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 Going it alone

Why travel alone? Well, why not?

Sometimes our friends or family don't want to go where we want to go. Often they have an excuse like they need a new car, a new garden fence or they don't like foreign food. Sometimes, you have only two choices - you stay home with them or you go off and do it alone.

I will not pretend that this is an easy option. It will be lonely at times, you might get lost, approached by suspicious strangers, robbed. But let's face it, these things could all happen at home. Suspicious strangers don't just live in foreign lands, we have plenty of them around our own territories. 

As for loneliness, we have to learn to deal with it. It often feels worse when we're out for dinner alone and around us are tables of people lit up with laughter. My advice is to learn to enjoy their laughter, it will make you smile despite your loneliness. Watch them to find out who is the clown, who is the serious one, who doesn't want to be there, who feels a little out of the group. Create a story in your mind of who they are and how they know each other. Your meal will pass so quickly. And at the end of it, call one of your friends, tell them where you are, what you just witnessed. The conversation is likely to end with the friend wishing they were with you, and you feeling a little more confident in yourself.

Travelling alone does give you confidence in yourself. How could it not? You are surging out into the world with no one to rely on other than your own resources. If you are nervous about taking off solo, then I suggest that you go somewhere not far from home first. Visit the museums and art galleries there, feel comfortable in the cafes and restaurants - all alone of course. It's not going to be easy but if the alternative is staying home and not travelling because your friends don't want to then you have no choice. Go!

Tips on planning and staying safe will follow.



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