Brussels, Belgium

EXPENSES 

Most of my friends thought I would have spent at least 10k for this trip. Let's face it, when you talk about travelling around Europe countries, one would have expected to at least spend 10k but like I always tell my friends and relatives, that's one of the reasons why I prefer to plan and travel on my own.

In my next post, I will write about the prices of food and public transport (metro, subway, bus, train). So, stay tuned!

When I announce that I’m going to travel, the most common questions I get are “Where are you going?, "When”, “With whom?”, and when I told them I’m travelling alone, some would give me that look on their face as if they couldn’t believe that one can travel alone because the next question that comes from them is… “What? Travelling alone? All by yourself? Oh my gosh!”

I mean, what’s wrong with travelling alone? It’s so much more liberating than travelling with a group of friends to be honest. I’m not saying travelling with friends is a bad idea but if you have experienced travelling alone to a foreign land, you know what I mean. So here are the 10 reasons I believe why you should travel alone at least once in your lifetime.


1. You Get To Plan Your Own Itinerary 

When you travel alone, you don’t have to stick to a fixed plan like those you follow if you travel with a tour. If you travel with friends, everyone has to come to a compromising conclusion on where to go, what to see, which place to visit. Imagine going with a group of friends, one is a history buff and can spend one whole day in a museum, another one wanna take photographs of nature, while the others want to go shopping which you’re not interested at all, but you like to just walk around the city to wander off along the streets to witness the daily life of the locals there. Are you going to follow your friends to a museum which you hate? When you travel alone, you get to go wherever you feel like it.


2. You Get To Eat What And Where You Like 

One friend wanna try Japanese food, another one must have Chinese food, while the other one just wanna grab something at a fast food chain while you want to try local delicacies. Another headache! Hahaha… when I travel alone in Europe, I can walk for so many miles just to find the cheapest restaurant. When it comes to food, everyone’s budget is different. Some would splurge on fine dining while others on tight budget would just grab and go.


3. You Can Go At Your Own Pace

When you are travelling alone, you can walk as slow or as fast as you want. You can spend the entire day in museum if you want to, or you can just walk around the town the whole day to see what interests you. When I enter cathedrals and palaces, I would spend so long standing there admiring at the details of the architecture and design. I would walk slowly to feel the atmosphere and the surrounding of the area while imagining how the aristocrats live there during that era. If your friends are not into architecture, they would feel so boring and want to leave that place to go to another place and that would spoil your mood because you don’t get to see what you want. Imagine having spent so much on the air ticket and flying so many miles but you don’t get to see what you like most. Isn’t that disappointing? You would regret. 


4. You Will Be More Independent 

When you travel alone, you have no one to guide you or help you but yourself. You have to ask directions on your own, you have to approach strangers (the locals there) to ask, you have to force yourself to talk a little bit of the foreign language in that country. Basically, you have to do everything on your own, thus training you indirectly to be more independent compared to if you’re in your own country where you friends might help you, your siblings or parents will get things done for you. If you travel with a tour, all you need to do is ask your tour guide and he or she will solve your problems for you and get the things you want.


5. You Will Be More Confident And Brave 

Relating to the point above, when you’re independent, you will become fearless. Well, to some extent. Not to say, you will now dare to jump out of the plane with a parachute immediately, but when you learn to solve problems and get things done all by yourself, you will have that confident in you. Imagine you’re in a foreign land where nothing is familiar to you. Everything is different from where you come from, so if you can survive there, you will have no problem going to other foreign countries in future on your own.


6. You Get To Make New Friends

When you stay in a hostel, you get to meet other travellers from other countries and you get to mix around with them, hang out with them at night and exchange travelling stories. At the end of your stay, you could exchange contacts such as add each other in Facebook, Whatsapp or other social platforms to stay connected.


7. You Will Be More Alert 

When you are travelling alone, you are responsible for your own belongings (passport, money, wallet, etc.). No one will be in-charge to take care of your stuff for you. Hence, you will stay alert and observe your surrounding to avoid pickpockets.


8. You Get To Stay Where You Like 

When you are travelling with friends, most likely all of you will choose to stay in a hotel or rent a big house for everyone to stay together, but when you’re travelling alone, you get to choose where you want to stay. If you’re on a tight budget, you can choose a bed in a hostel or a cheap room from those homestay websites but if you want to pamper yourself and can afford to splurge on luxury bed, then you can choose from the many hotels in that city.


9. You Will Create A Rewarding Memories

When you’re travelling alone, you get to experience everything first-hand because you walk on your own, you see things on your own, you approach strangers, you ask for directions, you get help from the locals, or you help other travellers, you try on the local delicacies, you take the local public transport. Every little action you take is decided by you and so, you will remember every single detail of your trip if you travel alone. It is a very rewarding experience. I can tell you that because until now, I remember every little thing that I experience on my own while I was in Europe.


10. You Get To Enrich Your Life Experience

With all the points above, I’m sure you get to see that the experience you get from travelling alone is not only rewarding but it enriches your life overall. Money can buy the air tickets, the accommodation and food but nothing can buy the memories you create with you along the trip, and that is what you will have in your brain for the rest of your life.

Therefore, in my opinion, travelling alone is the best gift you can give to yourself. Let go of that fear. Let go of your doubts. Go for it. After several times of travelling on my own, I kinda like it and I will definitely travel alone again. What about you? Have you travelled alone before? Where to? Do share your experience with us. Love to hear from you.