Travelling alone was an idea at the back of my mind for a long time, but I always convinced myself I wasn’t ready to do it. I struggle with the weird fact that I love being alone but I’m terrified of doing things on my own. When I’m trying something new or exploring a new place or basically doing anything in public, I tend to be more comfortable if I’m with someone I trust. I’m definitely a lot more comfortable with doing things on my own now, but up until about a year ago, my fear prevented me from experiencing many things I wanted to experience, like travelling on my own. I thought if I travelled alone, my anxiety would get in the way, I’d be so busy overthinking everything that I wouldn’t enjoy the moment, and I jumped to every worst possible conclusion about getting lost, losing my valuables, or looking like a loser to other people.
Despite all of my doubts, I knew that if I was ever going to try travelling alone for the first time, I just had to do it. I had been graduated from university for over a year, felt lost and directionless in my life, and was desperately trying to reconnect with myself. So in October of 2018, I just did it. I flew to Calgary, Alberta, took a shuttle bus through the Rockies to Banff, and spent six days there, alone. I explored the town, walked nature trails, visited national historic sites, took the Banff Gondola and walked to the top of Sulphur Mountain, and ate in restaurants, all by myself. It was eye-opening, exciting, and challenging. Travelling alone was exactly what I needed at that time in my life. My personal growth flourished because of it, and for the first time in a long time, I felt proud of myself.
Travelling alone for the first time was an experience I’ll never forget. I’d recommend it to anyone, especially people in their twenties who are still trying to find their place in this world. The amount of self-discovery, self-reflection, and self-development you experience while travelling alone will astound you. To prove it, here are seven ways that travelling alone will benefit your personal growth.
1.You learn, grow, and challenge yourself.
When you travel alone, you learn more about your strengths and weaknesses, what you enjoy and what you don’t, and everything you’re capable of achieving. You discover aspects of yourself that you might not have noticed before. Travelling alone for the first time also encourages you to challenge yourself and grow from your experiences. When I was in Banff, I did things that I never would have thought I would be able to do on my own. I’m directionally challenged, but for some magical reason, I didn’t get lost once. I’m not the most physically fit person, but I walked nature trails that were many kilometres long. I even made it to the top of a mountain! Every experience I had while travelling alone helped me learn, grow, and challenge myself in ways that significantly benefitted my personal growth.
2. You strengthen your independence and confidence.
Travelling alone means you’re on your own. All you’ve got is you. Of course, you can ask for help from strangers along the way, but for the most part, you only have yourself to depend on. This is a great way to strengthen your sense of independence. Like I said before, I used to be terrified of doing things on my own. I had a pretty weak sense of independence, so travelling to and navigating a new place by myself really challenged me. It was a bit of a struggle, but by the end of it, I felt much more independent than I ever had. Knowing you can do things on your own, especially big things like taking a trip to an unfamiliar place, connects you with your independence in life-changing ways. Finding this independence also helps you build your confidence. Doing things that I hadn’t thought I could before made me believe that I could do even more. This mindset shift towards a firmer sense of independence and confidence does great things for your personal growth.
3. You’re able to do things on your terms.
Even though I wasn’t too comfortable with doing things on my own, I’ve always loved being alone. Travelling alone as an introvert can be scary, but also liberating. I had total control over how I spent my time, I didn’t have to worry about making sure another person was having fun, and I did everything on my own terms. If I was hungry, I ate. If I was tired, I went back to my hotel to rest. Being on your own allows you to give yourself exactly what you need in any given moment. I was able to respond to my needs without worrying about other people. Having the freedom to spend each day exactly the way you want does wonders for your wellbeing and personal growth.
4. You find new ways to connect with other people.
As a socially anxious introvert, the idea of communicating with strangers alone, with no one I trust by my side to help me if I needed it, really scared me. When talking to people, I’m usually incredibly awkward, I overthink what I should say, and I just feel extremely uncomfortable. Knowing this about myself really held me back from taking the leap to book my trip for a long time. And even during the trip, I struggled with talking to other people. But I realized that travelling alone is a great way to improve your communication skills, because travelling itself is a conversation starter. I talked to the workers in my hotel to ask questions and get recommendations, I chatted with representatives at the historic sites about where I was from, and I even sat at a bar, all by myself, and talked with the bartender about why I decided to come to Banff. These situations may not seem that extraordinary, but for me, they were huge steps forward. Also, when I visited tourist sites like the Banff Gondola, I had to rely on other travellers to take pictures of me. I even connected with other solo travelers who had the same issue. Of course, you can connect with new people when you’re travelling with someone else, but when you’re alone, you make connections in a different way and might even seem more approachable to fellow solo travellers.
5. You nurture your mental health.
Spending time alone helps you connect with your thoughts and the workings of your mind. This can be very therapeutic, especially when you’re dealing with mental health issues. Even though some aspects of travelling alone triggered difficulties with my mental health, the steps forward I made benefitted me in so many ways. Being alone allowed me to deal with my mental health struggles on my terms, and I found coping methods that I now use in my daily life. Solo travel may challenge your mental health in some ways, but will probably benefit your mental health in many more ways.
6. You discover ways to connect to the present moment.
I’m an obsessive planner, so planning for something as big as my first solo trip was quite the process. Before I arrived in Banff, I had a general idea of what I wanted to accomplish each day. But despite my obsessive tendency to have my next ten steps planned out and executed without fail, I challenged myself to stray a little from my plans and be in the present moment. For example, one day I planned to walk the Bow River trail, but when I got to it, I saw a sign for a different trail that led to a waterfall. I had no idea this trail even existed, I hadn’t planned on taking it, but I spontaneously decided to do it anyways. That trail led me through a peaceful forest to the gorgeous Bow Falls, which ended up being one of my favourite spots of my whole trip. This was a big step forward for me, because usually doing anything spontaneously without much thought triggers my anxiety. But that day, I realized the beautiful things that can happen when you just let yourself flow with the present moment.
7. You connect with yourself in life-changing ways.
Travelling alone enables you to connect to your thoughts, emotions, challenges, fears, joy, and soul in ways that you just aren’t able to when you’re with other people. I only spent six days in Banff, but I felt like I had experienced a lifetime of learning about myself. It was exactly what I needed in that time of my life because of how lost, depressed, and disconnected I felt. Those feelings weren’t entirely erased, and I still deal with them to this day. But I gained so much insight, value, and personal growth that has made it possible for me to live with those emotions instead of get lost in them. I think if I hadn’t taken that trip at that time, I wouldn’t be as connected to myself as I am today.
At first, the idea of travelling alone might seem intimidating, overwhelming, or impossible, especially if you’re an introvert who deals with daily anxiety, difficult social anxiety, and unpredictable depressive moods, like me. You might feel like the odds are stacked against you, you’ll never find the courage or the time or the money, and you’re afraid of everything that could go wrong. I felt all of these things, for a long time. It took a lot of convincing and planning and cheesy pep talks to myself for me to finally take the leap. But I’m so glad I did.
Do yourself a favour and give it a try. Your first solo trip doesn’t have to push all your boundaries or catapult you out of your comfort zone. Start small, like I did. I travelled somewhere within my country, I stayed in a tourist area, and I planned to do activities that weren’t super challenging. Be gentle on yourself, and stay within your comfort zone if you believe that’s what you need to do. Embrace the personal growth that is sparked by your experiences. Sometimes when you feel lost, travelling alone can be just the thing to help you find yourself.
what do you think?