Traveling Alone
I am pretty homesick right now, but I will try to keep it upbeat like I intended.
So far I have gone to Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris. In a couple weeks I will be heading to the U.K.. All trips have been by myself. Now, a little backstory on me. I spent quite a bit of my life having a lot of friends. In fifth grade I was in maybe three or four different "groups". I have come to learn that it is better to have a few good friends than multiple not so great friends. So, back to studying abroad. I have slowly met a few people that I like hanging out with, but I have not travelled with yet because I had not known them in time or they did not want to go.
There are good and bad things about traveling alone. For me, I tend to see more of the good. One good thing is you get to make the decisions of where you want to go and for how long. All the decisions are for you to make. One bad thing is, all the decisions are for you to make. I love being able to plan my day and not having someone else that wants to do something completely different, but it would be nice to have input when I am trying to pick between something or help me choose where to eat. There has been times where I just did not eat a meal because I did not want to deal with figuring out where to go or how to get there. Also, when standing in a two and a half hour line for the catacombs of Paris, it would be nice to have someone to hold your place so you can get food. Thankfully, the people around me were very nice and let me get food and come back. Disneyland was a big thing I was a big thing I wanted to do while I was here so I kind of went all out for it. I stayed at a partner hotel and rented a car. I do not know if someone would have wanted to spend that much time and money on Disney. Also, single rider lines. There are not many and groups tend to go in them to save time, but they are great for solo travelers. Seeing couples everywhere is not as fun.
Some advice I would give if you want to travel alone is, do not be afraid to ask people for help. If you cannot find something or do not know how to get somewhere, ask. There will be people willing to help and it is a lot easier to just ask than to keep stressing about it. It will also help you feel a little less by yourself if you talk to people around you. Most people will not get mad if you but into their conversation for a second. Plan out your days and go on tours. Since no one else is there to plan for you, your day will go a lot smoother if you just plan it out. I learned that the first day of Amsterdam. Most of all, enjoy your own company. Do and go places that make you happy and get you excited. Embrace everything that you do.
