Is Traveling Alone Fun? 10 Most Fun Parts of Solo Travel
You had dreams of traveling the world with your friends. Partying every night, seeing breathtaking sights and dining out together. But your buddies just can’t seem to get organised. Suddenly, you get a wild idea – solo travel. But is traveling alone fun?
Traveling alone is more fun than any other form of travel. Below, I’ll reveal why and list the top 10 things that make solo travel so enjoyable. Plus, I’ll share 5 tips on how to take solo travel to the next level and make it even more fun!
Preparing to solo travel for the first time? Find more solo travel tips and destination guides on Nomadic Yak!
Is Traveling Alone Fun?
First-time solo travellers always ask, is traveling alone fun?
Solo travel is more fun than any other form of travel because you enjoy total control over your itinerary. Plus, when you travel alone, you make more friends, meet more singles, party often, eat exotic food, see more sights and enjoy more downtime.
When I first started traveling alone, I also remember wondering, is solo travel fun? Now, after more than 5 years of traveling alone, I know for a fact that it is more fun than traveling with friends and family.
Solo travel sound fun? Take the 15-question quiz: should I travel alone?
The 10 Most Fun Parts of Traveling Alone
1. Making friends
The most fun thing about traveling alone is making new friends from all over the world.
On average, you will make one or two new friends each day of your solo travel!
Most of the friends that you make will be other travellers in your hostel or motel. But you’ll also befriend other travellers when out partying, eating, catching transport and doing day tours to nearby sights and attractions.
And you won’t only befriend travellers – you’ll also befriend many of the locals. You’ll often get stopped by the local people and they’ll invite you into their homes for tea or a meal.
But be wary when making friends whilst traveling solo. Whilst most people are genuinely kind, some are deceitfully kind (e.g. scammers).
Become the life of the party with my 9-Step Guide to Making 100s of Friends When Travelling Alone!
2. Meeting singles
Between 70-90% of solo travellers are single and 75% of backpackers have a fling during their trip!
So for some, the most fun part of traveling alone is meeting other singles.
Solo travel tends to be dominated by women, which is a great thing if you are traveling alone as a man. In fact, there are about 3.3 single female travellers for every male solo traveller.
However, solo female travellers will also meet a lot of single men whilst traveling alone. Hundreds of millions of men travel solo each year. And one of them may just be your soul mate, ladies!
40% of solo travellers have 2 or more sexual partners during their trip – discover 30 more secrets about sex while travelling!
3. Partying
One of the most fun parts of traveling alone and backpacking is partying with your fellow travellers!
If you stay in hostels, you will find that you have a few drinks with your fellow travellers most nights. Many hostels have their own bar or sell alcohol. Other hostels organise pub crawls and take you on night tours to nearby bars and clubs.
Most of your partying will occur when visiting big cities or tourist destinations with dedicated party streets (e.g. Khao San Road in Bangkok).
When visiting smaller destinations, you’re more likely to enjoy more relaxed evenings with your travel buddies. For example, in Cappadocia, Turkey, you might just watch the sunset from a rooftop whilst puffing on shisha and sipping tea (one of my fondest memories!)
Partying is one of the reasons why you should travel alone in your 20s!
4. Seeing amazing sights
Almost every day when traveling alone, you will have fun exploring amazing sights and attractions around the world.
This is what solo travel is all about – watching the fog clear over Machu Picchu, getting lost in the ancient temples around Angkor Wat, and riding a camel around the Pyramids of Giza!
Every day, there is a world wonder waiting to be ticked off your bucket list. So that in the future, you have the bragging right of saying ‘I’ve been there!’
Even on those days when you don’t plan on visiting any particular attraction, you will come across small landmarks or cultural events that you will find equally amazing (and perhaps even more unique).
Too shy to travel alone? See my solo travel tips for introverts!
5. Eating exotic food
Are you still wondering, is traveling alone fun? Well, another fun thing about solo travel is expanding your food palette. When traveling alone, there’s no one to hold you back from trying exotic foods and different restaurants.
Wherever you go, you’ll find dishes and drinks that are unique to that region – Arabic tea in the Middle East, tapas in Spain, fried grasshoppers in East Asia, chicken’s feet in the Caribbean or witchetty grubs in Australia!
There are so many weird and wonderful foods out there to try. Half the fun of traveling alone is having the courage to stick them in your mouth. And then enjoying the bragging rights of saying ‘I’ve tried that!’
6. Creating social media content
Want to fill your Instagram with pictures and videos that will blow your followers away? When you travel alone, you can take your time when shooting and editing footage of your trip.
When you return to your accommodation from a day of sightseeing, it can be a lot of fun to play around with your pictures and videos in editing software. You can get it just right without anyone else bothering you.
Plus, when you travel alone, you befriend lots of other travellers and locals who will want to follow you on social media.
But don’t spend all your time on your phone. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on all the other fun things about solo travel.
Running low on Instagram captions? See my list off the 100 best solo trip quotes!
