Travel brings out all the feelings. Excitement, anxiety, nervousness, fear, happiness, depression. If you travel long enough, at some point you will experience this, too.
These feelings are usually amplified with backpacking and long-term travel. With a solo trip, all those emotions and fears are kicked up another notch, especially as a solo backpacker. However, the backpacker community is one of the friendliest groups of people you can find.
Most other wanderers are out there looking for the same thing as you. They want to explore and see the world the same as you, and hopefully have a bit of fun along the way. Traveling solo, especially as a backpacker, can certainly be unnerving and exacerbate your fears; but in the end, you will come out a better, stronger person. Here are a few things to think about:
You will learn to face adversity head on
What if you become stranded in a small village, and for some reason, the buses and trains back to your room and all of your stuff have been canceled? You don’t speak the language and it’s getting late. What are you going to do?
Crying and throwing a tantrum will not get you anywhere, and no one wants to see the angry Westerner yelling about injustice or incompetence. You’ll only make yourself look like a fool and give your countrymen a bad name. If you want to solve your problem, it is up to you. Whether you end up hitch-hiking, hiring a car, or finding a place in the village to crash for the night, you have to face the problem and figure it out.
What if you lose your identification or money? For starters, you should always have a backup plan, and make sure to pick up travel insurance before you leave. Nevertheless, you have to settle this matter to move forward and continue your journey. There is no clear, concise answer to solve this problem (or most problems in life, for that matter). But the most important action you can take is simply to keep yourself calm and practice patience. Think rationally and take the steps to make things right.
At the end of the day, if you are alive and healthy, everything will work out fine. These hiccups are tests. Perseverance results in a greater appreciation for travel.
Let’s hope your adventures never have these misfortunes. Truthfully, a great majority of the people in the world aren’t out to get you or out to ruin your day. Rather, they are more likely to try and feed you or lend a helping hand. The more sensible you are, and more aware of your surroundings you remain, the less likely it is that you will incur problems. But there is always a chance, and whether it’s something serious or trivial, at some point you will face adversity.
Being alone and having to face this adversity on your own will make you a stronger person and a better backpacker.
You will become a more independent person
When your plans for the day depend on you and you alone, no one else can second guess your decision. Moreover, if you are an indecisive person, you will either learn to choose what to do or sit all day in your hostel missing out on the world. When your well-being is in your hands thousands of miles from home, you are the only person to depend on.
Backpackers come in all shapes and sizes. While almost anyone can strap on a pack and see the world (and really, I mean ANYONE!), there seems to be a disproportionate number of young backpackers (for obvious reasons). Many are taking a gap year from school, recently graduated or quit a job to see the world. Others may be trying to find themselves or figure out life.
After leaving a secure, controlled environment such as home, college or an office, the world is yours to explore. 24 hours a day, your decisions, meals, safety, and transportation is all up to no one else. Sure, eating in Paris or catching a train in India might be less stressful than textbooks or deadlines, but no one else will do it for you. And while you’re out there navigating language barriers, eating food you can’t pronounce and hopping from train to bus across the world, there are people at home far too afraid to ever leave the country.
Independence gained as a solo backpacker can change your life squash your fears. When you return, you may notice a fear of the unusual and contempt for change people maintain back home. Many backpackers head out trying to escape the monotony of life and routine. Upon return, those same people have a fearlessness that enables them to see things from a fresh perspective and drives them to success. Life as a backpacker incurs ups and downs, but plants a seed of independence in your life.
You will see more of your destination
Without a partner or tour guide constantly dictating where to go at precisely what time, you are free to do something very important: wander.
Wandering is perhaps the best way to discover a new place and truly get a feel for what life is like there. You won’t have to go to a museum that doesn’t interest you. You can avoid wasting a day shopping, instead opting to get lost. If you would rather walk until you find an empty beach to yourself or a popular tourist-free local cafe, the choice is yours! If you go alone and let your curiosity lead the way, you’ll discover what the guidebooks leave out, and you will have a personal experience that isn’t dependent on anyone else’s satisfaction.
You will learn to make friends anywhere
Solo backpacking does not mean sitting all by yourself, for months at a time, in a remote corner of the world thousands of miles from home. Sure, if you prefer to keep to yourself and not mingle with strangers, by all means, knock yourself out. Enjoy the loneliness.
If you want a little company and friendship, maybe some drinking buddies for the next few days, suck it up and say hello to the people at the table next to you. Odds are they didn’t know each other before they arrived either. As soon as you relax and open up, you will suddenly have a whole new group of friends. You will share stories and experiences late into the night. These new friends will have real suggestions for the places you want to go, based on their personal experiences. Suddenly, you’ll realize you have new friends from across the globe and you might even find a travel companion for a while. The fears and worries of being a solo backpacker far from home will fade.
Making friends on the road is a great way to travel better and happier.
Dealing with life’s problems effectively, being a more self-sufficient individual, learning to communicate and befriending total strangers are a few of the benefits of going alone. Solo backpacking is scary at times. It will make you nervous and cause anxiety. And you might get lonely. Most travelers experience these emotions at one time or another, but they also experience the happiness and excitement, the wonder and awe.
As a solo backpacker, there will undoubtedly be fears, ups and downs. But in the end, you will emerge not only a better traveler, you will be a more complete person with a brand new view of life, capable of things you never imagined.
Check out these great places for solo travel:
I can truly relate to this. I was once lost when I was backing in Yogyakarta. I couldn’t find the hostel and it was starting to get dark. I didn’t have my phone signal, no internet connection. But calming myself down was the best solution. Walked around the village, saw other backpackers, and they were more than willing to help, they found my hostel in the end. 🙂
Gotta love backpackers. Such a friendly, helpful community!