanka who lived near the beach of Colombo. He saw me walking and started a conversation and told me about the floods he experienced. I am sure that I would not have this conversation when I would be with a friend. It is also great that you are really bonding with the people you meet during your trip. I had beautiful deep conversations with great thinkers and I had lots of fun with people I only knew for a few hours. This is possible because you are not thinking about the future and you are really living the moment. Nobody tries to build a friendship or relationship during the moments you are having together. It is all about feeling happy and growing as an individual.

I can never wait until my next solo adventure, because it always teach me a lot about myself and the way I perceive the world. I would recommend everybody to travel alone!

[Seychelles, La digue]