Yes, you read that right. Pro & Con. Singular. For me anyway.
As a young and single working woman, I’ve chosen to dedicate my time and money to traveling while I can. So far, my trips have been confined to the states, but hopefully that will change in the near future.
I plan to take one major vacation a year. 2019 was Seattle. 2020 is Hawaii. For my birthday in January, I’ll be sitting on a beach on a tropical island – something I hadn’t been able to do on my birthday since my childhood in St. Thomas – and in the midst of planning this trip, a thought occurred to me: I love traveling solo!
Now why is that? I pondered. Isn’t solo travel lonely? Isn’t a breathtaking sunset even more lovely when you also have a companion at your side admiring the same view?
We’ll get to that in a second.
The Number 1 Pro of Traveling Solo is Freedom.
Freedom to plan around my desires. Freedom to pick my schedule without needing to work around anyone else’s. Freedom to go where I want to go without anyone’s permission or approval.
I can hardly express to you how euphoric that type of freedom is.
If I had to wait until a friend or family member was ready to go with me on my travels, I wouldn’t have been able to visit Seattle – it was a city I chose for a personal reason, and no one in my close vicinity had a desire to invest in a trip there – and I guarantee I would miss out on so many trips and experiences to come.
And while I’m on said vacation, I don’t have to deal with conflicts of interest when choosing which activities to do.
I like long walks through the city or within nature. I like sitting on the grass and feeling the sun on my skin. So when I’m alone in a new city, I don’t have to compromise or justify my decision to walk the mile – rather than take a Lyft – to the local restaurant and sit outside in the warm sun and cool breeze. I just do it.
This freedom I have is the single most satisfying and powerful thing I wield when traveling solo. I would almost loathe to give it up.
Almost.
Let’s address the elephant in the room.
Traveling solo is so doggone Lonely!
Incase you missed it, that would be my one con of traveling solo. But wait, Heather, aren’t you contradicting yourself?!
Hmm, maybe. But I’m allowed.
I remember countless times when I’m out and about, enjoying myself in an alien city, when out of nowhere, I feel that ping of loneliness, that dreaded shadow of solemnness as I yearn for a friend to be here with me. We are social creatures after all.
Here’s the way I see it. You have to travel with the right people, or no people at all. Having good company on a vacation is slightly more pleasant than having no company. But having bad company will ruin the whole trip.
I do realize that traveling solo is an excellent means of meeting new people. Whether they’re locals or tourists, like-minded people tend to gather around the same locations – like parks or museums – while you’re exploring a city. But seeing as I’m introverted and a bit reserved around strangers, it’s relatively common for me to feel alone in a crowd. And the only thing worse than being alone is being surrounded by people and still feeling alone.
Typically, I have no issue entertaining myself and finding satisfaction in my own company, so while the loneliness of solo travel is a con, I still believe the freedom involved outweighs it.
But what about Expenses? Shouldn’t that count as a pro or a con?
Mmm, not necessarily. Let’s talk about that.
When two people go on a trip, the individual expense could either be doubled or halved, depending on the nature of the trip and who’s paying. For example, if a couple plans to take a road trip out to the wilderness and stay in an Airbnb, the gas and lodging price could be split between them making the trip very inexpensive for the individual. But if a mother and child plans to fly out to Disney World in Orlando, suddenly mom has to pay for two plane tickets, two Disney tickets, and two of whatever else to ensure they both enjoy the experience.
In my case, my travels involve plane tickets and lodging, and I always pay for myself. Seeing as I have no children, if I were to travel with a friend, he or she would have to expense their own airline ticket, and the only potential effect on my budget would be the possibility of splitting the lodging cost 50/50.
I personally don’t consider that as significant enough to mark as a pro or a con. I also don’t have much experience in this area. I’ve only recently started traveling solo (within the last two years) and all trips before my solo adventures were still under the umbrella of parental financing, so I’ve never actually split a lodging cost before. Either it was fully paid for and I didn’t think about it, or I paid for it myself and thought “Dang that’s expensive! But necessary.”
And the more I think about expenses, the more of a con it becomes. I can just hear the conversation now:
Me: Hey BFF! You want to go to Hawaii with me for my birthday?!
BFF: Heck yeah! When are we leaving?
Me: Okay the plane tickets are about $$$ and if we split the hotel, that’ll be about $$$ each!
BFF: Hold up! Wait a minute! I don’t have that kind of dough!
Me: I know it’s not cheap, but it’ll be worth it! We have 5 months to save up, and we can look around for cheaper options!
BFF: Girl you know I want to go, but it’s just too expensive!
Me: Okay. I understand. I’ll send you pictures!
Traveling is something that I’m passionate about and that I’m willing to sacrifice for. Until I meet someone who is equally passionate about traveling, I will continue to do it solo. I can’t wait on you to make up your mind. I can’t finance it for you (if I could, I would). I can’t want it for you. You come with me, or I’ll go solo.
And I realize that goes both ways. I have turned down trips that I was invited to because it was the wrong time, or I couldn’t finance it at the moment, so I understand. It just further proves how sweet traveling solo can be. You make up your mind, you work towards it, and you go! No one can stop you but you!
“Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
Helen Keller
What are your thoughts on traveling? Do you like to go solo, or do you need to have a buddy with you? Or maybe you usually travel with family?
I’d love to hear your perspective! Leave me a comment below!
Until next time, stay classy!
8 thoughts on “The Pro & Con of Traveling Solo”
Yes, this! While I agree that there’s often a pang of loneliness and ‘if only’, I’ve come to realize that even solo day trips are more enjoyable than many companion trips, because of the freedom to do what I want, when I want. And as far as sharing costs are concerned, unless I’m traveling with someone very close to me, I prefer my own room. Definitely agree – one pro, one con, and without the right companion, the pro very much outweighs the con! Thank you for sharing!
Sounds like we think very much alike! Less waiting, more doing!
Traveling is so important to me and my family. Most of the time we travel together as a family of 5 but occasionally I’ll travel without them. Usually I’m traveling with other adults I know but who knows. Maybe I’ll take a solo trip in the future.
When I was working full-time, I often traveled alone – it was great! It allowed me to get a lot of things done, on my own time, shopping and not being bothered and not answering to anyone (after the workday of course). When I have traveled for ‘fun’ or ‘vacation’ the only time I traveled along is to the destination…but met friends there. I can very much see how traveling alone could be great! I often feel I need to do this more often….my husband, however, would want to vacation too….so we shall see how that turns out!
As a recently divorced woman who loves travelling, I loved this! I took my first solo trip this year cross country to Newfoundland (I’m in British Columbia). I appreciated hearing the cons as much as the pros!
I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I don’t like to do a ton of stuff in a day, so I just love walking around cities. It’s so much easier to do if you don’t have someone around you bugging you to do other things. As far as loneliness goes, I love doing tourist group activities. People who do them are generally a little more friendly and easier to make friends with. Good luck with your future travels!
I’m also a solo traveler. I’ve felt that pang of loneliness with people also, so like you said… it’s all about the people you choose to travel with. Every con in the book will never outweigh the freedom and adventure in traveling solo. Every cost, double occupancy etc is worth my peace!
I’m a big ole chicken so I’m not sure I’d be comfortable traveling alone. I love that you have that confidence! Our family usually travels in large groups and sometime it’s just my husband and me. Traveling solo seems very freeing though and I can totally see where folks would love it.