10 Reasons to Travel Solo in Your Twenties

Travel alone and you'll never be lonely

Traveling solo can be one of the most intimidating yet rewarding experiences of your life. Here's a list of the top 10 reasons I loved traveling alone throughout my 20's (and beyond).

1. Travel Alone and You'll Never Be Lonely

Hear me out - there are definitely highs and lows when it comes to traveling by yourself. But I've found that the trips I've made solo have resulted in making a ton more connections than those I've set off on with a friend or group. Most people don't travel solo because they want to be alone. It's that they aren't afraid of being alone, but at the same time don't mind feeling forced to meet new people!

The first day somewhere new is always tough. You'll arrive at your hostel, or on your scheduled walking tour of the city, or at a nearby restaurant. You'll look around and feel like the only one on your own. But then something happens - you'll start chatting with the girl walking next to you from England. Then the guy from Brazil will join in, along with his friend he met on a tour the day before, and another with join in, and another. You'll talk about each others accents, where you've been, where you're headed, and how long you've been away. Before you know it you'll no longer be a handful of solo travelers - you'll be a group. Maybe you'll spend the day together, maybe you'll continue on together for the next month. But you won't be alone.

Traveling with a good friend or two is amazing too, don't get me wrong. I could write a whole different blog on that, and probably will someday. Throughout my 20's I spent a little over half of my time traveling alone, and the other half with one of my best friends - both options have have their benefits. But the purpose of this blog is to reassure you that if you aren't lucky enough to have a likeminded travel buddy, and you decide to make the leap alone, you'll be happy you did.

2. You'll Gain a Boatload of Confidence

You know those people who wait in the car for you to arrive before going into a restaurant, because they can't bare the thought of walking in alone? Travel solo and you will never, ever be one of those people. In fact the pure thought that people like that exist in the world still boggles my mind.

Travel solo, and you'll gain a new sense of peace when it comes to doing anything individually. You might actually find that you prefer it, while at the same time it might make you enjoy the time spent with others even more, too.

3. You Just Might Fall in Love

Indulge in a holiday romance. Spend a few days or weeks (or longer) traveling with someone of interest that you met on the road. There's something truly magical about pursuing a romantic relationship while traveling, kind of like how everyone on the bachelor manages to fall in love in just a day or two. When you find yourself in an exotic location, without the stresses of work or school, with nothing but time on your hands, it's amazing how quickly you can form a connection.

I once had a cute British guy motorbike across half of Vietnam just to spend a couple of extra days together (earmuffs, Sam!) It didn’t stand a chance of working out long term, but in my mid-twenties it was exactly the type of romantic adventure that movies were made of.

4. You'll Learn How to Navigate the World

Sense of direction does not come naturally to me. I'm talking full blown: get lost in my own hometown, GPS my route to work everyday, and don't use ridiculous words like "north" when talking to me, complete and utter lack of direction. But the first time I traveled to Prague on my own and had to navigate from the airport to my hostel by way of train, then bus, then tram, (this was before international data plans, people), the sense of accomplishment I felt when I finally reached my destination truly changed something in me.

Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of roadblocks along the way - this was not a smooth commute. For starters the language barrier made it impossible for me to communicate with even one person along my route. But unless I wanted to create a new life for myself as a non-communicative twenty-something American backpacker living on the streets of Prague, I had no other choice but to try my best to ask for help. And what happened next? The kindness and openness of every single person I showed my crumpled up printed hostel directions to was remarkable. They smiled and pointed, walked along with me for blocks on end, and one guy even managed to help me figure out how much koruna to take out of an ATM (there were so many thousands!) before paying for my bus ride for me. Where there's a will, there's a way.

5. You Get the Chance to Reinvent Yourself

Is there something you always wanted to change about yourself? Maybe you’re too shy? Or too loud? Or don't know any good jokes? This is your chance to completely reinvent yourself. Each any every conversation you have on the road with a stranger provides you with the opportunity to improve on your downfalls and highlight your best qualities.

You never know, you might return home and find you’ve morphed into that person you’ve always wanted to be. At the very least you'll have a huge new arsenal of interesting stories to tell at a party or job interview anyways.

6. You Have the Chance to Become Part of Something Bigger

People who travel just understand other people who travel. It's like an unspoken rule. I can't tell you how many people seemed shocked and confused when I told them of my plans to quit my job and travel for a year. I live in Upstate NY, and while it's not the most sheltered part of the country, most people still couldn't understand why I found so much excitement in the idea of traveling long term.

