Hi guys!
Last January, around this time of the year, I packed my bags and went on a plane to Sri Lanka. Because traveling alone was one of the things that always seemed like something I wouldn't do because it scared me, I decided to do it. Booking my ticket was the easiest part. I had a nice glass of wine on a summers day and fixed in 5 minutes total. But once I got on the plane to travel through Sri Lanka for one month, that was when it got real. Let me tell you about the ups and downs and the other stuff I learned while traveling solo.
1. Take good care of your health!
After 2 weeks or so I got really sick and needed to go to the hospital. I met a few girls who were so nice to me and took me in a tuktuk to the nearest hospital. I got some medication and the advice to take a lot of rest. Looking back I realized I wanted to do too many things in a short amount of time. I forgot to look after myself and ignored some of the signs my body was giving me. So I got sick, and trust me it sucks. I took things easy for about a week, but that was also because I felt absolutely miserable. At moments like this all you want is someone you love near you to look after you. What I learned from this is that you shouldn't ignore the signs your body is giving you. It's important to look after yourself and stay healthy along the way!
2. You can do whatever you want.
When you're traveling alone you can be as selfish as you want. Want to spend all day on the beach, go ahead. Want to climb a mountain, let's get climbing. And want to do things you've never done, go for it! When you're all by yourself, there's nobody to look after. When you're traveling with friends or family, you always have to take account of each other. You decide where you are going or what you all want to do. But, when you're alone the choice is yours. You can spend your days the way you want and I found out I really liked this.
3. Meeting new people is easier alone.
While traveling alone, I found it way easier to meet new people then when I was traveling with friends, family or my boyfriend. I found myself more open to talking, eating and traveling with people I didn't know and I have had a great time with people of whom I do not even the name anymore. But of course your friends and family are the ones that know you for who you are. Even though you can meet great people along the way, it's still going to be different. One time I found myself among some people but realized I actually felt kind of lonely still. Because I realized I could do whatever I wanted, I packed my bags the next day and moved on to another place. Of course when meeting new people you probably aren't going to be best friends right away. But if you realize you're in a place where you don't feel quite right, it's also no big deal to move on.
4. Less is more.
If you travel for a longer period of time, you will find that you do not need as much stuff as you might have thought before. I had a backpack with a fair amount of clothes, but I did not wear or use some things. Because I had already backpacked before I knew what kind of stuff I really did not need and what could come in handy. Yet you will always find stuff on the bottom of your backpack that will make you think “why did I take this”. No problem, you can always get rid of it. Maybe it’s hard to get rid of stuff in the beginning, but it’s easier to travel with less stuff then too drag it around. In the end the memories you make along the way are worth so much more!
5. It's not as scary as it seems.
Too a lot of people, including me, traveling alone seems kind of scary. Because I’ve already done it, I now know how it is. But before I left I caught myself on thinking negative thoughts about my journey. "Am I going to find vegetarian food", "Am I going to meet any people", Am I going to be safe" and "Am I going to feel lonely" were some of the thoughts that ran through my head from time to time. But I found out these where all unnecessary fears. I found a lot of vegetarian food and I met a lot of people. Sometimes I felt a bit unsafe and a bit lonely, but it turned out to be all right in the end.
As long as you take care of yourself, listen to your body and make sure you don’t put yourself in unsafe situations you are going to be all right! In my opinion it’s one of the best investments you can make. You learn so much about yourself and other people and cultures. You’ll gain some life experience and a lot of memories and you learn to live with less and appreciate what you have at home.
Have you ever traveled alone? What did you learn or what stops you from buying that ticket? Let me know in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading and see you back next time.
Lots of love,
Marleen.