The way of going solo
For most of the people it takes great courage to travel on someone’s own, especially as a woman. For me it wasn’t, right from the beginning I knew I wanted to do this world trip solo. I’ve always been a person who needed a lot of time for myself – don’t get it wrong I’m not a loner who doesn’t have friends, I would define myself more as a lone fighter, a female maverick who loves to make friends all over. I got the sense of responsibility at an early age and I’ve been a life-long fighter, I wanted to face and challenge everything on my own. This and my strong desire to travel were the reasons why I had my first solo travel within Europe when I was 12 years old, I stayed with a host family in the UK. My first international solo trip was at the age of 16, I flew with a stop over in Johannesburg to Botswana and visited a girlfriend of mine who at this time was living there with her mum and sister. And yes, recently I’ve travelled Australia, America and Asia almost always by myself. I’ve never seen ‘travel solo’ as dangerous or as something that makes you lonely, not before and not after my world trip. Quite the reverse,
- it makes you more open to other people, you connect easier and you get to know a way more people than once you would have travelled with a partner.
- you see the beauty of nature because you are forced to… You really get to live the moment when you walk alone far from the path through America’s nature. Never tried it? You can easily do it from home, just go out in the woods – alone, without music or a book and just listen to the wind and the bird song, face the trees and stare at the sky. I’m wondering if you will do it once in a while?!
- you learn how to face difficult situations and problems by yourself which is really helpful for the future. I can just talk about myself but this trip helped me to grow up in so many ways.
“As you travel solo, being totally responsible for yourself, it’s inevitable that you will discover just how capable you are.”
- it proves you that the world isn’t as dangerous as the news shows you. The world is lovely, animals are lovely as far as they won’t be harmed, people are lovely. All the people I met along the way were polite, friendly, open and caring people who gave me a hand as I needed one. Some of them remain strangers, others became good friends and even a few belong to my closest friends by now.
A short story to tell: One day there was a stranger I met during my road trip through the US. I sat in the car for hours, almost at my destination. By the time I did a short coffee break, I met this stranger who didn’t look very happy. He started talking to me and asked me, what I’m doing in this small village and I told him my story. In the end, after we talked approx. 10 minutes, he said to me with a big smile on his face ‘You’ve made my day!’. I’ve never seen this guy again, I don’t even know his name. But in a short period of time I simply got him, the guy I don’t know and who doesn’t know me, in a good mood and opposed he got me in a good mood, too. This is my favourite story to tell and it puts a smile on my face again and again!
“When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon
In conclusion looking back to my past travels and my recent world trip I’ve never had regrets about going solo, not even as a woman.
“I think one travels more usefully when they travel alone, because they reflect more.” – Thomas Jefferson
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