But other travel people? They get me. They love comparing notes, making recommendations, and sharing what feels like a secret bond. Oh you've climbed Machu Picchu too? You've swam in the Dead Sea? You rode a motorbike across Southeast Asia? You're my people.

7. You Will Without a Doubt Appreciate What You Have at Home More

Whether you can afford an around the world ticket, or only a month living off $5 a day in Southeast Asia, you WILL meet people who have it much worse off than you. I remember complaining often about the U.S. before I did any long term travel. The taxes were high, my student loans were higher, and I graduated during the 2008 recession. I realize now how lucky I was to even have the opportunity to work 4 part-time jobs at once to save up for my first backpacking trip. Yes, I said 4: in the mornings I worked as a school portrait photographer and cake decorator, and at night I worked at 2 different bars. I think my longest stretch of work without a full day off was 45 days.

But head to a developing nation and I dare you to complain about your life at home. You'll find people who have far less, yet are far happier. They will be gracious and generous, and you will need need to consciously take the opportunity to let that rub off on you.

8. On the Flip Side - You'll Be Humbled by What You Don't Have or Know

One of my fondest travel memories is of a three day excursion to Fraser Island, Australia with a group of 9 other travelers who had all just met that morning. We spent the first day trekking around the island in our 4x4, following a treasure map of beautiful lakes and dodging dingos (yes literally). Most of us were individual travelers, with a couple of pairs traveling together thrown in too. We were setting up camp for the night, sharing a box of goon (Australian boxed wine) and getting to know each other better.

One of the travelers was Daniel from Switzerland, and I'll never forget hearing him apologize over and over again for not speaking perfect English. Of course he was apologizing in English, the language he spoke the entire trip, but also the language he was least comfortable with out of the three he spoke. He spoke THREE languages, and he was the one embarrassed!?

In fact, half of our group spoke English as their second/third language, and yet we were able to sing along to all of the same songs on the radio, develop the weirdest inside jokes, and form some of the closest bonds of any travel experience I've ever had. I felt so humbled that these amazing people had taken the time to learn the only language I knew. It was truly remarkable.

9. You'll Learn How To Be a Minimalist, and Like it

Live out of a backpack for a week/month/year. It's liberating. In hot climates you'll wear the same shirt four days in a row in because you're going to sweat the minute you put it on anyways. You'll become a master folder, somehow finding room in your bag for each little trinket you pick up for your family along the way. You'll pack specialty soaps that you can use to wash your clothes in a sink, but you'll quickly realize it's worth the few bucks to get your clothes washed at the laundry mat every couple of weeks.

I'll always remember the feeling of moving home after my yearlong trip backpacking abroad, and setting up shop in my tiny apartment. The closet in my room was almost non-existent, but I am not exaggerating when I tell you I felt like a QUEEN! An entire closet, for just my stuff!? Spend some time living out of a backpack it will make you appreciate the big ol' house you may end up in someday, because you're a solo world traveler and destined for greatness.

10. Even My Fellow Type A's Will Learn How to Go with the Flow

After my first couple of trips abroad, I quickly realized the benefit in pre-planning as little as possible. Sure, you'll need to get the big stuff out of the way like flights, but everything else can go with the flow. Book a flight into Thailand and then home from Laos two months later and just figure it out (just make sure you travel with proof that you have a return ticket home from somewhere at some time!) The freedom is liberating, and you won't have to turn down an offer to tag along on an amazing excursion with all of the new friends that you'll meet along the way. And you will meet new friends, because remember that when you travel solo, you'll never be alone.

Pro tip:

Two of my favorite places to travel solo to are Vietnam, and East Coast Australia because of their circuits. Essentially everyone is either heading north or south, so they've either just been where you'd headed and can fill you in on all of the best tours to book, accommodations to stay at, and spots to see. Or, they are headed the same direction as you, so you can travel there together!

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Travel solo because you will never, ever regret it. No one ever traveled and said, "well that was a waste of time." If they did they were truly no fun and they are not the type of person reading this blog anyhow. You want to know what happens when you start traveling? You find yourself planning your next trip before the one you're on is over. You go home and scour blogs and articles and Pinterest boards and Instagram pages. The travel bug is real, and it's one virus we'd like to stick around. So as the world starts opening up again, get out there and see it.