What Solo Traveling Has Taught Me & Reminded Me Of

I guess it’s true what people have said: “Travel far enough to find yourself.” ~Unknown.

It was definitely true for me. Solo traveling has reminded me of some things about myself that I have forgotten. It has also confirmed some things about myself that didn’t make sense before but make sense now. Furthermore, solo travel has helped me to discover things about myself that I didn’t know were there. If you were to ask me 10 years ago if I wanted to travel alone, then I would’ve told you, “No, absolutely not! I don’t even feel comfortable with being alone at times!” Now 10 years later, I can truly say that I’ve outgrown this mindset. Here are some of the things that solo traveling has taught me & reminded me of:

I love the idea of seeing what the locals do while being a tourist.

Yea, I think it’s cool to see the touristy sights in a city. However, I know there’s more to the city than the touristy sites. I’ve always wondered what do the locals do? What would they recommend? And if you ask the right people, I’m sure locals will probably give you a good recommendation. For example, I’ve been to Las Vegas twice and stayed on the strip and off the strip. I’ve enjoyed going up to northern Vegas. It made me feel like I lived there and the boulders are pretty 🙂

On my latest solo trip to Miami, I knew the tourist hotspot was South Beach. (No problem with that btw.) I wanted to see what Miami was all about, not just what is in South Beach. Yes, I went to places like the Wynwood Walls and Bayside Marketplace, but one of my favorite things about my trip was driving around and identifying some of the hidden graffiti art throughout the city. This helped me to get a glimpse of what life was like in Miami besides South Beach, and it didn’t disappoint.

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I love being in control of what I do on a vacation.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy vacations with friends and family, and I love girls’ trips. However, on group trips, people are supposed to do things as a group. So there’s no room to say no, and if you say no, it’s always left with a guilt trip and peer pressure. I don’t like that.

On a solo trip, I can choose not to go somewhere without shame or peer pressure. I can also choose to go somewhere at any time. I love being in control of what I do on vacation.

I prefer to go out with my friends at night.

The nightlife is better with friends for me because it makes my experience a lot more fun. So I don’t plan on making any solo trips that involve a night on the town. A cozy night inside on a solo trip is a lot more enjoyable, and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. It helps if I have a great view of the night’s sky.

I love the water.

Give me a beach vacation or lakeside view any day! It’s something so calming about the water that makes me happy. I can almost watch the water all day and can tolerate sand.

Plus, I LOVE drinking water. I can’t go a day without drinking it.

I love valet parking.

It makes me feel fancy 🙂

I’m not a big breakfast eater.

I only eat breakfast because I have to. I usually go for something light for breakfast when I having places to go in the morning, like fruit. If I don’t have anywhere to go, I tend to miss breakfast without feeling super hungry. On vacation, I’m not in a big hurry to go anywhere, so I may miss breakfast. But when I choose to go to breakfast, my choices are waffles, oatmeal, a breakfast sandwich, or a bowl of fruit. Bacon or sausage is ALWAYS the side item. A side of hash browns sound good too 🙂

I like stepping out of my comfort zone.

When it comes to unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, I don’t like being uncomfortable. However, if things unfortunately happen, it allows me the chance to tighten up my “survival” skills. How will I act and/or react in the situation? How will I solve it? When I can help it, I like stepping out of my comfort zone. Each year I make it a goal to step outside of my comfort zone and do something that I would never consider. Solo trips definitely give me a chance to step outside of my comfort zone and explore.

I can meet people.

Due to life growing up and conditioned behavior, I became an introvert. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to initiate conversation or go out. Once I turned 30, I wanted to change that part about myself. I wanted to go out more vs. staying at home all the time.

On my latest solo trip to Miami, almost every person I encountered was so kind. If something was wrong, they showed concern. If things were going well, they were happy about things going well. I experienced great customer service in almost every place I went to. It was great.

I don’t like to jam-pack my vacation with activites.

I love taking my time on vacation. Tiring myself out after day 1 or 2 makes me a bit irritable.

I am in the beginning stages of being a foodie.

Or at least I think so 🙂 Sometimes I can be a creature of habit and eat the same thing every day. I like trying new dishes and meals, whether solo or not, vacation or not. I’m currently writing a list of places that I’ve tried for future references. (Let me know if you would like for me to share that list!)

At this time, I enjoy exploring the different coffee places where I live. I’m so used to Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts.

What is the take away? Honey, go on that solo trip!

I’m at a point where if I want to do something, then I’m going to do it. I’m tired of saying that I want to do this or that, and then don’t do it.

So, this will be my suggestion to you. If you want to go on a solo trip, then DO IT! It doesn’t have to be far away from where you live, but I think people should go on a solo trip at least once in their life. If you plan it properly, then I don’t think you will regret it 😉