Why I Chose To Travel Alone & How Traveling Heals Anxiety

Self Growth:
Traveling will expand your heart and spirit, and push your body’s limits. You will see things you’ve never seen before and do things you’ve never done before. Realizing that there are countries all over the world where people live very different than you, and actually experiencing it, will open your eyes. To realize that there really are only so many places to see in the world will also change you. These changes within you will cause you to grow in ways you didn’t even realize you needed to. Your friends back home who you’ve known for years, know that you that they’ve known for years. I believe it is almost impossible to travel with someone for this reason. You will change every day while traveling whether it be your way of thinking or acting. Being around someone for a long period of time is hard. Now can you imagine traveling with someone for a long period of time who is changing every day? What if their new ideologies don’t co-align with yours? This is okay, but it might take time to adjust when you know someone to be a certain way. You will definitely expand at your highest level of potential on your own. You won’t have to worry about what the other person’s thinking or if they’re having the same kind of experience as you are, because it’s your experience.

Stress & Anxiety:
I’m the kind of person who freaks out when I have too many options, when I’m in big crowds, and when I’m around loud noise (unless I’m at a concert). While traveling I’ve been in tons of these situations. For example: in London I went to the Borough Market. It was loud, big crowds you had to push through, and tons and tons of choices. When you’re trying to save money it’s even harder to make a choice. I started to get stressed out while there and almost left without getting anything because I was too overwhelmed. But I realized, there’s no rush, I can literally take as much time as I need. There was no one rushing me, no one saying “come on, hurry up, come on, make a choice already,” and that was a moment of peaceful realization for me. I also felt better about my choice because I was able to take my time to think about it instead of being rushed and later thinking, man why did I get that?

Freedom:
I could take as much time as I needed because I was on my own. Every day of my trip I’ve done what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, and for as long or as short as I wanted to. This leads to a sort of sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. You can do everything you want to without having to negotiate or compromise anything that makes you happy. (I don’t mean going out and spending all of your money). Having this sense of freedom also leads to curiosity. Because there is no limit, you start to wonder about what ELSE you could do. This is when you begin to truly have an adventure. When you follow your curiosities you’re following a part of yourself. Each and every time, you find bits of yourself. Whether you’d lost them a long time ago, or never realized you had it. For example: I wandered into this one street in London that had lots of bookshops and art supply stores. I came here right after an art museum and was feeling really inspired. I ended up buying a sketch book. I hadn’t even realized that I really missed drawing, and creative outlets in general. I told myself I could use it for writing or drawing. Giving myself these two options left it undetermined and open ended. This way there was no pressure of having to do anything in specific.

Meeting People: One of my favorite parts about traveling is meeting people. I’ve met people from countries I’d never even heard of. When you’re traveling alone you’re much more inclined to talk to people. If you’re traveling with one or more people than you already have people to hang out with and talk to. But solo travelers have a different mentality and openness- they will always be the first one to talk to you. If you’re thinking, “I’m always too scared to start a conversation”, trust me, you either won’t be by some point in your trip, or you won’t have to try hard. I’ve had people offer me dinner without even knowing my name. These are the sort of wonderful people you will meet. You will make life long friends.