You must travel alone. Not always of course not. But try it, try it at least once in your life. I’m going to give you seven reasons why you should try it once and why you won’t regret it.

You will leave your comfort zone, you will meet new people, you will learn to be alone with yourself and what is more important through introspection you will know yourself better than before starting your trip.

I’m not saying it’s easy, there will be difficult times and we all have our personal circumstances. But without a doubt it will change you as a person and will make you grow.

Don’t let them call you crazy, crazy is someone who always does the same thing and expects the same result. You are doing something that you have never done before.

#1 You decide the destination

You have vacations in August and your friends in July. You have 15 days and your friends only 10. You have to coordinate the agendas and tastes of 5 people, what had to be the trip of the year ends up becoming a headache and tensions between friends and in the end you end going where you did not want or was not your preference. Cool no?

When you travel alone you decide where you go. You can decide a destination that suits your economic possibilities and your tastes. You can go to Colombia and go trekking or lie on the beach all day, no one is going to decide for you.

#2 Set your own pace

It seems incredible that setting your own pace can be so comforting. Do you want to get up early? Early rises. Do you want to go to a museum? Are you going to the museum. Do you want to stay one more day where you are because you are having it like never before? You stay.

One of the main failures or fiascos of traveling in groups of friends is giving in to what others want to do. Let’s face it 5 people, no matter how similar they are, all have different preferences. Everyone will give in, some more than others, since there is always someone more dominant in a group. That will lead you to not do at all times what you wanted to do, either because of group pressure or because of what they will say. Dare to tell your friends that you are leaving for two days on your own or set clear rules at the beginning of the trip in which no one will be angry if someone else decides to take a different route or go on their own.

#3 Leave your comfort zone

Perhaps the most critical point for people who start or for those who have theoretically always defined us as introverts.

You will have to interact with unknown people, ask for directions, ask for the best places to visit etc … Many times you will catch the wrong trains or buses, you will stop in places that do not touch, you will book in places where there is no one to talk to and then you will have to go to find your life to meet people and force yourself.

Many times you will eat alone, or so you think, because you have never noticed people traveling alone. Most street food stalls will be full of people in the same circumstances. Talk to the street vendor, give a conversation to the lady who sits next to you on the bus, speak in English to the children just to see their smile when they don’t understand what you’ve told them and talk to that guy with whom You have crossed paths twice and you have been exchanging glances. You are going to leave your comfort zone and you will grow as a person.

#4 Bring your feeling outside your comfort zone

The good and the bad, but you will push your feelings to the limit. I personally have cried on some of my trips. We all go through different stages in our travels, but from each and every one of them I have come out stronger than the previous one.

Traveling alone has helped me reflect, in my lonely moments, waiting for a bus for hours at a station or on a long 10-hour flight across half the world. These moments are when all these feelings that you had on the surface will probably come to mind. This will help you to know where you are on a personal level, to know how overcome you have your past experiences and to know that you are still tied to them. There is no better therapy than this.

But you will also laugh and cry with joy and sorrow when you have to say goodbye to the friends you made on the other side of the world, those you may see again and those you don’t, but that’s where the fun is. You will meet wonderful people with whom time stopped and you spent it like never before.

#5 You will meet people alike

It is unavoidable. If you have dared, you will not be the only one. Throughout the world you will find a large number of people in the same situation. Open minded people, wanting to meet other people, wanting to go out, walk, explore and embark on all kinds of adventures. Hostels are the best places for these situations to occur. Forget the concept of a dirty and cheap hostel, there are hundreds of hostels around the world for backpackers. They organize tons of events and outings to make sure their guests have a great time.

You will meet fellow travelers who will accompany you on your adventure, not only to be entertained one afternoon or one night and never see them again, but also people who are going in the same direction or want to join. Together you will embark on next stages, you will explore countries and why not, you will follow each other on the networks or you will keep in touch for the future.

People who will not get angry if you tell them that you want to continue alone, if you want to stay to rest instead of going out and that like you, they understand that each one has their own rhythm and preferences.

#6 It is cheaper

I refer to my own experience.

Although traveling as a couple with your soulmate and passionate about discovering the world is the best there can be, it is more expensive. Normally you will not go to hostels, but you will go to hotels of a category higher than the price per night in a hostel. By preference, you may dine more in restaurants and less street food to adapt to the needs of each one. When you travel with friends it is usually more expensive, there is always one who wants to spend more or has more expensive tastes and drags the rest of the group. Let’s pay for a Villa in Bali, which costs the same as a hotel in Spain, let’s pay for a VIP in the club that is very cheap, let’s pay a private driver every day that we get for very little money … And without knowing it you have spent more than double what you had in mind.

When you travel alone, you usually go to hostels that are between € 5-20 in any country in the world, you eat a lot of street food and you usually go by public transport, there is always someone who has less money than you and you will never be forced to overspend. Traveling alone does not understand classes, but types of people. Travelers who could afford a lot more, but like this style and travelers who find even these budgets difficult.

#7 You will want to repeat

That’s right, you’re going to be left wanting more. More vacation days, to add experiences. Personally, on each trip that I have done alone, I have taken a lot of friends and unforgettable moments. You will not be able to stop thinking about the days that lie ahead to be able to embark on your new adventure. Also, why deny it, you will give envy to all your friends for having dared to take this step.

The important thing is not only to get to the destination, but to enjoy the road