In my humble opinion, being a solo traveller for many years, and writing from my personal experience, there’s two simple reasons why people choose to travel alone.
1) The most obvious is to see the world and experience different cultures, meet new people & see new places & the beauty that our amazing planet has to offer. Simple, right!
2) To change, transform themselves & or for spiritual development and growth. This could be followed after a break up or some form of stress in their life, & or a need to deepen & connect with themselves.
*We, are our best teachers. Our mind is our teacher, our body is the student.
I have met many types of people in my life, & on my world travels,. Im currently making my way around India, South East Asia, & now Indonesia. Some are just simply travelling or backpacking in groups or with their friend/partner, experiencing & having fun, drinking, partying, not thinking about anything, just looking to meet new people, see new places, some are looking for adventure, diving, climbing, etc, to challenge themselves, some are looking for culture and history, and then there are others, the slightly more conscious crowd, looking to deepen their awareness of the world around them for their own spiritual and personal growth.
So here’s where conscious solo travelling comes in:
Whatever path we are on, when we apply mindfulness and awareness in to our daily lives, as we move around, this facilitates great change, from deep within, at soul and ancestral level. Instead of closing ourselves off to the other nations, caused by our social conditioning and programming, we begin to slowly understand the cultural differences, the needs, the way others behave the way they do, the reciprocated or non reciprocated attitudes, we try to understand, to make sense of it all. We learn to become more understanding of our vast differences, from east to west, and vice versa, and what separates one culture form another, we grow or deepen our compassion, we begin to accept & adapt to the ways of other religions, respect their beliefs & actions. We look. We feel. We become even more conscious as our awareness deepens. We observe. We study. And most importantly, we study ourselves, our reactions, our feelings, our emotions, as we process it all. The polarities, diversities & extremities become so clear, like black & white.. Its eye opening. Sometimes jaw dropping!
We learn so much about ourselves when we travel alone. Something we can’t really do when we are in a group, or with a partner/friend. When we are alone, there are no distractions. We face ourselves, face our fears, we have to, we understand our own needs, what we can handle, what we can’t handle, but have to anyway, coz we’re here, dealing with all the shit around us, the challenges, the poverty, the animals, the kids, the begging, the vast homelessness, the stench, the dirt, all the stuff you see in Asia or poorer countries, it takes us out of our comfort zone into the rawness of life, no longer safe & mollycoddled by our home comforts. This is the ‘stuff’ that makes us grow, makes us stronger as we learn to handle it…….’like a boss!’ .. ☺️ ….. or you don’t, you run away, bury your head in the sand & return home, tail between your legs back to the comfort of your world, & you continue to ‘sleep’..
(Maybe your soul simply wasn’t ready for the transformation ….. It will be, one day. Don’t give up).
But you know, wherever you run, you cannot escape it, you will never forget the experiences, coz it stays with you, forever, until finally, you process and face it….. maybe you continue the journey after recharging…. and then suddenly, you notice you’ve changed. Forever.
Ye, that’s right, you just woke up! Hello! ☺️
So if you have never travelled on your own, I highly recommend you or anyone to do it.
Go! Face yourself. Face your fears. Get on that plane, or in your car, on the train, even if it’s just a weekend lone trip in your own country to begin with, then try a few days in Barcelona, or Rome, or a beach break, then extend it to a week to Greece or Spain, or somewhere not so far away from your own culture, grow stronger as you travel, until you find the courage to just go for it! I promise you, you will never look back. It’s life changing! In ways you can never have possibly imagined!
You can do it! If I can, so can you…..
I was petrified the first time I left, terrified of flying, of public transport in poorer countries.. But I did my research, I spoke to friends that had travelled to places I dreamed about, I googled Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor, sites that helped ‘en route’ …. I found it all soooooooo easy once I arrived, even in India, I grew in confidence, so many people help you out there when you are alone, so you are, in fact, never alone.
Advise: Just be sensible, read about the culture & do your homework before you go. Trust me, you will be fine! ☺️
Im now five months into my solo journey around Asia & Indonesia, my eyes are wide open, my heart is wide open. Im in love with life! Its fascinating. Im also vulnerable, I’m overwhelmed at times, Im in awe, Im amazed daily by things & people, Im loving every single last one of my experiences, the good, the bad & the ugly!
Im forever changed! More Mindful. More Conscious. More Awake then ever before! Im strong, Im bold, & I feel truly blessed & full of gratitide. Qualities that are so very necessary now in this challenging existence we live in.
So. What are you waiting for. Book that flight. Get out your case or backpack. Get on that plane. Dont plan, just start somewhere & see where it takes you, thats what I did. Im now in beautiful Bali, & will tommorrow be in the Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok. How awesome is that!?
See you around, somewhere.
Safe travels my friends.
Wishing you a magnificent adventure 💖
Namaste
Mia 🙏
If you need any help or coaching/guidance with anything, feel free to contact me via email @ dawnmiarenner@hotmail.com …… I am a professional self development and mindfulness coach and happy to help anyway I can 💖
Light & love