To Travel Alone Or With A Friend

Written on December 10, 2007 by Tezza

Monday’s weekly guide to Travel and Recreation from 4EvaYoung.com

This was a question I had to face when planning my big trip. Since I have never traveled alone before it has always been something of a curiosity for me. Certainly I could see the freedom and challenges of traveling solo and the potential of loneliness but trying to plan a 6 month trip with someone else with the same schedule, interests and personality as me would have been a daunting task in itself so I decided to go it alone. I’ve always saw myself going on one big trip before settling down. To make myself feel better about my decision here are some good and not so good reasons I’ve come up with about going it solo.

1. You Won’t Have To Ditch Your Annoying Travel Mate Mid Way

You might be the best of friends in the real world but when your traveling together and in each others company 24/7 then the dynamics of the relationship changes. Whether your traveling with family, friends or partner its the same story. Some get along like peaches while others fight like cats and dogs. Maybe you start to find some annoying habits rear it’s ugly head or they are limiting your care free spirit of adventure.

The only problem is, unless you are already living with your potential travel buddy or you have already gone on holidays with them then its very difficult to predict whether you are a good match for an extended holiday together. However, by that stage it’s already to late, you’ve already locked yourself in for a miserable long trip together and maybe you can go your separate ways here and there but by and large you’ve committed yourself and theres no exit door anywhere in sight.

Traveling solo gives you that much more freedom to be able to choose to travel parts of your journey alone or with people you meet along the way. While you might spend time with them in a city or two you have the freedom and so do they to part ways anytime without any enduring commitments to each other.

2. You Will Be Encouraged To Engage The Locals And Strangers More

The upside is that without a travel companion constantly chatting with you it forces you to make an effort to engage locals and strangers in conversation. It’s easy to seek the safety of each others company. The great shame is when you slip into comfortable conversations about life and friends back home. You might have well just stayed home and done that over a cup of coffee down at the corner coffee shop instead of paying thousands to do it in some foreign back drop. After all your traveling to take time out from your life and it’s less likely you’ll fall into that trap when your talking to strangers that don’t know anything about your life at home.

Sure when your traveling in groups or with a friend you’ll still make an effort to talk with locals and strangers but it’s never with the same intensity. People tend to be more open to starting a conversation with you when you are solo then when you are traveling with others. Some of the best travel moments I’ve found is when your talking to a local and finding out stories that you could otherwise never get in a guide book. Maybe it’s a story relating to them growing up in the very house you just walked by or how things have changed over the years. Those moments are priceless and much easier to happen when your traveling solo.

3. You’ll Have A Chance To Bore Your Friends With Your Travel Tales

Without a travel companion you will be able to recount your travel tales with as much embellishment and creativity as you want without fear of it being corrected by someone else that was there at the time. You will get a chance when you return from your trip to talk about all the wonderful sites you saw and the places you’ve been until your friends eyes glaze over. While you won’t be able to share a travel moment and enjoy it with someone else you’ll always be rest assured knowing that for that small time in your life you went away on an adventure and the memories are yours and yours alone.

4. You Might Never Find The Right Time

Trying to find someone who is ready to travel at the same time as you is difficult enough. If you are waiting for your friend to save up enough money, get enough leave from work and organize all the logistics you’ll find it may never happen. Chances are they may end up pulling out at the last minute due to factors out of their control and now you have this planned trip for two with only one person attending. So to save your own sanity and keep things flexible its easier to plan your trip your way and if a friend happens to make travel plans that cross over your itinerary then all the better else nothing is lost.

5. A Chance To Learn About Yourself

In our fast pace lifestyle we never truly get a sense of how resilient and strong we are. There is always someone around to help you and assist you when you need it. A friend is always a phone call away and family is always around the corner. I’ve never eaten in a restaurant alone in my life and I can’t remember a time that I truly felt alone. I do enjoy my personal space and solitude which is quite different to loneliness so I don’t foresee me finding it difficult to spend time in my own thoughts for extended periods of time. So a solo trip will give me a great opportunity to find my true sense of self and my total reliance on my own strengths and weaknesses will be a great chance to see how apt I am in being able to survive this world on my own, even if it is for a relatively short period of time.

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