11 Life-Changing Reasons to Travel Solo in Your Twenties
One of the main goals of my blog and Instagram is to provide women with the support and encouragement to go after what they most truly and intentionally want. For many of us, that means living our best life and traveling as often as we can is usually a big part of that. I think it’s hard sometimes to go after what we want most if we don’t have a solid support system or know people who’ve gone before us and accomplished what we plan to do one day. Because of that, we might have the desire to travel in our twenties but we put it off. But your twenties are such an important part of your life and they are going to fly by! So, I’ve put together a list of life-changing reasons to travel solo in your twenties.
I’m able to look back, now that I’ve moved through my twenties, and see how traveling alone really shaped who I am today during those transformative years. And so, if you’re in your twenties (or soon approaching them) and you’ve been thinking about taking a solo trip or two of your own, here is a little boost of encouragement to do so!
1. You become more independent
This one might seem self-explanatory but such an important piece of your twenties is gaining your independence and there’s really no better way to do that than to travel away from home on your own. I have a whole separate blog post I’m working on that details how traveling solo helped me build the courage to move abroad on my own. The more independent I’ve become, the more I’ve let go of other people’s opinions and therefore truly lived a life in alignment with what I value most.
2. You learn to work through your fears
Instead of just giving up when it gets tough or scary, you learn to persevere. You learn that the scariest part is usually just before you take that leap of faith. And the more you put yourself out there, the more you realize that the world’s not such a scary place after all.
Traveling solo requires you to be resourceful, to listen to your gut, to make decisions for yourself without relying on anyone else. By doing this, you’re pushing your fears aside and saying, “I’ve got this.” You learn to work through your fears instead of allowing them to keep you from what’s on the other side.
Related Reading: Tips for Traveling Alone with Anxiety
(From ‘Brave Enough‘ by Cheryl Strayed)
3. You become self-sufficient
Traveling solo requires you to be resourceful, to listen to your gut, to make decisions for yourself without relying on anyone else. Self-sufficiency is a powerful attribute to have. Your confidence in yourself and your decisions will continue to grow.
As I mentioned earlier, I found over the years of traveling solo that the more independent I became, the more confident I grew in letting go of societal pressures and norms and making my own life choices instead. You no longer seek approval or permission or validation and instead, you receive that from within. It’s an incredibly freeing feeling to know that you are entirely capable of anything you put your mind to.
In order to travel, you must take action: You must book your own flights, figure out train schedules, stay at an Airbnb on your own (get a discount on your first Airbnb
4. You learn about yourself
There are so many different components about solo travel that help you learn about yourself. From the time alone on the road to the experiences you have. Questions you’ve had about life, the future, and yourself become clearer. And as you gain clarity, you also gain the confidence to make decisions based on this newfound knowledge that you have of yourself.
Over time, I started to learn how badly I yearned for a life of non-conformity. (P.S. Read this book – The Art of Non-Conformity – if you haven’t already. It’s one of my most-recommended books!) And the more I traveled, the more I wanted to actually move to new places and live. Click here if you want to read more about my adventures in moving to new cities/countries. I may have never learned that if I never left home on my own.
5. You gain real-world experience
Instead of sitting back and watching life go by, you’ll be out there truly living it. You’ll be in the midst of it all, doing new things and gaining experience at such a pivotal time in your life. By going solo and relying on yourself and truly putting yourself out there, you’ll become more experienced and more well-rounded than you probably would have been if you stayed in one place. Because you’ll be exposed to more. More diversity, more people, more decisions, more countries and cities and lifestyles. You’ll see the world through new eyes before you even turn 30.
6. You meet new people
You’ll meet so many people along your travels. Some you may never see again but who will forever leave a mark on your heart. And some will become lifelong friends and confidants who “get it” because they were there alongside you through so many memories you’ll look back on for the rest of your life. Thanks to social media, you’re part of the solo travel community. It’s easier than ever now to connect with like-minded humans from all over the world who, like you, are traveling on their own.
There are hundreds of hashtags that you can use, not only to tag your photos, but to find other women who are traveling solo. #dametraveler and #sheisnotlost are two of my favorites. Reach out and connect with others in the travel community. Solo travel is an incredible and empowering way to bond with others, whether that’s in-person or through social media.
7. You gain compassion/empathy by seeing the challenges of others
As you travel, you see people from all walks of life. You meet people whose stories will move you and inspire you. Your heart will soften from the hugs you’ll receive and give. Kind-hearted strangers will be there to help you when you may feel alone or lost. You will see things that crack your heart open and put it all into perspective. You will be changed.
8. You face challenges
During my three-city solo trip to Denver, Portland, and Seattle anything that could go wrong, did go wrong (you can read more about that in my Portland post here). But it made me a stronger person and smarter traveler because of it. You learn how to be better prepared and to always expect the unexpected.
9. You build courage and confidence
A lot of this is due to the challenges you have to face and the independence you develop through getting through those challenges while traveling on your own. When I was twenty, I was due to board a flight at Chicago O’Hare that would take me back to college where I had class the following morning. As I was on my way to the airport, driving through the dairy farms of Wisconsin, ferocious storm clouds loomed overhead. Once I finally made it to the airport, two 50-pound bags filled with work materials in tow, all flights were grounded due to a tornado warning and no flights were leaving for my destination for two days.
It was the first time I had ever had a flight
Upon entering my hotel room and washing my face after a long day and night, the fire alarms began piercing through my ear drums. “This can’t be happening,” I thought to myself. I grabbed my wallet and cell phone and bolted down the six flights of stairs to the lobby where firefighters stormed past me.
The rest is a bit of a blur as exhaustion crept in, but after phone calls to my mom to email my professor that I would miss class (this was before WiFi, smartphones, and bringing your laptop everywhere you go), phone calls to my boyfriend to pick me up at a different airport 2 hours away from school, and a long, hot shower once the firefighters deemed it safe to return, I made it back. On my own.
Any heartbreak or hardship I went through after that, my mom would simply say to me, “O’Hare, Chelsea…” to remind me that the hard times really do make us stronger. And not only that, but that we’re capable of much more than we may realize. I
10. You enjoy your own company
This is such an important one. Spending so much time alone may seem a bit scary to think about at first. But the truth is, we are the only ones we have to live with every single hour of every single day for the rest of our life. It’s so important to take the time to value our own company. To learn to enjoy solitude. To see it as a strength.
11. It opens you up to new possibilities
If I hadn’t started traveling solo when I did, who knows where I’d be right now? I doubt I’d be living abroad on my own in Europe, a dream I had since I was little. It wasn’t until I started getting out there and seeing places on my own, and learning about myself away from home, getting out of my comfort zone, and expanding my horizons that I started to see different possibilities for my life. I may have stayed with the status quo. I may not have left my 8-5 job in 2015 to pursue entrepreneurship full-time.
As you travel solo, you experience all of these incredible aspects I’ve listed in this blog post and you begin to change. Your vision for your life becomes clearer the more you experience. And by developing your courage, you find ways to take action and explore new possibilities.
Don’t do it for Instagram. After all, nearly every experience I described above, I don’t have a photo of. Because the moments you look back on, in the end, are the ones you lived through. So get out there and challenge yourself. Open your heart and mind up to all that awaits you. Keep a journal if you can. Embrace this precious life
It’s not about the number of countries you can check off a list. It’s about the quality of your travels and the lessons you learn along the way.
If you want to connect on Instagram, you can find me @ChelseaDinen where I share a lot of my day-to-day life living and traveling abroad. Come say hi!
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