Travel solo, Find yourself

Some journeys in life can only be traveled alone.
― Ken Poirot

After spending 30 long years of traveling with family and friends, in large groups, I took my first solo trip this past year. The experience was exhilarating, to say the least. The two weeks were liberating and I came back beaming, a camera and my mind full of memories of a life time.

I’ve always traveled with company and appreciate the benefits that it brings alone. It’s always nice to have someone to share your thoughts and the strength that comes from a partner lets you explore things you wouldn’t have done otherwise. You learn to balance multiple interests into one common trip and witness the various shades of the stories you share. Not having to take your own pictures is always a bonus (Yes, I hate selfies!).

On the other hand, traveling alone lets you discover a side to your self you dint know existed. If you have life questions worrying you and ambiguity storming your mundane, then I strongly recommend taking a solo trip and do some soul searching.

Two week of traveling alone and these are the top three things that I have learnt from solo traveling:

1. Independence and Responsibility

Strength in company is always a plus, but traveling solo takes your independence to a new level. Being responsible for yourself gives you a heightened awareness of your environments. Your instincts develop over time to be able to distinguish a friendly conversation from one that could turn violent.

You also take responsibility for all your decisions during the trip. If you chose to sleep in late and missed the beautiful sunrise, you have no one else but yourself to blame. What you eat, where you visit and whom you travel with are all driven by your own decisions and the pleasure of the right and the wrong is all in your hands.

This independence also brings with it the pleasure of not having to please any one but yourself. Spend an entire day shooting the ruins because architecture photography excites you. And do that guilt-free because you are not lugging around people that think they are just rocks from an ancient time.

2. Soul searching

As each sight and sound hits you during the trip, you have no way of expressing the feelings within but through the little voice in your head. The more connected you are to your inner self, the more peace you derive in each moment. You are able to soak in the vistas deeper when you are grounded in that instance, undisturbed.

When there is no chatter and babble during the trip to distract you, you find answers to life’s top questions that have been plaguing you for long. The peace gives you time to reflect on your life’s decisions, the road ahead and accept your deepest wants.

Soul searching also comes with an added benefit of self-healing. As your let your thoughts drive your day, the past, the present and the future flood in. Past mistakes, broken promises, missed connections, forgotten lovers, childish grudges resurface and you have all the time to analyze and introspect. As the healing process completes, you let go of these unnecessary memories, allowing newer, brighter thoughts to consume you.

3. Respect for individual

Through solo-travel, you will learn the art of respecting each individual. When traveling by yourself, as you ride the soul searching wave, all your actions, thoughts and reactions overflow with love.

The local fruit vendor that added an extra fruit into your basket, the bus conductor that saved you some walking with a free stop and the hostel warden with a friendly welcome smile are all travel companions that surprised you with their actions. You learn to respect each person for the troubles in their life and the way they chose to live life.

Has life been bogging you down with the home-office-home routine? Do you not know where life is heading and is the commotion in your day giving you very little time to introspect. Pack your bags and hit the road. Travel!