Why Travel Solo? Other People are Great, Sometimes

Traveling alone will teach you, quickly, how to take care of yourself in a safety/survival way and how to do what pleases you. 

Bogota, Colombia. 2015

I find that by following my own travel and safety guidelines, which I have developed after 2 years in the Peace Corps (Ukraine 05-07) more than 10 years of travelling solo (as well as many trips with family, friends and now my husband), that I can move through the world feeling secure and free to explore!

Doing Things Because You Want To! 

The great gift of travelling solo is not needing to justify your decsions to anyone.  When you travel alone, not only do you not need reasons to justify your choices, you don’t even need reasons!  One of the most freeing aspects of my first solo trip was decideding to go to Sarajevo just because.  I was in eastern Europe, and Sarajevo was a city that just captured me.  I was drawn to it for no reason that I could name and I didn’t know what there was to see or do there.  I just went. 

Sarajevo was stunningly beautiful, had a fascinating history, delicious food and some of the best café culture and live music I have ever heard.  I spent an entire afternoon eating a kilo of perfectly ripe cherries and watching old men play chess with life size pieces.  I met people my own age who spent their entire childhoods underground during the war and marveled at the red paint splotches that littered the streets, marking where bombs had detonated.  I saw the exact spot where Franz Ferdinand was shot, inciting World War 1.  I heard a symphony of catholic and orthodox church bells and the Islamic call to prayer simultaneously ring out simultaneously.  And if someone had asked me the simple of question of why, I never would have gone there.

Choosing to Travel Alone-Sometimes it Chooses You

Exploring the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul with the Aussie Girls, 2008.

I love traveling in general, and I take special pleasure in traveling alone.  However, I went on my first 5 week trip solo trip by accident.  I was planning to meet up with a friend in Istanbul and then back pack through Eastern Europe, but she got sick and was never able to meet me.  I was completely freaked out that first day, and mind you this is after two years of Peace Corps, living on my own.  I had been on many international trips, gotten from point A to point Z by myself a million times and felt very capable, but the idea of spending my days alone truly did not appeal to me.  I remember telling my friend, “I know you like traveling by yourself, but it is just not for me.”  Famous last words. 

That first night I was on my own, I felt weird going to a restaurant alone, so I found a kebab stand in the old part of Istanbul for dinner. While waiting for my kebab to be assembled and my fresh orange juice to be squeezed, I met two Aussie girls (there is an Australian in every town in the world I am sure of it) and we made a plan to meet up the next day at the same spot at noon to explore.  The next day they were there and we spent a great afternoon wandering the markets and sampling Turkish delight.  We took tons of ridiculous pictures which still take up memory on my computer and traded travel stories.  We talked about hanging out again but did not make any firm plans.  I never saw them again. 

I still remember these two Aussie gals well (though I forgot their names years ago), and they are important people to me in away because they made me feel comfortable in a new place when I was very nervous and they showed me at just the right moment in time how easy it is to meet new people when on the road.  Wherever they are I hope they are well and having great adventures!