5 Reasons Why Solo Travel Is Essential For Your Personal Development

It makes you more confident and inspires you to be yourself.

If there’s one piece of advice I’d give to anyone in life, it’s this: travel more.

It’s the most authentic way to open your eyes to the world and its awe-inspiring natural beauty and fascinating human cultural diversity.

In my twenties, I traveled through North America, South-east Asia, Europe, and Central America. Some trips were with family, some with friends, and a few, alone.

Any travel trip will claim a stamp in your fond book of memories, but no travel trip can be as rewarding for personal growth and development as the solo trips you’re bold enough to venture out on.

Do it now, do it while you can.

“Travelling. It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” — Ibn Battuta

Here are five reasons why you should travel alone at least once in your lifetime.

1. Solo travel pushes you out of your comfort zone.

It can be scary to venture out into the world alone — until of course, you just go for it and realize that it isn’t as bad as you first made it seem.

“Is it even safe for me to travel alone?” is usually the first question that people ask, followed by “but how will I meet people?”.

These questions are driven by the fear of the unknown, and it’s that fear that propels us to ask irrational questions.

The reality of solo travel is that you’ll never really “be alone” — you’ll always be surrounded by people around you — at hostels, museums, cafés, and hikes.

But for you to meet those people, you must step out of your comfort zone and find the courage to walk up to them and say hi. That’s one of the greatest mental shifts solo travel can teach you: if you want something — in this case, a human connection — you must step forward and create it.

Here’s a story.

One year ago, I journeyed on a three-month solo trip which began in December in Tulum, Mexico. One afternoon, while I snoozed on a towel stretched out on the sand, I heard music playing in the distance. So I got up and followed the music. It led me to a small boutique beach hotel where a few people were lounging and the DJ was casually playing some of her tunes.

I walked up to her and said: “hey, I love your music.”

She smiled and thanked me.

We chatted for a while and when she found out I was traveling alone, she introduced me to her group of friends who had flown in from New York, London, and Barcelona. I ended up changing my plans for the month and spending three weeks in Tulum and they invited me to several of their gatherings including their New Year’s Eve celebration.

There I was, a 28-year-old who had just quit his job at Google in search of something greater, networking with an incredible well-established group of people: a mosaic artist, a tribal photographer, a charity owner in Africa, a realtor, a cancer doctor, a musician, an actress.

I heard their stories which further reassured me that it can never be too late to reinvent yourself.

And it all started with me pushing myself out of my comfort zone and walking up to someone to say hello.

As I said, you’re never really alone when you’re on your solo trip — but that’s the beauty of it: you can still spend alone time if you choose to.

2. It makes you a more confident, flexible and resourceful person who’s no longer afraid of change.

Solo travel puts you in some situations where all you can do is turn to yourself and say: “okay, let’s figure this out.”

Did you miss your train this morning? Okay, figure out how you’re going to get to your new destination in the cheapest way possible.

There’s no ATM in this town? Okay, figure out how to get cash.

Your Airbnb booking was canceled last minute? Okay, figure out where you’re going to sleep tonight.

That’s solo travel and that’s life — a series of little problems that arise spontaneously and your job is simple: figure out how to solve them. This is how you build more confidence in yourself and become a more resourceful person in the process.

3. Solo travel gives you a chance to form more meaningful human connections with locals.

Traveling with a group of friends can be so much fun. The change in environment and the exposure to new experiences can bring your circle of friends closer together and reward you with lifetime memories.

But group travel doesn’t usually allow room for meaningful connection with strangers. That’s because we tend to stick to our circles when we’re in groups.

Travel humbles you. It moves you, enriches your soul and showcases firsthand what it means to be human.

The stories of the local people you meet and the lessons you can learn from them can be incredibly inspiring.

My favorite travel story is about an inspiring woman I had met in Sri Lanka. She started her own business because she refused to settle for a tea plucking job.

In Chetumal, Mexico I met a Mexican hostel owner. She told me her life story of how she was lucky to escape poverty in Belize by immigrating to NYC where she worked as a nanny for 10 years. Today, she’s running a small hostel in Mexico while using her connections to grow a sanctuary for stray cats.

In Guatemala, I stayed at a boutique hostel that was managed by a local woman who was 28 years old. She worked from 2.00 pm until 2.00 am, six days a week and only managed to see her 5-year old son on Sundays. I asked her if she had ever traveled outside of Antigua, the town we were in. She said no — she couldn’t — but her life dream in a parallel universe would be to take her son to Disneyland.

She broke my heart.

Yes, travel makes you much more grateful for the abundance that you already have in your life. And it reminds you that your problems aren’t as grave as you make them seem.

4. You learn to set the pace and rhythm of your life.

This is perhaps the best thing about solo travel: you live life at your own pace.

You can wake up and lounge on the hammock sipping your coffee. You can decide to go surfing in the morning and then spend the rest of the day reading your book. You can opt for a more active day and sign-up for a hiking tour. You can spend a few days volunteering at a local NGO.

For the first time in your life — I presume — your schedule is entirely yours to decide. You don’t have to accommodate someone else’s schedule. You don’t have to be anywhere at any given time.

Following your own rhythm without compromise might not be possible in daily life, but it’s incredibly enjoyable on a solo trip. If that’s not a satisfying enough feeling you crave to experience, I don’t know how else I can sell you on the idea of solo travel.

But it goes beyond that. It’s a new perspective that you can invite into your life once your travels come to an end.

The idea that you should live life on your own terms.

Be yourself.

Don’t settle for a job that you don’t like or a relationship that’s not positively contributing to your health. Set a new rhythm for your life — lay out what you want to accomplish with your time on earth and get started on those adventures before it’s too late.

In a way, it means defining what success means to you rather than falling into the trap of living someone else’s dream.

5. You will get to learn more about yourself and you’ll come back a different person.

Travel is the ultimate journey to self-exploration.

When you venture out into the world on your own, you’re going to be spending a lot of time with your thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

You’ll find ample time to reflect and with that comes the urge to write.

And so you’ll develop a life-long habit of journaling.

The first time I wrote in my journal was on August 21, 2013. It was in Toulouse, France and that was the first time I embarked on solo travels. So I turned to the act of journaling as a means to converse with myself.

“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” — David Mitchell

My time in Sri Lanka made me realize how much I truly love nature. It gave me the clarity and courage to launch a business related to a sustainable cause.

My time in India’s Dharavi Slums made me realize how lucky I am to have the privilege of living in a first-world country.

My time in Barcelona reminded me that I want to create a life for myself around the Mediterranean Sea.

When traveling with others, you’ll bond deeper with your friends, but when you travel alone, you’ll bond deeper with yourself.

One thing is certain about solo travel: you’ll come back from it a storyteller, and you’ll be much more likely to have the answers to such questions:

“What do I care about?”

“Who do I want to become?”

“What matters to me in life?”

“What do I want to do with my time on earth?”

BONUS: Solo travel will give you something to care about — Earth.

I’m serious. You’ll come to realize that “home” is this beautiful blue dot we live on — it’s all we have. Learn to love it. Learn to take care of it. Learn to fight for it.

We are all human, we are all one.

Come to see yourself as a global citizen and you’ll come to realize just how small the world really is.

→ One more thing: I write to help you become your best self and inspire you to live a life that’s true to you — join my weekly digest to stay in touch.