7. Enjoy moments of mindfulness
Another question that many people ask is, is solo travel lonely? Yes, there will be a few lonely moments when traveling alone. But most of the time, you will be surrounded by other solo travellers that you have befriended.
In those rare moments when you are alone, one of the most fun and beneficial things that you can do is enjoy a moment of mindfulness. Use this quiet time to think about yourself, your purpose, your relationships, your worries and your blessings.
For people suffering from mental health issues, practising mindfulness during solo travel may even help with depression.
Solo travel gives you perspective on how other people live. This can help you put your own life into perspective and provide you with clarity.
8. The thrill of an adventure alone
When you travel alone, you have no one else to rely on. This might sound like a disadvantage to some. But for adventurous people, it is fun and thrilling to know that you can only depend on yourself when traveling alone!
Sure, you won’t have anyone to keep you from getting lost, being scammed or eating fried tarantulas. And your friends and family won’t be there to help you translate the local language, take photos or keep you from getting homesick.
But you will befriend other travellers and local people to help you in times of difficulty. And when you can’t find anyone to help you, you’ll resolve the problem yourself and become more self-confident!
Solo travel isn’t for everyone. Find out if it’s right for you: is it better to travel alone or with someone?
9. Do less planning
There are many advantages and disadvantages to traveling alone. But one of the biggest advantages is that you don’t have to worry about what your friends or family want to do.
Solo travel gives you ultimate freedom. You have total control over your day-to-day life and travel itinerary. You’ll get to choose your:
- Activities
- Accommodation
- Transport
- Restaurants
- Bedtime
- Break times
- Nightly plans
- Travel route
And if you don’t want to plan in advance, you don’t have to. Some of my best solo travel memories were impromptu!
I’ve ranked every country in the world on my list of the 193 best solo travel destinations!
10. Rest whenever you want
Part of the fun of travel is getting some well-deserved rest. But this can be difficult when traveling with other people who are constantly making plans.
When you travel alone, you can sleep in as long as you like in the mornings (as long as you are not restricted by a check-out time). And you can go to bed whenever you like without worrying about keeping others awake.
Plus, when visiting attractions and sightseeing, you can take a break whenever you like. No need to try and keep up with others. Just take your time!
How to Make Traveling Alone Even More Fun
Put your safety first
Are solo trips fun? Yes! But is solo travel safe?
All forms of travel involve some danger. But when you travel alone, you have to deal with dangers that aren’t so prominent in group travel.
You can reduce the risks of traveling alone by using these solo travel safety tips.
Solo travel is a lot more fun if you avoid dangerous situations and health risks.
Take a travel-sized instrument with you
If you know how to play music, carrying a travel-sized instrument with you can make solo travel a lot more fun.
Many solo travellers include a small guitar, ukulele, flute or harmonica on their solo travel packing list.
I carry a travel-sized guitar with me and often end up jamming in the hostel with other travellers who have brought their own instruments.
But flying with an instrument may put you over the luggage limits. In this case, it is best to buy the instrument and a small carry bag when you arrive at your destination.
Take a book, movies and podcasts
Is solo travel fun? Yes! But is solo travel also boring sometimes? Also, yes!
Although boring moments are rare when traveling alone, they do happen. For example, when waiting for a flight or a bus. Or when visiting a destination that isn’t as exciting as you expected.
During these boring downtimes, entertain yourself with a book, a podcast or a film.
Just make sure that you download your entertainment via WiFi before setting off. You can’t always rely on mobile data when traveling in remote regions.
Learn the local language
Traveling alone is a lot more fun if you make a little effort to learn the local language.
There’s no need to learn all the complexities of the local language. All you have to do is use an app like Duolingo to learn the basics – such as greetings, pronouns, food items and common travel phrases.
Once you’ve got the basics down, you can have simple conversations with the local people. Plus, you won’t have any trouble ordering tasty meals, learning local history or catching public transport.
Travel with the new friends that you make
Too many people get worried and ask, is it weird to travel alone?
They worry that other people will think of them as loners. But this couldn’t be further from the truth!
Although you are traveling alone, you will rarely ever be lonely. This is because you’ll constantly be surrounded by other solo travellers that you have befriended.
Often when you make friends whilst traveling alone, you both buddy up and travel together. And not only do you travel together, but you share accommodation together, go sightseeing together, party together and eat together!
Teaming up with travel buddies can make solo travel a lot of fun. But at some stage, you’ll both have to go your separate ways, which is the really tough part.
Summary: Is Solo Travel Fun?
Do not waste time wondering, are solo trips fun? Once you have travelled alone for the first time, you will realise that traveling alone is more fun than group travel because you have total control over your itinerary.
Traveling alone also provides you with more opportunities to make friends, meet the locals, meet other singles, party, go sightseeing, create social media content, eat exotic foods, practice mindfulness and rest.
So, again, don’t worry yourself with questions like, is traveling alone fun? Get out there and find out for yourself. The chances are that it will be one of the best experiences of your life.
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Find More Solo Travel Tips on Nomadic Yak
Is traveling alone fun? Yes, but it is more fun if you know what you’re getting into!
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