How Solo Travel Has Changed My Life
In my early 20’s, I embarked on an adventure that forever changed my life. I went on my very first solo vacation! Growing up, my parents, sister and I were not experienced travelers, but we did explore in our own way. If we weren’t down at the Jersey Shore we could be found driving around to other local destinations. Our idea of the perfect family vacation was a road-trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Though I completely loved “Eating Around the World” at Epcot, or screaming my lungs out on Rock N’ Roller Coaster (the front-row seat is always the best!), I still dreamed of something bigger. While in college, my friends often shared their memories of their childhood vacations in exotic places. I remember feeling amazed as they described their trips, but at the same time I couldn’t help but feel a bit of FOMO for myself. I then decided that as soon as I could afford to, I would travel to any and everywhere possible. After graduating from college, my career became a priority and coordinating time off from work simultaneous to others was a tough challenge. So one day I woke up and decided it was finally time to treat myself to a “mecation.” With a little bit of self-confidence and a lot of enthusiasm, I spontaneously booked a flight to Europe. When I first mentioned this to my family and friends, I was met with a bit of resistance from them. I understood their perspective; this decision was so out of character for me. Soon after I explained my deep desire for adventure, their cautionary words turned into encouraging ones. I will never forgot how excited my parents were on the car ride to the airport. Their daughter was finally starting to come out of her shell. I didn’t understand it at the time, but that trip was about to set the wheels in motion for a life journey that would teach me more than I could have ever learned elsewhere.
After landing in the iconic city of London for the first time, I immediately hit the ground running. I had visited all of the tourist spots and ate all the British food; I even made the journey out to mysterious Stonehenge. I was seeing and doing everything that I had wanted to do, but for some reason I felt like something important was missing. After meeting other travelers, I quickly realized where I had gone wrong. I was so focused on my itinerary that I forgot to actually immerse myself in the big city around me. So I decided to ditch my street map and my plans. This was the first lesson I learned abroad. Sometimes having no plan is the best plan of them all. This is one of the greatest benefits of taking a solo vacation. It’s the perfect opportunity to let go of all self-imposed restrictions and wander to wherever our mind and spirit take us! There is just something about the possibility of the unexpected that creates such a surreal and authentic sense of joy. For me, this is also one of the most effective ways to disconnect and recharge from my otherwise structured and busy lifestyle.
In a perfect world our highly anticipated vacations would go off without a hitch, but in reality this can be far from the case. Throughout the years, I’ve considered myself lucky to have had very little issues while traveling. But as my trips became more complex, the bad luck that I had been able to out maneuver for so long had finally started to catch up with me. From getting a nasty flu in the middle of the Jordanian desert, to dropping my only form of digital communication (my cell phone) over the side of a steep mountain in Patagonia, I’ve definitely been in some sticky situations. There is no worse feeling than having one of these moments when you’re traveling abroad, thousands of miles away from home. When everything seems to be working against me, however, my inner strength still somehow manages to rise to the occasion to remind me that I’m more resilient than I give myself credit for. These situations have taught me that I am more than capable of surviving in this world and regardless of the circumstances I will always find a way to get myself back on course.
Since I’ve started to travel solo, my confidence in myself has also reached new heights. Not only have I learned how to be my own person, but I’ve also gained an incredible amount of perspective from the places I’ve experienced. They say that life begins outside your comfort zone. As cliché as I always though this expression to be, there is a ton of truth to it. Allowing myself to be vulnerable and open to new ideas is what expands my mindset the most. Breaking that pattern of routine and redundancy and interacting with people who have different ideologies is a constant, yet refreshing reminder of just how diverse the human species is. This has allowed me to be more mindful of my thoughts and actions and has guided me through the process of understanding what it is that I want out of life.
Over the years I’ve always regarded solo travel as something I really enjoyed, but never realized that it would captivate me the way it has. Not only have these experiences allowed me to understand more about myself and what I value, but I’ve also been blessed to have met some amazing people along the way. It’s all shaped who I’ve become as a woman, daughter, friend, partner and professional. I couldn’t imagine where I’d be now if I hadn’t gotten on that flight to London. If you’re like me when I was younger, and are hesitant of embarking on a solo adventure, my advice to you is to jump now and ask questions later. I am most certain that you’ll be glad you did.
-E
P.S. Prior to publishing this post, I sat down and watched the Seaspiracy documentary on Netflix. Though some of the validity of the data portrayed in this doc have been called into question by experts, I was still extremely disturbed by what I was watching and by my own ignorance to the issue of ocean sustainability. As a result, I’ve begun to conduct my own personal research on this issue, as well as other ways in which my travels and eating habits are negatively affecting the ecosystem. I am definitely planning to share more of my thoughts on this matter soon, but in the meantime, I would love for anyone who knows of any resources I could use for my research to share that information with me. Please feel free to do so in the comments below, or if you prefer to keep the conversation private, please email me at wanderwitherica@gmail.com. Like so many others, I am wholly committed to making this planet a better place for all living things, and I can’t think of a better way to start than by looking inward.
