Traveling alone is one of the most rewarding and self  satisfying experiences you can have, but are you ready to be out of your comfort zone?

1. You will be completely stress free before you leave

If you’ve ever travelled with a group of friends, you will know that trying to coordinate numerous people to do any productive decision making is as frustrating and slow as herding 100 sheep across a highway. However, planning a trip on your own is a completely different story. You have no apprehension about acting on any of the outrageous travel ideas that pop into your head, as you don’t have to consult anyone if it suits them. I mean just last week I booked a flight on the spot from London to Iceland on sale for $100!

2. You’re never actually solo

Opportunities to meet people are everywhere; you just don’t see them until you are by yourself. I’ve made friends as soon as the check in line at Melbourne Airport; waiting in line for 30 minutes can be a lot more fun with some friendly banter! If you don’t want to be alone, stay in a hostel and I guarantee you will walk in and be greeted by new international roommates who (if they’re cool enough) will invite you out for a drink. If they’re not (sometimes you get stuck with oddballs), it’s as easy as saying “Hey, where are you from?” to other travellers either at the hostel, where you’re eating lunch, or in a bar.

Everyone is there to have a good time and I have never received a response that wasn’t “Hey!! Where are you from?! I love your accent! Let’s go out tonight!” Believe it or not people have a lot of respect for solo travellers and will automatically think you’re really interesting/ballsy from the get go. In months of solo travelling there has only been one night where I have been actually alone, and this is when I had to pry myself away after a week of Full Moon parties to a deserted beach for recovery.

Full moon party at Koh Phangan Thailand

3. Literally more things will happen!

Being by yourself means you can go wherever you want, with whoever you want every single day. This in itself is ridiculously exhilarating. You can do this without disappointing or relying on anyone (who said being selfish is a bad thing?!). I have lost count of the amount of times people have asked me to join them to a new town, country or day trip. Being able to say yes without a second thought every time has led to my most spontaneous adventures and I haven’t regretted any of them.

Learning to snowboard in Austria

4. You will make real friends

The friends you make travelling will feel like they’ve been around forever. Why? Because you’re often living together in the same dorm, eating, and partying together, a recipe for fast friendship. You’re on holiday, your guard is down and you’re way more open. You end up having your own unique and hilarious experiences together which most of the time friends from home would never partake or understand. Some of my closest friends are ones I met travelling, and they’re who I see again and again each time I’m away.

Australia Day in Hanoi Vietnam

5. You will learn a lot about yourself

This type of experience puts you out of our comfort zone. You are making all sorts of decisions you never knew existed, and quickly learn what you do and don’t like in the process. These are things that are usually compromised or quashed by pleasantries when travelling with friends. It might be your trend of organising, the type of people you tend to socialise with or how you like to spend your days. These things come with experience and the more you do it, the more you enjoy yourself and your trip with confidence.

Viewpoint in Chiang Mai Thailand

There are countless benefits of travelling solo and you usually don’t realise how much you can or would enjoy it until you take the leap out of your comfort zone.

So do it- I dare you!