“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves.” – Pico Lyer
Do you like to travel? Most people would answer yes. And there would be a bunch of different reasons as to why they answered yes. But what about this question: Do you like to travel alone?
Good evening Chair, Fellow Toastmaster, and most welcome guests!
I love traveling but never thought of traveling alone until last April. Why? Because solo travel sounds so boring and lonely to me.
I promised my friend that I would attend his wedding in Cape Town but I didn’t want to go alone so I decided to find myself a BF as my New Year Resolution and hoped he would come with me. So I joined 3 dating sites on Jan. 1st and went on 8 hiking and lunch dates within 3 weeks before I gave up — but that’s a topic for another speech!
I then decided to try my luck on Craigslist and posted an ad looking for a “travel buddy”. I narrowed down the many responses to three candidates that seemed promising.
One was a professor which is great because it’s like having a walking encyclopedia with me.
The second person was a photographer, and the thought of having great pictures on the trip was really appealing too.
Finally, the third option was a cop, which would mean having my own personal bodyguard!
They were all very keen in joining me until I made it clear that I was just looking for a “travel buddy” and NOT a “hook up” buddy. Needless to say, suddenly, my three candidates “vanished”. Very disappointing.
However, I still wanted to visit Africa and attend my friend’s wedding since I had committed to him already. So I decided to go alone! Honestly, I never thought I would ever consider traveling by myself. But I’m happy to say – it surpassed ALL my expectations! I discovered that traveling on your own can be the most liberating experience!
The most exciting and important thing about travelling for me is learning about different cultures. And the best way to do that is to live with the locals so I can see the culture through their eyes. Which is why Airbnb was my first choice of accommodation. While I am totally comfortable with this and actually felt enriched by the experience, most of the people in my circle are not so inclined; therefore, if I was travelling with them, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to stay with the locals!
I felt so empowered. I was in total control of my days and could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I could be spontaneous and change my mind when I pleased. I didn’t have to create a schedule and stick to it because others would be expecting us to follow the pre-organized itinerary. This actually allowed me to explore new things, since my days were open to meeting new people and joining them on unexpected adventures.
However, there is a downside to solo travelling. One time, I was out in the boonies and caught a virus. 105 degree fever. My face was red as a tomato. I felt scared and very lonely. This was the only moment during the whole month that I regretted traveling alone. I remembered taking a screenshot of the address of the hostel I was staying in and send it to my family saying “if I die tonight then come here to pick up my body”.
Finding someone to travel with wasn’t as simple as I thought it’d be. But I wasn’t ready to stop my passion for traveling just because I couldn’t find someone to go with. I love to be in control of my travels, doing what I want, when I want. I am proud that I was able to get out of my comfort zone and took the risk to do my first solo trip last year. I have now discovered that I prefer to travel alone. While I did have my lonely moments, which is to be expected, those were far outweighed by the empowering experience.
While I was on that trip, I answered to no one. I was my own woman. I ate drank and slept where, how and when I wanted to. I had this whole new culture at my fingertips to explore. I didn’t have to defer to second opinions. This allowed me to immerse myself in a completely new environment without being distracted by the company I had to keep. I now feel that most people’s assumptions about that travelling alone are misguided. It’s a common misperception that the lone traveller is lonely. That’s definitely not the case!
It is my hope that you will someday consider solo travel as well because the experience is so worth it. It is very liberating and life-changing. You will learn so much more about yourself. You will be asking yourself “why did it take me this long to do this” and will never look back! Happy travels!