Solo Travel: Going it alone

"Are you going on your own?"
"Yes..."
"I don't think I could do that."

At this point, insert whatever reason you feel like. I don't like being on my own. I wouldn't feel safe. It'd be scary.

Plus, my new favourite from just this morning: it's very brave.

This is increasingly how my conversations go at work, where the rest of my office is slowly becoming aware that I'm leaving. First up, a couple of reasons why "are you going on your own?" is a silly question.

1. It assumes I will be totally alone for the whole trip.

Just because I'm going away on my own, doesn't mean I'll be alone the entire way. I'm not a social person, but I make friends easily enough. Also, various family and friends have already expressed an interest in joining me in one place or other.

2. What's so bad about being on your own?

I enjoy my own company. As I said above, I'm not a very social person, I struggle in social situations, but if someone says "hi", I can start conversations. That said, I'm just fine on my own. I enjoy wandering around and just exploring.

Besides, just think of the benefits of going solo. You can do whatever you want, when you want and there's no one to tell you otherwise. You don't need to go with the whim of a group/couple/family which means you're free to explore what you feel like exploring.

Of course, there are also plus points to travelling with a group. Things like being able to rent a car (because I don't drive), potentially cheaper accommodation, "herd safety" in those more dangerous areas. And of course, sharing the experience with others. This is certainly going to make parts of my trip amazing - a friend's coming out to meet me in Sydney around New Year. Having her there will be awesome in itself, but it also means we might be able to get a better on expensive New Year accommodation. Phew.

I still don't understand what people find so scary about travel. Yes, there are dangerous places out there, but I'm not going there. Yes, there are language barriers, but I'm learning additional languages and phrases. No, I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back.

But the point is, if I don't do this now, I'm never going to do it. No amount of people telling me how scary the world is or how brave I must be to strike out on my own is going to change that.

Besides, I've always rather enjoyed that feeling of standing in the middle of nowhere on my own with just the sounds of nature. It's one of the nearest things to real magic.

Do you travel solo? What do you enjoy most about it? How would you encourage others to do the same? Why not share in the comments below.