Many of my family and friends still don't know how I did it. I went solo on the majority of my travels, and heck, I even surprised myself. Traveling solo is one of the things in life that taught me the most about myself. I gained so much self confidence and courage; it's unreal. It showed me how determined I actually am. On the scale of extrovertedness and introvertedness, I ranked somewhere closer to the introverted side. But traveling solo made me tip that scale a little bit. I had to go out of my comfort zone and talk to "strangers" if I needed help, such as when asking for directions. I consider myself VERY lucky that the strangers I talked to were pleasant and didn't take advantage of a young American traveler. I'm even luckier that some of the strangers became friends.
Trust issues could definitely come into play--after all, you don't know these people. Not to say that you should stereotype or judge people, but you should be cautious of who you trust. Be aware of your surroundings. Typically, you should not tell people that you are alone or tell them where you are staying. Just be smart, be careful, and have common sense.
If you trust some strangers and end up having good experiences like I did, it may actually help restore or strengthen your faith in humanity. Despite all of the bad stories that you may hear in the media, there ARE nice people out there! Countless people have given me directions and taken my picture for me. I have shared small talk and smiles with many people on trains. And one time, I didn't have credit on my cell phone and a guy let me use his cell phone to call the hostel I was staying at to let them know that I was going to be late.
Was being a lonely traveler lonely? Well, a lot of the time, yes. I think it's pretty much bound to happen. There is such a thing as too much alone time, but having some alone time and traveling by oneself could be nice. On long train rides, you have time to just think, daydream, journal, listen to music, etc. If you end up taking in the sights by yourself, you can go where you want to go. You make up your own agenda.
On the majority of my weekend trips, I would travel to the various places and meet up with people living there, so I didn't exactly spend the whole weekend by myself. It was great to see them and as a bonus, I also got to have a personal tour guide(s)! I met a lot of new people (their family and friends) and am glad that I am able to keep in touch with them via Facebook. The train rides back to Konstanz from weekends such as these were always lonely, since I had just spent days with people (who spoke English!) and then I was again with only me, myself, and I.
Would it have been nice to travel with someone else? Probably. Would I ever travel alone again? Absolutely. Traveling--especially solo--gives one a sense of responsibility, freedom, courage, and confidence that is hard to find elsewhere. I miss that feeling. I definitely got the travel bug while I was abroad, and right now, I just want to go. Anywhere. If I have a travel buddy, great! If I don't, then that's okay, too!...if only I didn't have school to worry about right now haha. Oh well, more travel adventures will come soon!
Peace. Love. Happiness.
--TR
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