Travelling Alone: A Guide (of sorts)

11/13/2015

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Firstly, I should point out that most of my trips this year have been shared with other people. I've been so ~blessed~ to have spent time with two of my best friends from home in my beloved Italy and also have my mum and aunt come over for just under two months of solid city hopping around Europe. Coupled with a trip to Scandinavia with the lads last week (#cjttakescandi), I've had my fair share of holidays with fantastic people.


However, being in Europe for the first time made me so excited to explore all the uncharted territory and in some cases, there was no one available to go on these exciting adventures with me so there were two options:

1) Rely on others to want to go to the same destination as me, and be available during those dates.

2) Put my big girl pants on and go alone.

As you probably guessed, I chose the latter.

Back home, it was normal for me to do things alone (I promise I have friends!) I guess I just have the mentality that if I want to do something, I'm not going to wait around or expect others to do it with me, and this has only increased since I've been overseas.

Whilst travelling alone is not to everyone's taste (and I can completely understand why), some of my best trips this year are ones that I have done by myself with two highlights being Eurovision in Vienna and a semi spontaneous trip to Iceland for my birthday.

In terms of accommodation on solo trips, I tend to weirdly thrive in Airbnbs where I have my own space and in most instances, I like exploring cities alone and not having to deal with sharing a room with five other strangers. For those reasons, hostels are not my cup of tea but in saying that, I stayed in one during my Iceland trip and met some incredible people which really contributed to how much I enjoyed my trip.

For me, the beauty of travelling alone is that you get to decide how you spend your time. Want to wake up at the crack of dawn or in the afternoon? Go for it! Want to climb mountains? Do you boo! (But know that I will not be joining in anything that requires any physical activity.)

At first, you may feel uncomfortable or vulnerable being by yourself but after a while, you start to enjoy your own company. If all else fails, I personally like to tell myself that 2015 is my year of adventure and I don't want to have any regrets about missing out on anything. If you want to go on a kick-arse holiday: don't let anyone or anything hold you back! 

(Please excuse my inspirational Dr Phil moment: sometimes I feel like I'm his protégé)


Photo: Me last week in Copenhagen. Ironically, this photo was taken by one of my good friends that I was travelling with...

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2 comments

  1. Sounds lovely. Where in Scandinavia are you planing to visit ?
    Xoxo Blue Ducklings
    http://www.blueducklings.wordpress.com

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    1. Thank you! I actually was there last week: three days each in Copenhagen and Stockholm which I absolutely loved!

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