How does it feel to travel solo?
I'm a 24 year old Asian girl who grew up in a conservative family. Even though I live in a first-world city, it is a very small city where issues with lack of land and housing are pertinent. As such, I still live with my parents, as do many others my age. In fact, it is frowned upon if we move out before we get married, as it is perceived as an extreme measure taken only when one falls out with his or her family.
So, solo traveling is the only way I experience true freedom.
There are so many reasons why I love traveling alone but here are three main ones :
1. It makes me feel so so free.
When I'm in a foreign city where I know no one, I feel almost as though I have the super power of being invisible. I can walk through crowded streets minding my own business without a care in the world what people around me think of me.
2. It makes me feel empowered.
I have no one else but myself to trust when making decisions while I travel - from where I should stay, to what I feel like eating and where I want to visit. I don't always make the right decisions, but sometimes it's the 'wrong' decisions that lead me to a new discovery. It's hard not to be optimistic when you realize even the 'wrong' turns will bring you right where you need to be.
3. It makes me feel alive.
There is something about making new friends and reconnecting with old ones all around the world in different cities that really energizes me. As an avid solo traveler, I collect interesting life stories along the way and sometimes retell them to new friends. And when I strike up a friendship with someone, whom just yesterday, was thousand of miles away from me, I can't help but smile and muse inwardly how big yet small the world is; how we are so different yet the same.
Sipping Masala Chai at the peak of Kunjapuri Devi Temple in Rishikesh, India.
So, solo traveling is the only way I experience true freedom.
There are so many reasons why I love traveling alone but here are three main ones :
1. It makes me feel so so free.
When I'm in a foreign city where I know no one, I feel almost as though I have the super power of being invisible. I can walk through crowded streets minding my own business without a care in the world what people around me think of me.
2. It makes me feel empowered.
I have no one else but myself to trust when making decisions while I travel - from where I should stay, to what I feel like eating and where I want to visit. I don't always make the right decisions, but sometimes it's the 'wrong' decisions that lead me to a new discovery. It's hard not to be optimistic when you realize even the 'wrong' turns will bring you right where you need to be.
3. It makes me feel alive.
There is something about making new friends and reconnecting with old ones all around the world in different cities that really energizes me. As an avid solo traveler, I collect interesting life stories along the way and sometimes retell them to new friends. And when I strike up a friendship with someone, whom just yesterday, was thousand of miles away from me, I can't help but smile and muse inwardly how big yet small the world is; how we are so different yet the same.
Sipping Masala Chai at the peak of Kunjapuri Devi Temple in Rishikesh, India.
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