By Ann Abel, Well Good
Women are hitting the road
in record numbers—whether or not they have a travel companion. Why wait
until you find someone with the exact same interests, schedule, and
finances to go adventuring?
[post_ads_2]
I’ve learned this firsthand—as a travel writer, I’ve spent much of
the past decade by myself in far-flung places. I know I’m a better
person because of it: more patient, more confident, and way more in
touch with myself. It makes it easier to make friends. What could be
wrong with that?
“I have thoughts like, Girl, you climbed Machu Picchu on your period—you got this!”
Okay, things could go wrong. There’s a reason that fear stands
between many women and travel. There’ll be lonely moments, and there’ll
be shady situations. You need to be smart—but that doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t explore.
“Traveling isn’t always easy,” says Kelly Lewis, the founder of the Women’s Travel Fest conference, the female tour company Damesly, and Go! Girl Guides,
which offer female travelers solid advice (think: avoid the beach at
night, establish boundaries with men, look for other women, be aware of
who’s around you—and your bag). “It’ll push you, check your ego, and
stretch your comfort level…but it’s always surprising. Ultimately, it
makes you realize just how strong and capable you are. I have thoughts
like, Girl, you climbed Machu Picchu on your period—you got this!”
Here are 4 life lessons traveling by yourself can teach you, according to women who seriously love exploring on their own.
1. You can’t control everything
“What keeps women from traveling is fear,” says Lewis. “Fear of the
unknown, the unexpected, that everything won’t work out exactly as
planned. Being okay with that—and doing it anyway—is crucial. We can’t
control everything, and that’s part of the adventure.”
[post_ads_2]
The travel guru experienced this firsthand while at a train station
in India. “I wasted most of the day trying to buy tickets that I
ultimately couldn’t get,” she recalls. “It was hot and it took hours and
was unsuccessful—but then I stopped myself, smiled, and laughed. That
was what was in the cards for me that day, and I had to be okay with
that.”
2. Sometimes, you just need to do it
 |
| Photo: Stocksy/Alexander Grabchilev |
Paula Froelich, the former editor of Yahoo Travel and the producer of the (hilarious) blog and video series A Broad Abroad, says, “I always wanted to travel [in my early 20s], but there was an innate fear of actually doing
it. I’d talk about it, plan, then make an excuse…until one day, I
finally went. I moved to England with $600—and it was so much easier
than I’d tricked myself into believing.”
She stayed a couple years before returning to New York, and says that
today, she fully embraces a trigger-happy travel ethos. “If we take too
long to do something, we psych ourselves out. Now I tell people I’m
doing something before I do it to make sure I actually do it. Yes, I
still psych myself out and, yes, I still get intimidated. But pretend
you’re a Nike slogan: Just do it.”
3. Being your own BFF is awesome
 |
| Photo: Stocksy/Micky Wiswede |
In normal life, “we’re never alone—never quiet, never able to
actually sit and think, Who the hell am I?” says Froelich, an intrepid
traveler who’s taken solo trips to places like Afghanistan to go skiing.
And that’s what makes party-of-one adventures so fulfilling. “There’s
beauty and power in loneliness and embracing the fear of being
lonely—you can actually sit with yourself,” adds Froelich. “I always
quote [the movie] Buckaroo Banzai: ‘Wherever you go, there you
are.’ If you only have yourself for company, then you have to get to
know yourself and reconcile things you haven’t thought about in years.
You become your own best friend—something that eludes a lot of us. It’s
scary, it’s weird, and it’s wonderful.”
[post_ads_2]
4. Never underestimate the kindness of strangers
 |
| Photo: Stocksy/Studio Firma |
“The world is mostly safe, and people are mostly good. Don’t be
afraid to talk to strangers: The more people know you, the more they
look out for you,” says Lewis. “I’ve been in tough situations, but each
time, someone—seemingly out of nowhere—has come to my rescue.”
Like the time, on a long bus ride in Bolivia, she had befriended her
seatmate—and when the bus started to leave without her after a bathroom
break, that new friend made the driver turn around to let her back on
board. “Had I not been open to chatting with her, my fate would’ve been
really different.”
Prep for your trip with these genius packing tips from flight attendants. Just leave room for plenty of healthy snacks (you can use them to buddy up to your seatmates).
More from Well Good
