5 Reasons Why Taking A Solo Trip Is The Best Decision You’ll Make This Year

Trust me.

This month, I took a trip to Venice all on my lonesome. It was my first solo trip abroad since before the pandemic and it was filled with pasta, day trips, canals, actual sunlight, and of course, many, many spritz. It was also the best decision I’d made all year.

Fresh off the back of a Not So Hot 2022, the idea of going away by myself filled with me with excitement… but also mild panic.

Big into my solo travel back in the pre-Covid days, it had been a hot minute since I’d boarded a plane fully alone with the intention of spending a long weekend in a strange city entirely by myself. How would I manage? How would I cope? Would I simply wish I had taken a massive gals holiday with approx 18 people instead?

Turns out, no. I was fine. Actually, I was more than fine, I had the best time, primarily all thanks to the fact that I was completely by myself.

Here’s why – and why you need to make a solo trip your next big holiday too.

1. Everyone will be jealous of you

And isn’t that a core reason to do just about anything?

Joking, but also not really. There’s a certain sense of pride that comes with having the confidence to take a trip by yourself. It shows independence, it confirms you can organise an entire holiday, it proves that you’re comfortable spending time alone, with only yourself for company.

A lot of people aren’t. I certainly wasn’t, and spent a long time forgoing trip, meals, and experiences all because I didn’t have someone else to go with. I didn’t do things because I wasn’t comfortable doing them alone. I was worried that people would judge me, or that I’d judge myself.

In reality, taking a trip alone is impressive – and people are going to be impressed. They’re going to ask questions and consider whether they could take a trip alone too. They’re going to want tips, and wish that they could take the leap like you did.

Venice, bitch

2. You’ll meet new people

Solo trips are the perfect place to make new friends, chat to people you wouldn’t otherwise talk to, and experience things you usually wouldn’t engage with.

Strike up a conversation with the restaurant staff over a meal of your choice, get some sight-seeing recommendations from the person you meet on your walking tour, chat to the other people in your hostel about where’s the best spot to chill out with a glass of wine.

If you’re on your own, you’re more likely to seek social interactions with people you don’t know, immediately placing yourself out of your comfort zone (if talking to strangers is, like me, something you can sometimes struggle with).

Alternatively, book yourself a nice hotel, distance yourself from everyone, and don’t speak to another soul. Bask in your solo vibe and treat the city as if you’re the only person in it. If peace and quiet is what you desire, hold onto it, and don’t let a single person interrupt your tranquility.

Mushroom and scallops pasta, yes please

3. You get to do whatever you want to do

Your schedule is yours and yours alone – and there’s something incredibly freeing about that.

Who among us hasn’t been on a group holiday and been dismayed by the indecisiveness, the disappointment, the one person who wanted to have a quiet night and has since been dragged to the club and is absolutely not here for it.

When you’re alone, you make the itinerary, you call the shots, and you decide to stay in and rest for the evening, if that’s what you want to do.

There’ll be no one there to suggest otherwise, nobody to counteract your plan with another to suit their needs. You are the main character of this trip, and you get to do what you like (I had two dinners one day, one after the other. Both pasta. No one could stop me).

Venice, from a rooftop

4. The relaxation is unmatched

Whether you’re barreling through the Italian countryside on a moped, or laying on the beach in Barcelona, you will be chilled out. Being alone can sometimes come with new stresses, but it can also alleviate any concerns you might have about other people on the trip.

Are they enjoying themselves? Do they want to do this? Will this restaurant suit both of us? Friendship and couple trips can be ideal when everyone involved is on the same page and understands that sometimes, people might want to break off and do their own thing.

But when they don’t, it can lead to disagreements, awkwardness, and even stress – none of which is at all desirable when on a holiday.

When you’re solo, the only decision maker is you. And if you’re up for doing it, then it’s going to get done.

Tranquil

5. Now you can book even more solo trips

Once you’ve done one, you can do them all. One of the major issues stopping most people from taking a holiday alone is the fear – the fear that you’ll be lonely, you’ll be bored, or that you won’t know how to navigate a trip by yourself.

But once it’s done, congratulations, you achieved it, you can now boast in the glory (and in the work group chat) about how you took yourself on holidays and had a wonderful time.

And more importantly, you can get planning your next solo trip away. You deserve it.

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