5 THINGS THAT I'VE LEARNED FROM TRAVELING ALONE

I don't always love being outside, especially if the weather's not that good. But if I'm going somewhere I've never been to, that's a different story. I think I'll never stop being excited about new things and new experiences. So, whenever I get a chance to do something epic on my own, though I love being in my pajamas, I'll take them off for quite sometime and dive head first to new adventures. 

Aside from my daily commutes around the city, I've never really had a chance to travel alone in my country. First of all, I couldn't afford it then even if I wanted to. Haha! Best thing I can do was tag along to family trips, that's it! But when I was in China, I was making more money than I used to, so, I had the chance to go and plan my own trips!

Today, I just want to share with you guys the most important things that I have learned from my solo trips.

#1 Independence

When you travel alone, you will learn to rely on your own guts and instincts. You know that no one will hold your purse or your camera for you as you tie your shoe laces, no one's going to whine with you when you miss a bus or train and no one is going to buy train/bus tickets or order food for you, so, you will be able to train your mind and body that YOU have to do all of these by yourself. Solo trips really changed me in so many ways. I have learned that you can't act like a princess or a damsel in distress if you are traveling alone!

#2 Better communication skills

No matter how good I am in English, sometimes, it would just be useless if the other person doesn't speak a word of English. But the world does not have to end there. It does not mean that you just have to turn your back and go back home. Absolutely not! Traveling will somehow force you to hone your language skills. I only know survival Mandarin yet my Chinese friends thought I was really brave (read: crazy!) to even think about traveling on my own in their country. I can't even read the characters! Well, if you are in a real-life situation and your life depends on those few words that you know, you will use them! Up until now, I am quite surprised whenever I find myself constructing even a simple decent sentence in Chinese.

A travel guide book, a dictionary or Google translate on your phone would definitely be a good help, but nothing beats experience!

#3 Presence of mind

It is very tempting to sleep on a bus or subway train after spending a day walking around a certain place but I was able to train my mind not to do it. Knowing that no one's going to wake me up and the possibility of missing my stop were enough to keep me alert. The dangers of robbery and road accidents were also in my mind like all the time. I always have that worst-case scenario in my mind and what I must do if it happens. I know that I have to think quick and be strong. I have to be my own knight-in-shining-armor, apparently.

#4 Right to be free

You know when you were a kid and your mom or dad or whoever is babysitting you would always hold on to your hand while you walk outside? Do you remember wanting to be free from their hands so you can walk ahead or fall behind or do whatever you want? I always hated being tied down and being told 'not to go too far' or 'just stay where I can see you'. Fast forward to your twenties and you can totally let go of whatever is holding you down or what's keeping you from running. And it's awesome! That's how I felt when I was finally able to travel on my own. I get to choose the restaurants where I would eat and I get to stay at a certain place and take pictures or just sit around for as long as I want.

#5 Confidence

This is probably the most important thing I have learned from traveling alone. Of course there would be people telling you it's dangerous out there, it's not safe, you can get hurt, someone would take advantage of you bla bla bla. If you listen to them forever, you will never get to where you want to be! You will just stay in your comfort zone for the rest of your life and watch the world go by. You can't always be paralyzed by fear. You have to take that first step and just trust yourself that you can do what you have in your mind, and even if things don't go the way you want them, you can still come up with a backup plan. Confidence - in asking for directions, in taking a different turn, in going somewhere you've never been to and talking to people you don't know and somehow trusting them.

You will learn more things as you keep on traveling such as the art of haggling, smooth-talking and compact packing. It is nice to learn from books, from the Internet or from other people but I think you're missing half of the fun if you are not doing it yourself.

There you have it! Another set of life lessons based on my own experience. I still have a lot of goals and dream destinations but I'm taking it one step at a time. I know I still have so much to learn but I'm being patient enough to wait for them to happen at the right time.

Have you ever traveled alone? What have you learned from it?