Having spoken to several people recently who have all expressed shock at my travelling alone as a solo female, it got me to thinking about different perceptions of solo travel. When I tell people tales of my latest travels I am soon asked “Who did you go with?” to which my reply of “No-one, I went by myself” is often met with a jaw hitting the floor. The next response is inevitably “Aren’t you brave!” (And I would like to point out that these responses have not just been gleaned from members of older generations but peers and like-minded individuals). You could analyse this statement in one of two ways. Either people are in awe of the fact that I have done something totally independent, or they are being extremely patronising and are under the assumption that I would never have the guts to do something as extravagant as going to a foreign country alone. I never stick around long enough to find out which one it is.
The modern day approach to travel and particularly women who travel alone is obviously not as clear-cut as I had assumed. I had, perhaps wrongly, believed that in this day and age there was no longer a stigma attached to women who wanted to see the world by themselves. The travellers’ network is so much more secure and structured than it used to be and the number of solo travellers has increased to such a level that no-one ever truly travels ‘alone’ anymore. As soon as you step foot inside a hostel these days you are guaranteed to make a host of new friends, some of whom you may end up travelling with long term.
Speaking to a trainer at my gym the other day I told her about my latest adventure and my plans for the next year and she replied “But didn’t people laugh at you for going by yourself? That’s what I’d be worried about”. This woman is probably no more than four or five years older than me, but I was actually lost for words (trust me, it doesn’t happen often!). The fact that she was so worried about what people would think about her being by herself that it was stopping her from travelling was a totally new concept to me.
It was actually entirely by chance that I started travelling alone. After coming out of a long term relationship, I was left in a situation where many of my friends were still in relationships and were holidaying with their partners and my singleton friends were struggling to find the money to travel with me. So, undeterred, I decided to go it alone. And I can honestly say it is the best way to travel. You can go where you want, when you want and spend as little or as long with the people that you meet as you decide (which you can’t do when you have travelled with someone and you’re bound to drive each other crazy after a while). It’s not brave, it’s just common sense.
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