Scared to Travel Alone? Don't Let it Stop You

So you want to travel around the world. You’re tired of sitting in that old chair of yours.

You want to set out on a journey, to seek out new adventures. You want to know what the world is holding out there for you. Yet, something is holding you back.

You want to go, but you don’t want to go alone. You’re afraid to set out towards the unknown. You are being brought down by that little feeling called fear.

You are afraid of being out there on your own. You don’t know what will happen, who you will meet, what is out there waiting for you. In all likelihood, your mind will be making it even worse by creating an image in your head of how things might end up, and that image is probably not a good one.

It’s okay to feel afraid though, seriously.

We are all afraid of the unknown, because we do not know what lies out there waiting for us. But don’t turn this fear into something bad. Grab hold of it, take advantage of it, and put it to a greater use! Let that fear drive you forward instead of backwards. Let it help you to explore and break through your own boundaries.

“Courage is looking fear right in the eyes and saying get the hell out of my way, I got things to do.”
- Unknown Tweet

This quote makes me smile every time I read it. And it is so true. Don’t let fear limit you on the things you can do and want to do. It takes courage to set out alone on a journey. It truly does. Especially on long-term travel.

But you cannot know how it will go if you do not try it. That goes with everything.

It’s those people who dare to take that step forward towards their own fears, who empower themselves and gain great inner strength.

All you need is a little push to take that step forward towards that dream of yours. Once you have done that, you will quickly discover that the world isn’t such a scary place as your mind made you think.

You will realize it is actually a magnificent place full of wonders and beauty just waiting out there to be discovered! By you! So, let me try to help you.

Let me try to encourage you, and to give you that small initial push. Hopefully, I can bring some comfort to your mind through my own experiences of traveling solo.

And who knows, maybe by the end, you will feel more comfortable, more convinced to buy that ticket and you can step forward and realize your dream of traveling.

Fear

Basically, we are scared to travel alone because we think we will be on our own. That we will feel lonely, in a strange place, and begin to regret taking that first step to venture away from our safe, comfortable home.

That is the main reason people don’t set out on their travels alone. The fear of loneliness. I am not going to lie to you and say that when you do travel alone you will never experience that feeling of being alone. Of course you will. But that is just realistic.

It’s a natural human feeling that you experience in your daily life too. It’s not just going to vanish out of your body all of a sudden. What I mean with this is – when you take that step to embark on your journey and you start feeling alone, don’t immediately come to regret your decision. Embrace it.

The first steps are always the hardest. Once you understand this, and are able to carry on regardless, you will start to realize that you are ok, and that everything will be fine. Remember, no matter where you go, you are never alone.

There will always be someone to talk to. In this modern world, your home, your family, your friends are just a phone call away.

Keep in mind, being tired will affect your emotions. It will strengthen some of your feelings, and weaken others. In other words, it will affect the feeling of “being alone” a lot more.

A long plane flight, especially with a time difference will affect you. Make sure you have a good night’s rest once you arrive. Everything will look a lot clearer and brighter the following day. Just dream about the adventures you have ahead of you and smile.

“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.”
- Pope Paul Tweet

Solo

The one question I get asked a lot of times and probably the question you are particularly concerned about is: is it hard to meet other people while traveling alone?

To give you an honest and easy answer. No, it’s not hard. You see, once you put on your backpack you immediately become part of a community.

You become a traveler. And as a matter of fact, everywhere you go, there are travelers, seeking out people like you. No matter in which corner of the world you are, you will meet people like yourself.

OK, you say, but where exactly can I meet them? Well, just about anywhere and everywhere. But one especially great way to meet fellow travelers is at hostels.

A hostel is not just a sleeping place, it is much much more! You can kind of look at them as meeting places for travelers. You want to meet other travelers? Book a room in a 4,6,8,12 dorm room and away you go!

The cool thing too about hostels is, they mostly all organize fun “activities’’ like pub crawls, pre parties, movie nights, barbecues, etc. It could be anything, but all fun and great ways to get in contact with other people.

If hostels are not your thing, do not worry. There are a billion different ways to meet other travelers. Don’t stress too much about it. Just book your ticket and go.

Go and do, see and experience what you want. Along the way you will meet those people with the same interests. Even more than you can imagine right now. As I said before, you are not alone in this world.

No matter which season, year, month or day you go, there will be other people traveling this world.

All the time! I never had any trouble finding other people to hang out with. In fact, I often feel more alone at home than when I’m traveling.

On my journeys I have met some very interesting people and made many incredible friends along the way. Also the feeling of being alone, it never really hit me that hard.

The only time, and I can imagine this is the same for many people, is at the airport. It’s the moment where you say goodbye to your friends, family, pets, one last time before you embark and venture out on your own.

I can imagine this moment is very hard for some as well as for their family and friends, even more so if you are planning on being away for a long time. But don’t make it too overdramatic. Your friends, family, pets will all still be there when you come back.

I said earlier, the first steps are always the hardest. This is the first real step you take in terms of traveling, and it is one of the hardest.

Just keep this in your mind; your home will still be there once you come back.

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
- W.M. Lewis Tweet

To sum it all up – Don’t worry too much. Don’t be
scared to travel alone. Live your dreams.

Don’t allow your mind to stress you out too much. If you want to travel then do it. It’s one of the most magnificent and thrilling ways to learn. It is an opportunity to broaden your mind in so many ways. Traveling changes you, in the most amazing way.

Don’t miss such a chance in life! Don’t allow your mind, your fears to stop you from doing what you want to do. We only live once. I often feel that people tend to forget that. You want to travel for a week or two, or for several months or even years? Go and do so.

Live life, challenge yourself, step forward towards those things that you fear, don’t run and hide from them. You will have the opportunity to have an amazing adventure, to see new places, experience strange new delights and meet many interesting new people.

Now go! Get out of that old chair of yours and embark on your adventures! Life will never be the same again.

Be sure to check out my post – How to Travel Cheaper. Not only will it give you some awesome tips on how to travel cheaper, it will also give some more thoughts and ideas on how you can meet other travelers.