13 Reasons to Travel Solo

by BootsnAll

Because BootsnAll is the “ultimate resource for the independent traveler,” you might not be surprised to learn that we’re big fans of solo travel. But we know that not only is solo travel not for everyone, even if you’re gung-ho to travel by yourself it can be a little daunting the first time around. So we wanted to put together a little overview of why you might want to give solo travel a try.

The first thing we want to point out is that when you hear the term “solo travel,” you might interpret that to mean “all by yourself, all the time, always alone” – and nothing could be further from the truth. Unless you’re planning some kind of vision quest where your goal is to get away from all other human beings, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet up with other travelers at any point during your journey. The fact is that solo travelers often have an easier time of meeting other people – locals and visitors alike – than people who travel in groups. Why is this? Well, a solo traveler is much more approachable and far less intimidating than a pair or a group that’s already got their own thing going.

Of course, if you’re going on a trip by yourself because you want to be by yourself, that’s cool – it’s your trip, after all, you can do it however you want to do it. But anytime you want to come out of that shell and have someone else to pal around with, all you need to do is open yourself to the experience. Choosing when you want to have a travel companion (and when you don’t) gives you tons of flexibility – it lets you bum around with a new friend for awhile if your travel styles and itineraries mesh, and it also lets you say goodbye to your new friend when you’re in the mood for some alone time again.

Here are some more reasons we think solo travel rocks and why you should try it.

1. You are in complete control – you get to set the itinerary, and then you get to ditch the itinerary.
2. You’ll spend exactly what you want to spend, without feeling peer pressure to fork over a huge amount of cash for bungee jumping or an elephant ride if you wouldn’t have done it on your own.
3. You want new friends? You’ll have all the new friends you could ever want. Seriously.
4. You will learn about other people, sure, but you’ll also learn a ton of stuff about yourself.
5. You’re free to try something new anytime you want without having to coerce a travel companion into doing it, too. And then you’re free to do it again because the first time was so amazing.
6. Even if you like other people, you’re going to get tired of the same travel group after awhile, so this way you get as much solo time as you want.
7. You could discover a new favorite pastime, food, or skill that you might not have tried if you’d been with a group that was setting the agenda for you.
8. Without a travel companion to answer to, you’re free to accept last-minute or spontaneous offers and opportunities that come along.
9. You may be more introspective and observational – which may result in all kinds of interesting insights about yourself and the world around you.
10. You’ll get to embellish your travel tales all you want when you’re talking to friends and family back home, because there’s no one to check the facts.
11. There’s nothing nicer than returning from a solo trip and facing the folks who said you’d never be able to pull it off.
12. You’ll be challenged in new ways every single day.
13. You’ll have more fun than you could ever imagine.

We could go on and on… In fact, if you buy us a couple beers, we will. Every solo traveler has their own reasons for going it alone – what’s yours? Y’know, there’s only one way to find out…