Recently, I took my first (of hopefully many) solo trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, and now I’m a huge advocate. I’ve flown by myself many times over the years, but I’ve always had a friend or family member I met up with once I arrived at my destination. This trip is the first time I was completely on my own from getting to the airport to touring the city alone. It was a short trip, only 2 nights, and that was done on purpose. I’ve never been afraid of traveling alone, but I had no idea if I was going to be able to handle the solitude. You see, I’m very social and despite being very independent, I do not like being alone. This trip was a test, and if you’re wondering, I passed.
The first night I made friends with a couple of girls on the ghost tour (recommend!) I had pre-booked and ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night. And that’s rule #1 of traveling solo – Make friends. I actually like to call them Single Serving Friends, because you only enjoy their companionship them once in your life before moving on. These friends can make (or break) your trip as it can ease the loneliness, relieve the uncertainty that comes with something new (i.e. trying to find your bus stop), and create many fond memories. And then, you will move on to your next destination feeling so empowered.
I also have to thank to texting/social media for being able to stay in touch with my family and friends while I was away. That helped a lot, talking to my daughter each night and my friends during the day was a huge help when I was sitting at a restaurant alone with no one to talk to. On the other hand, it was super nice to have some peace and quiet for once.
It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you step out of your comfort zone. I found that I am a very capable person and that’s something to be proud of! Life is entirely too short to sit around waiting for someone to go with you. Do the thing you want! Make your own adventures! Don’t let someone else hold you back. You will be okay.
Another huge lesson I learned was that I cannot wing a trip. It works for a lot of people, but it does not work for me! By nature, I am a planner. Planning a trip is just as much for me as actually going on the trip. That said, this trip I thought, “Self, maybe I will go with the flow this trip and see how it is.” And that was a fail, because aside from the TWO activities I booked in advance (before leaving), I only did ONE other thing. I ended up spending a lot of time in my hotel room, sleeping and watching TV. I found that regardless of how you normally plan your vacations, unless your plan is to sit by the pool all day, you probably should plan in advance 1-2 things you are going to do each day. After that, it can be spontaneous, but you should have a rough outline if you are going to go solo.
Also, check out restaurants in the area prior to leaving. I discovered that a lot of the restaurants within walking distance of my hotel closed in the afternoon, which made it difficult finding a place to eat when I was hungry. Another issue is that a LOT of restaurants are closed right now due to staffing shortages. They had signs hanging on their doors and windows explaining that. Had I done a little research about the area beforehand, I might have been made aware of that situation.
That said, traveling is all about perspective (as is much in life) and instead of being upset that I didn’t experience as much as I wanted. I’m choosing to look at it as a time I was able to get away and relax, because as a mother to a young child and an owner of two businesses (plus a part time job on the side), getting to truly unwind doesn’t happen often. Not even on my travels.
The trickiest part of traveling solo is trying to take flattering photos. Just ask someone to take your photo. It will be worth it.
I also learned that airports still make me happy.
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