Advantages of Solo Travel for Men and Women
Are you excited to discover a new destination but the idea of travelling alone stops you? It shouldn’t. These days, there are many travellers who are taking vacations by themselves and fully enjoy them. The advantages of solo travel for men and women are endless, but let’s see 5 of them, which according to us are the most notable.
1. Solo travel lets you leap out of your comfort zone
Travelling solo as a man or woman forces you to leap out of your comfort zone and explore new things.
A comfort zone is defined as “a place or situation in which you feel safe or at ease”, where there are low risks and challenges, but also low reward. You are stuck in a bubble that keeps you from growing, learning, and doing the things you want. But you can’t dream big and make you dream come true without stepping out of your comfort zone.
Travelling is one of the most rewarding experiences because it offers you the opportunity to experience a personal growth and challenges your ways of thinking. So, if you want to travel, but have no one to go with, just take a trip on your own. You will learn to become more independent, socialize more, get out of any unpredictable situations by yourself, find your way after getting lost, develop self-confidence and gain a deeper appreciation for nature and the environment.
Solo travel can be the perfect thing for an introvert. If you are an introvert, then you know that being alone and being lonely is not the same. You enjoy your own company and don’t find it strange to relax by yourself in a new country. The need to socialize during your solo trip will make you leap out of your comfort zone of being reserved and allow you to meet new people and maybe even form lasting friendships. You can start meaningful conversations (instead of “small talk”) with people who you find interesting and develop meaningful connections with them. Solo travel will give you the chance to be more outgoing and share your stories with other travellers.
If you are an extrovert going on a vacation alone, you might feel a little worried about spending more time by yourself without people around you. But you shouldn’t be worried about it, as you will get a good opportunity to make new friends and build new connections during your solo travel. Spending more time alone will offer you a unique opportunity for reflection. Your time alone can be important for personal growth and can help you overcome feelings of loneliness.
Therefore, travelling solo is liberating and life-changing for both extroverts and introverts. The best way to leap out of your comfort zone is to take small steps outside your comfort zone and gradually expand it by building up your tolerance for discomfort. Trying to jump too far outside your comfort zone, will make you move back into your comfort zone. If you are travelling solo abroad for the first time and you have many fears, it’s better to organize your trip through a local travel agency and know that you will always have an emergency number at hand to contact someone at the destination, if needed. If you are an introvert and prefer to rather see fewer people during your solo trip, then you may opt for a private tour or a tailor-made tour. If you are an extrovert, then you can opt for joining a group tour, which is a great way to meet new people and share experiences with them. This way, you will travel solo, but not alone.
Going on vacation alone as a man is a great way to leave your comfort zone, expand your mind and embrace a new healthy masculinity. A healthy masculinity in this case is defined as the nature of men to solve problems, be strong and competitive, but also be empathetic, emotionally authentic, and care for their mental well-being. Travelling solo as a man will allow you to grow as a person and reach new heights on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. Moreover, this will make you more attractive in the eyes of a woman.
Travelling solo as a woman might be scary at first, especially when speaking about safety. If you are a woman travelling solo abroad for the first time, we suggest you to organize your trip through a local travel agency. This will be a small step out of your comfort zone. While at the destination, see if you like your solo travel experience and decide if you want to organize your next trips by yourself. Female solo vacations, just like male vacations, are an amazing opportunity for personal growth and self-discovery. Travelling alone is empowering for you as a woman, giving you a confidence boost and revealing strengths you never knew you had before. It will make you more independent and allow you to explore the world on your own terms.
2. Solo travel helps you learn a new language or improve your language skills
There’s no better way to learn a new language fast and dismantle the language barrier than to be fully immersed in a foreign country where the language is spoken at a native level. When travelling with a group of friends, you will most likely rely on them to help you with the translation. When you travel alone, you get the chance to constantly practice the new language and improve your language skills. However, your language skills will depend on various factors such as how much time you spend at the destination, is the language new to you or not, are you familiar or not with its grammar, do you speak more than one language, are you good at learning languages and so on.
Speaking more than one language allows you to feel more confident, helps you with multitasking, improves your listening and memory skills, and forces your brain to constantly adapt and flex, resulting in a stronger mind. It also makes both men and women innately more attractive to potential romantic partners. So, if you were postponing learning a new foreign language, consider this just one more reason to get started.
If you are a native English speaker and would like to spend a longer time at the destination in order to learn a foreign language, you might consider destinations where Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or French are spoken. These are some of the world’s sexiest languages and they are fairly easy for English speakers to learn because of their Latin roots (many English words also stem from Latin). Although they are Romance languages rather than Germanic languages, they use the same alphabet as English (with some small differences). French can be more challenging to learn than Spanish or Italian due to its pronunciation, but it shares many similarities with English, especially when it comes to the vocabulary. Romance languages are often said to sound beautiful and musical to human ears when they are spoken aloud, due to their melodic rhythms and soft pronunciations.
