Over the years, most of my trips have tended to be solo ones. There are both positive and negative factors to traveling this way. The most obvious one is the freedom of traveling solo. You only have yourself to answer to – you make your own schedules and you aren’t at the whim of others. As an independent traveler, you can make decisions on the fly.
Disadvantages to traveling solo include expenses – you don’t have anyone to split the cost of things like renting a car, staying in a hotel or even sharing the cost of a meal. You don’t have someone to share the burden of logistics – simply helping research and plan a trip.
One of the most common questions I get is do you get lonely traveling. Sometimes – and it depends on the location. If it is somewhere visually inspiring – sometimes I wish I had someone there to share the experience with. For introverts it can be hard to meet people while on the road – for extroverts its easy.
Solo travelers should not rule out a singles holiday. Trips like this are a great way to meet other solo travelers yet maintain space and privacy as needed.
Some of my most memorable trips have been solo journeys including several to eastern Europe and to the Middle East. One trip involving wine was memorable in which I visited various wineries in the little visited country of Moldova. Without doing much logistical research ahead of time I was able to visit two of the world’s largest wine caves – with with collections of over 1 million bottles of wine! During another trip to the Middle East I found myself dune bashing in Quatar and hanging out drinking on the beach with no one else around me on the Dar Islands in Bahrain.
After a few days of exploring somewhere, sometimes I will hire a driver or join a tour group to experience a different persepective of a region and or to get out into the country (if I am in the city).
Are you a solo traveler? What are your thoughts on the benefits or detriments of traveling solo?
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