Am I really a Solo Traveler?

I’ve been featured in a few interviews recently  and found it a bit weird at first when I heard myself described as a female solo traveler. While I’m sure about the female bit! I’m not so sure about the solo part.

I definitely don’t feel like a solo traveler! I mean I’m never alone! I’m always meeting and making friends wherever I go so I really don’t feel like a solo traveler.

My First Solo Trip

Thinking back to when I first traveled solo to Thailand in early 2013, I had a one way ticket to Bangkok, 3 nights booked  in a hostel and no other plans. While the freedom, spontaneity and sense that anything could happen was exhilarating, I did  worry that I wouldn’t make any friends.

I was only alone for a day, on my second day I bumped into someone I went to school with on Khao San Road, the day after that I met a friend from uni who was teaching English in the city, and the next day I met an awesome Canadian couple on the boat to Koh Chang island who I ended up traveling the rest of Thailand with.

When I returned to Bangkok at the end of traveling South East Asia, I felt like a completely different, and much more confident, person to the, slightly apprehensive one that first arrived in Bangkok.

Making friends all over the world

Similar things happen again and again throughout my travels from Singapore to Sydney and from Bulgaria to Bali. After the first few days making friends becomes at lot easier, now I talk to everyone and anyone and make friends wherever I go, some are a fleeting friendship formed quickly for a few days , but others I’m still in touch with and now I have friends, and hopefully couches to crash on, all over the world! Despite being a ‘solo traveler’sometimes I actually have to make a concision effort to escape to get a bit of alone time!

When I think about it, more times than not, If fly and arrive in a new destination completely alone but I’m always meeting a friend or make friends whether in a hostel, on the bus, in a bar or elevator or sometimes even in the queue for immigration before I’ve even left the airport! When you travel solo it’s actually much easier to make friends and easy to make connections with local people too who might even show you some awesome places that you wouldn’t have found on your own!

My new friends showed me to an awesome heli pad bar in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia

So many places, so many goodbyes

And I’ve realised that while most times I’ve arrived in a new country completely alone, there hasn’t been a single country yet in 2 and a half years where I haven’t had to say sad goodbyes to someone.

In fact, it’s probably the worst part of traveling for me, all the goodbyes I have to say and missing, not just my family and friends back home, but also all the new friends and places that I’ve fallen in love with along the way.

So don’t worry about traveling solo, I’ve never felt or been alone more than a couple of nights.

Traveling solo really doesn’t mean traveling alone!

Did you like this post? Get exclusive news, articles and updates when you join the adventure and sign up to the free weekly newsletter.

Email *