3. Solo travel offers you the opportunity to meet interesting people
When you travel with a group of friends, you typically stick together and you are less likely to wander away from your group. But when you travel alone, you will be more likely to speak with locals, meet new people and even create lasting friendships. Taking a group guided tour for at least some of the days is a great way to discover important facts about the destination and at the same time meet new people.
When you travel your senses are heightened and your heart is open to new experiences. You fall in love with new places, new languages, and new surroundings and give yourself the permission to experience different things that are interesting to you. However, travelling alone doesn’t mean that you have to do everything independently. You might consider some group activities based on your passions. Depending on the destination, you can join a full-day cruise, take a wine and food paring class, embark on a group hike and many more. This is a fantastic way to meet fabulous people who share the same interests as you and even make new friends. Going on a hike will allow you to meet other hikers, while taking part in a cooking class will offer you the opportunity to meet fellow foodies. What a great way to meet people abroad who share the same interests as you while combining your love for travelling with your love for doing other things.
Find below some ways to meet people while travelling alone (relevant for both men and women):
- Offer to take photos of other people who are solo travellers
If you see a solo traveller struggling to take a photo (selfie), offer to take a photo of them. Once you offer to take someone’s photo, he or she will probably offer to take one of you. This is a great way to help others, get some photos of yourself, and even make friends. If you don’t end up friends, at least you got some amazing photos out of it.
- Start a conversation while waiting in a queue
If you visit a destination in the high season, you will most likely have to wait in line at some point. This is a good opportunity to start a conversation with people standing next to you. If you have questions about the destination, a specific attraction or transportation, you can ask them for advice or help.
- Initiate a conversation with your seatmates
There are many chances that you seatmate is also a solo traveller. You can initiate a conversation with your seatmate on buses, trains or planes. You are travelling to the same place, so this is a good opportunity to start a conversation about the location you are heading to.
- Attend festivals and special events
Check if there are any festivals or events scheduled during your visit at the destination. Regardless if this is flower festival, food festival or sporting event, you will meet many local people and visitors with whom you might have interesting conversations.
- Shop locally while travelling
Buying products from local street markets has many advantages. Local shopping is more eco-friendly, cheaper than supermarkets, focuses on quality rather than quantity, lets you support the local community and offers you the opportunity to meet one of the most authentic places with authentic people, local farmers and artists.
4. Solo travel lets you experience new cuisine while being fully immersed in the restaurant’s atmosphere
Eating alone as a solo traveller is one of the most rewarding things you can do while travelling. Exploring the local cuisine gives you a new way to discover your destination’s culture, geography and history. While eating with other people has its benefits, dining alone at a local restaurant allows you to be fully immersed in its atmosphere.
You will pay more attention to each detail on the table and at the restaurant in general and eat more slowly enjoying every bite. You will inhale the aroma of your dishes trying to recognize the aromatic spices and herbs used in them and experience one of the most priceless moments of your trip. You will go on a culinary journey during which all your senses will be engaged.
There’s nothing quite as exciting as enjoying a well-made dish in its motherland. Just imagine savouring the true Neapolitan pizza on the Bay of Naples in Italy! The “pizzaioli” (pizza makers) must follow a specific method of preparation to call their pizza true Neapolitan pizza and the art of its making is included on the list of UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage. Eating alone will allow to enjoy every bite of it while inhaling its incomparable aroma. After finishing your meal, you can ask the waiter to tell you more details about the dishes or the restaurant.
You can even take part in a cooking class and learn how to prepare a specific traditional dish. This way, you will also be able to prepare the dish at home and remember your culinary experience at the destination.
5. Solo travel allows you to have more flexibility
Traveling with other people means making plans with them, while travelling alone allows you to do what you want when you want. You will have more flexibility when it comes to your travel itinerary and you can change your plans based on your mood. Visiting a destination with a group of friends can be challenging when each of them has something different in mind for their dream trip. When travelling alone, on the other hand, you create your own way to experience the destination and decide how much time to spend at each attraction.
You can spend more time at specific attractions and take photos without having the pressure to keep going and follow the group. If you are tired after a long flight or after walking a long distance you can have a rest without feeling guilty. If you saw that an interesting festival will take place next day, you can extend your stay in that specific city. There are times when flexibility can offer you the possibility to experience unique moments and, in these cases, you might want to modify your schedule.
Solo travel is the number one way to rediscover yourself leading to a deeper sense of purpose and fulfilment in life. It allows you to spend time with yourself, take the trip you wanted, have time to refocus and grow, have inspiration to work on creative projects, have time to emotionally heal after a break up, see things differently than before.
It’s impressive how much your current situation and your mindset can influence what destination you are going to choose. Just sit down for a moment, and think why do you want to travel. If you are burnt out or feel tired, you might opt for a beach destination. If you are sitting all day in an office and need to get to nature, opt for an outdoor adventure in a destination with fantastic natural landmarks.
Before picking a destination, you can take our travel quiz - What country should I visit? (20 questions) and find out what destination best suits you.
Whether you travel alone or not, remember that travel makes you richer in many aspects and has the potential to increase your overall happiness.