Traveling Solo | Looking Back
If you haven't heard from me or seen me in person, I'm alive and back in NY! My flight to Barcelona wasn't cancelled, just delayed by 6 hours and I finally made it to my hostel at 11:30 pm. Thankfully the Metro was easy to navigate in Barcelona and I was so relieved to finally be SOMEWHERE, not stuck in an airport haha.
I had exactly 40 hours in Barcelona and that includes two nights of sleep. I'll go more in depth about my trip in a later post since I want to write about how amazing it was traveling solo. You should do it too. Before my trip I couldn't wrap my head around the concept that I would be spending 10 days by myself in a country that doesn't speak my languages. How is that possible? I was feeling so many different things and I wrote a part of this blog post 2 weeks before my trip to Portugal but never got around to posting it since I was insanely busy with work and finals for class.
I'm posting it now since it's interesting to see the contrast between my before and after self. I've learned so much over the past 10 days and grown so much and maybe I can encourage you to get out there and start traveling solo.
The Before.
I'm traveling to Portugal in 2 weeks and London in 5 weeks completely on my own for the first time. Holy fuck am I nervous, anxious and a mix of emotions. I've been to Japan on my own and have traveled on my own in the US and Japan but this feels different. Maybe it's because it was in the US and Japan, I've felt comfort knowing that I can speak the language.What if I start talking to myself, how am I going to enjoy the nightlife alone, can I have fun being alone for a straight week, how awkward would it be for me to have dinner in a nice restaurant?
These feelings aren't suddenly arising, but have always lingered in the back of my head. So even with all of these anxieties, why did I choose to travel on my own?
In short, people kept bailing, so I thought fuck it. I want to see the world and I don't want to die thinking I wish I had traveled more. That's why I'm going on my own. Who knows how long I'm going to live, I could die in a stupid accident tomorrow. I don't want to wait around to find someone to travel with me, no one has time for that. It sounds so dramatic, but don't you think it's true?
This is my life and I'm going to take responsibility for it by making things happen for myself.
Plus what better way is there to conquer my anxieties than to face it? So Portugal, bring it on.
The After.
Ok guys, everyone should travel alone at least once in their life. I'm not talking about going to the next city over by yourself but completely out of your comfort zone. This trip was absolutely amazing and a ton of fun. I'm so happy that I pushed my self to face my anxieties and be out of my comfort zone. Figuring out the Metro, the cities, making friends and eating the local cuisine was a lot easier than I thought. Plus it was a lot of fun figuring things out and finding new places and things to explore. It did help that I knew someone in Portugal but I was exploring Porto 100% solo and I had SO MUCH FUN.
When you're traveling solo, the biggest relief is that you don't have to worry about someone else's budget and what they want to do. You can walk to the beat of your own drum, eat whatever you want, walk for however long you want, meet and speak to random people and really experience and learn the culture. You're solely responsible of what you do with your own time and money. That also means you have to be self reliant and look out for yourself.
Eating dinner by myself in a nice restaurant was something I've always been hesitant about and could never bring myself to doing. The first night I was in Porto, I was actually afraid of going to a restaurant by myself that I went to bed without eating dinner. I know, it was a bit extreme and I knew I had to do something about it. So the next day I decided to conquer it by having a beautiful lunch on the water of Porto.
Porto is on the west coast facing the Atlantic Ocean, therefore their traditional cuisine is typically seafood. I'm not a big seafood person with the exception of sushi which I can eat for days, but I dislike clam, baked fish and anything fishy... so basically everything else. But I flew all the way to Portugal so there was no way I wasn't going to eat the local cuisine. It would be such a waste if I just ate cheeseburgers and pizza. So I pushed my self to eat something 100% out of my comfort zone and I'm glad that I did. I really wish I could have some more. Anyhow I'll talk more in depth about my trip and make a guide to Porto later!
I genuinely enjoyed spending time alone and honestly I'm pleasantly surprised. I fell in love with the city of Porto in a way that I wouldn't have been able to if I had gone with someone. I completely spent my time alone for four days except for the 3 hours my friend Catarina came to visit me and we went out to drink. Especially with Porto, I felt extremely safe to be walking around late into the night and enjoy the beautiful views of Porto from Gaia (a city across the river ).
I had an amazing dinner at a Michelin rated restaurant, explored the city endlessly and I got to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I hate museums so I didn't go to any museums but instead got on a hop on and hop off bus and visited the beach, spent some time in the sun and walked endlessly into the night. I also literally chased the sunset. I ran to 8 different locations to get photos of the breathtaking sunset. My knees still ache from walking or more so running around so much.
Since traveling solo, I feel like I'm ready to conquer the world on my own. Of course it's nice to have someone alongside but somethings you just can't do when you're with another person. If I had been traveling with another person, I wouldn't have been able to spontaneously buy a flight to Barcelona just because it was raining all weekend in Lisbon. I wouldn't have been able to meet all the amazing people I met in Barcelona.
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”
Whatever it is that you fear, challenge it. Get out there, buy your plane ticket to the place you've wanted to go to for far too long, and do it by yourself. Learn to be comfortable being alone. It's empowering. This time I went alone because I couldn't find anyone to go with, but from here on out I want to travel by myself. The only hesitation I still have about traveling alone is going to countries that are not as major and developed. I want to go to Morocco and Chile this year so maybe that will be something I challenge this year. If you do decide that you're going to travel solo, I'm rooting for you. Have the best time of your life and make it the most amazing trip you could've dreamed of.
Keep challenging, keep improving, and keep growing.
Let's go conquer the world.
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