Why solo traveling? Hmm, I’m sure I could go on and on about all the reasons that drew me to travel solo but it won’t mean the same thing for you. Pssshh, what’s fun about traveling by yourself anyways? ugh… (I’m kidding here, traveling is fun — solo or in a group). I definitely recommend traveling in general.
If you have traveled solo before, whether you liked it or not, or found the experience somewhere in between, I say cheers to you. No matter where you went or how long. Traveling can be fun by yourself!
If you haven’t had the chance to travel solo for one reason or another, no worries. The good thing about traveling solo is that you can make it as easy or fun-packed as you like. Don’t have the time to go somewhere far? Take a weekend trip somewhere. Heck, even a day trip if you wanted to. Could be exploring the city near yours, or camping in the park near home. Point is, you get to choose.
There are many reasons I could tell you about why you should travel solo, and I’m sure Google will also be glad to answer that question. Right now, I’m only focusing on what I learned from my trip to New York City at the end of August 2019. This was only a weekend-ish trip (5 days total). I hope to inspire and motivate you to travel at some point this year when you can, solo or with a group.
*Disclaimer: I wrote this a long time ago, just never published it until now. Who would’ve known COVID would come right after. It’s now early 2021 and there’s some traveling restrictions. Here’s to hoping things get better soon.
Lessons I learned from solo traveling
- It’s good to be selfish sometimes and do what makes you happy.
I really wanted to travel somewhere and had originally wanted to go with some friends. Due to some reason or another, my friends couldn’t go with me. I’ve never traveled by myself and was afraid to, but this time I said screw it. I’m going to go somewhere and finally decided on New York City. I picked a holiday weekend and shortly after doing some research, booked a round trip ticket and an Airbnb place (that turned out to be some secret Airbnb place apparently lol — it’s a story for another time ;)).
It was definitely nerve wracking when the time came to go though. Once I got situated in the city, the ball just kept rolling. I had bought the New York CityPASS that gave me access to a number of touristy destinations for three days, so part of my time in the city were spent going to the places I picked out for that day.
Sometimes, I changed what I did based on the time or what felt good to me. I didn’t have to take anybody’s feelings into account, only my own which felt really good. I even took the time to sleep in a little bit more to get some rest, although that meant not leaving the apartment and exploring as early as I wanted.
2. Sometimes you need to be your own best friend.
I had to make the agenda and plan out my day and where I was going to go. I didn’t have anyone else to rely on. This also meant I had to keep my own company because there literally was no one else there that I was familiar with. However, I did make some new friends and learned about some people by sparking up conversations with the person sitting next to me on the train. Other times, I did get bored with myself and I didn’t know what to do half the time, but that just meant I needed to slow down more, take things in and enjoy the moment for what it was.
3. It’s OK to be lost, literally and figuratively.
NYC is so humongous but the subway system is so darn good over there that you could get to to all the five boroughs of the city pretty easily. I definitely could have explored more, but I mainly stayed in the Manhattan area for this trip, although I did get lost more times than I would like to admit. Not surprisingly, getting “lost” is fun if you don’t have a strict schedule.
Sometimes I got lost because I entered the train that went in the opposite direction then where I had intended to go. NYC subways can be daunting at times, especially with all the people and trains to jump on. Other times, it was because I could not tell North from South, or East from West. Looking at a map is not the same thing as looking at buildings and streets.
I did use the Maps app on my phone a lot, but there were times it was not working well, so I had to rely on myself and figure out which way to go. I’m as directionally challenged, or even more, than anyone you know. It took a long time to figure out where I was at based on physical clues: matching a building to the one in the map, turning the map to face the way I was facing, zooming out to see where to go, and how to turn…lol
Speaking of being lost, there were times in my life where I felt figuratively lost. From figuring out the direction I want to take in my work, to figuring out my role in this whole universe. I thought that I would experience some sort of epiphany or THE answer when I got to NYC, or rather Newark, NJ where I flew into. But nope. There’s no ONE answer that suddenly came into my brain that made me think, “Ohhh, this totally makes sense. I get what I’m supposed to do with my life now.” It’s about taking the time to learn what you like to do, what you’re good at and how you can help others or add value with your given skills.
4. Being confident takes you a long way.
Ok, I did know this before the trip, but I definitely “learned” this during the trip. How? Simply by asking random strangers to take photos for me. I would go up to a couple/family/group and ask, “Would you like me to take a photo for you guys? I’d appreciate it if you could take one for me, too.”
You wouldn’t believe how nervous I was or how long it took me to come up to them because I’m standing there for a long ass time debating with myself on the best way to ask/approach them and thinking, “what if they say no” or “what if this/or that…” Sounds complicated, I know, but the question worked — every single time I asked. I think it mattered more that I kindly asked rather than what I specifically said. I’m glad I did ask because I got some cool photos out of it as you can see below. Trust me, selfie sticks can only go so far. I’m thankful that everyone I came across was so friendly, too.
5. New York City is a beautiful city, but it definitely has a not so pretty side.
I’m not talking about crime or the like, which I’m sure is pretty high compared to other cities. I’m talking about all the trash. Piles of garbage bags piled on top of one another on the curb by the sidewalk. I was definitely not expecting that at all. I imagined NYC as a clean and rosy scented city, even with the dense, tall buildings and touristy population. Well that bubble definitely popped first thing I stepped out of the subway station (I stayed in New Jersey and went to the city by the subway). Considering the dense population and how many restaurants/food places are in any street, piles of trash was pretty common in NYC, at least at the time I was there.
I come from a smaller sized city where I don’t see any trash bags out in the open at the curb like this. Usually they’re thrown in trash bins behind the buildings or something if it’s a business and in smaller trash bins for household trash.
What really surprised me was how many homeless people were sleeping in Times Square, in front of high end stores or shopping malls. Although this is a small percentage of the number of homeless people in NYC, it was still surprising. The person usually sleeps along the walls of the building, sometimes taking up half the space of the sidewalk.
The crowds usually just keep going wherever it was they were going, walking around the person. I did too and I felt bad. I didn’t know what to do. Do I help them? How do I even help? Is this my business? Is this dangerous? I didn’t know what to do, so I just kept walking forward. What does one do in that kind of situation, I’m not sure.
It still doesn’t make sense to me to see this side of the city, but it definitely opened my eyes to see it more realistically. I understand the reason, I just don’t get the why behind it. Why do they have to suffer like this? I imagine there would be resources available to help them have a place to sleep and food to eat. Some things in this world is just is, I guess. There’s definitely a lot more to this city than Times Square or high end shopping malls for sure.
All in all, it was a fun trip where I got to scratch that traveler’s itch and learn some things along the way. I’m definitely proud of myself for taking that solo route and hope to see more of the city in the coming future.
Comment below and let me know of your traveling adventures. What did you learn from your trip (any place)? or what do you hope to see when you do go?
