The End of Solo Travel

As I’m about to leave Bulgaria and head back home, I have something to confess: I’m done with solo travel.

It’s not that it hasn’t been fun or that I haven’t learned a lot from it, it’s just that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. If you spend any time reading some of the popular travel blogs, you’ll find articles about how solo travel is great and that really, it’s the only way to travel. Many of these articles will tell you you’re missing out on a new culture by going with a friend, since you don’t get to completely immerse yourself in a culture.

I have to say that’s a fallacy and it honestly makes me think of hipster kitty.

Really, I think you should travel any way that makes you happy. If you feel comfortable on tours, great. Want to go it alone? No problem! Feel like taking your best friend? Fantastic idea!

I think the way of travel you prefer can change over time, too.

I’ve always had trouble leaving for trips. Saying goodbye to my dogs has been the hardest part, but there’s also that part of me that’s been scared to go – a bit of fear of the unknown. Of course, once I get somewhere, it’s no big deal and I settle in. Travelling alone has had its advantages, experience-wise, but lately, I find I like and even need that comfort of going with a friend.

The trouble is, when you’re travelling alone, you come home after its over and you’re the only one with your memories. There’s no one to share it with, no one to laugh with you when you think back on those slightly sketchy situations you might have found yourself in and how funny they are in hindsight. It’s just you, your journal, and your mind.

With this post, I officially declare and end to the solo-travel for me. From now on, when I travel, someone is coming with me.

And I’m not ashamed to say it.