“It’s More Personal On Your Own”: Readers Comment on Traveling Alone

Instead of toiling away in a basement, writing boring posts that no one reads, I’m fortunate to write boring posts for a lot of great people.

Last week’s post on How to Travel Alone elicited a lot of opinions and stories, and I thought I’d highlight a few of them.

The vast majority of AONC readers receive posts by email—which is a great way to keep up with the blog! A smaller group reads by RSS. Either way, though, if you don’t come to the site on a regular basis, you miss out on the comments.

Quade: It’s amazing how many people do not understand solo travel. For that matter, so many people won’t even go to dinner or a movie by themselves. I’ve actually had people tell me how brave I am traveling alone! Really… brave?

I have been traveling the world alone as a lifestyle, and I rarely feel lonely. There are always friendly people to meet, and making friends on the road seems to come easier than back home. There are times I travel with others. But then we all go out separate ways, and all is good.

This is a wonderful way to travel. I can’t imagine traveling any other way anymore!

Ivonne: For me, travelling alone is a constant and almost a tradition. I started on my own at an early age as a cruise ship photographer, believe me, it is one of the most solitary ways of travelling, in spite of being surrounded by other crew members and tourists. My friends tell me it is really daring of me… I think it is just normal! Mainly, it helps you becoming a more observant person, also a wiser traveller. You learn a thing or two about people when you’re on your own, you also discover what your limits are, and that’s really good. Alone, you can risk doing more things.

I hardly miss anyone when I’m travelling on my own, and as you said, if you want to have company, you just have to look for it and I’ve met wonderful people in the most common of situations (asking for directions, getting lost in the subway). The world is too big to feel alone, you just need to get used to listen to that voice inside of you, it will tell you nice things.

I won’t stop travelling alone. Some company is welcome every now and then, but it’s more personal when you’re on your own.

Josh: I’m married. I love my wife. I’m very happy in my marriage. I love my kids. I miss my wife and kids when I travel. But I do it anyway, because I need to be alone, and I need to soak some adventure up in my solitude. I return refreshed, rejuvenated, better able to love my family with everything I have, because I have more.

And yeah, people think I’m crazy. Friends are judgmental. But it’s my life, not theirs. And I’m going to live it with gusto.

By the way, my wife loves it when I travel. Because when I get back, I’m like a new man, full of energy and life.

Cathy: I travel alone 95% of the time. I like following my own path and not having to entertain or babysit other people. I have learned to be a stronger, more confident person by only having myself to rely on. I think it’s something everyone should do at least once.

Bradley: I enjoy traveling alone, but I haven’t done it since I met my wife a few years ago. Lately, I have been wanting to plan a trip alone, but I have felt bad about wanting to go alone and not include her. I don’t feel so bad about wanting that after reading this.

Like these? Read more here.

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Thanks again to all the smart and beautiful readers who contribute to AONC. I’d say I owe you all a drink, but that would get expensive. So instead I owe you more posts, which will continue to arrive each week from now until forever.

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*Pioneer Nation happens next week (OMG). We have a few final tickets available, but they’ll disappear by Friday at 5pm PST if not sooner.

Image: Nikolovskii

Tags: comments, readers, solitude, Travel