It was the best feeling I ever had
I have been to different places before whether it be locally or internationally. Although it was fun traveling with friends, I once dreamt of traveling alone - to see if I can really do it on my own.
And I did.
My recent Japan trip - although it was a short one - has definitely changed my view in traveling. I decided to go to Japan when I got the news that I got a ticket to SEVENTEEN’s Tokyo fanmeeting. I guess it was 2 months before the event? To be honest, I think 2 months is enough to plan my trip especially it was just a short one. But because I was so busy with work, it took me last minute to plan my whole trip (which by the way, I wasn’t able to follow lol).
But still, it was the best experience I have ever had.
Reasons why you should travel alone at least once in your life
You can have the freedom to do the things that you want
I am always a follower whenever I travel. My friend wants to go to this place? Okay. I follow. She wants to eat at this place? Okay. I eat here. She doesn’t want to go to this place? Okay. I won’t go.
In short, I wasn’t totally free to do the things I want.
I’m afraid of getting lost in a place where I’m not familiar. That’s maybe the reason why I just follow my friends whenever we travel. But because of that, there were a lot of experiences that I wasn’t able to experience. There were a lot of food I wasn’t able to eat. There were places I wasn’t able to visit. And that’s probably one of my biggest regrets in life.
Now that I went to Japan alone, I was able to go to the places I want to go like the spots that SEVENTEEN visited during their previous stays in Tokyo - although I met a friend (who was solo as well) who joined me in this adventure.
You can plan your activities based on your mood
There were a lot of places I wanted to visit in Tokyo. In fact, I listed them and put these on my schedule. Unfortunately, the whole flight to Japan was already tiring so I had to cut down some of the places that I would like to visit because I needed some rest too.
Solo traveling allows you to alter your schedule based on how your body is feeling. You can choose to go to that place or just rest instead.
You will discover more about yourself
Aside from the fact that you can have deep thoughts while traveling alone, you can also learn new things about yourself. In my case, I discovered that I am a pro when it comes to commuting.
Who would have thought that this was actually my first travel in Tokyo?
Whenever I share this experience to my friends they always thought that I have been to Tokyo so many times because I never got lost on my way to the hotel, to the venue, or even to the places I wanted to visit.
Since I have always been staying at home (I work from home btw), I didn't know that I am good with following directions.
Discovering more about yourself allows you to be more confident.
I will travel solo more often
There will always be pros and cons with every type of travels like for example the money. You don't have anyone to cut the fees with. Although traveling solo means you'll be spending everything on your own, it will never equate to the experience you will have.
It's scary at first especially when it's your first time. But once you get that feeling, you will long to travel solo more often.
I can't wait for my next solo travel (ehem, South Korea).
