Saturday 21 March 2015

Things I have learned from travelling (solo)

When I first started travelling I had no idea where it was going to take me. All I had was this great and overwhelming desire to move my feet and see the world, if I am honest I didn't really have a plan or do an incredible amount of research. The words of those around me back home were either tinged with negativity and doubt or overwhelming excitement and my own nervousness was clawing at the back of my mind but on the road, I have never felt more contented and happy than I have in the last several years of my life.

Travelling has a way of showing you what really matters in life and travelling solo teaches you lessons you would never have learnt if you hadn't had booked that ticket. It has changed me in this short period of time already and this is what is has taught me;

It is OK to be yourself. 
I'm not saying I was never myself back home but I always felt like a fragmented version of myself. There were very few people I felt I could be my true self around and I always had a guard up as, like some people will agree, I felt I had been hurt by those I considered close to me before. Travelling has made me be truer to myself and realise it's OK to not try to please everyone else at the sacrifice of my own happiness.

You cannot please everyone all the time.
I definitely try to please as many people as possible and this used often came with the reparation of my own time or at personal cost. For me it is in my nature to want to please everyone, but I have had to come to accept that you cannot please everybody 100% of the time, you can only do your best sometimes that won't be good enough for some people but so long as you know you tried you have nothing to be worried about. I now spend less time than I used to worrying about what people think of me and more time musing about where to go and what to do next.

You will make families wherever you are.
Travelling solo you are never really alone. You will meet people and make friends, some will be there for a few weeks and others for a few hours so there is never much opportunity to feel lonely. You develop families in every place you go. For me I have had my East Coast Family, Tour Family and Farm family so far and that's only after travelling for 6 months. These people do genuinely feel like a family away from home. You support each other through the good times and the bad, through the laughter and the tears. You will fight like siblings and then in the way that only siblings can be best friends again 10 minutes later.

Help comes from the most unexpected of places
It's a great idea to always keep hold of any contact you make, no matter where you meet them or how long for because help will always come from the place you least expect it. When I was searching for my regional work I set off a quick message on Facebook out of frustration and I had an inbox message back from someone I had onto spent 2 days with 2months before saying I could join her on a farm she was heading to. Travellers love to help other travellers and some have bigger hearts than others and will almost literally go out of their way for you. 
You are stronger than you realise, and you get over things quicker than you anticipate.
You never know quite how much you can take until you are on your own, on the opposite side of the world, with no one but yourself to rely on. Sometimes you come out laughing and sometimes you come out broken but what is amazing is how quickly you can recover after sitting yourself down and saying "pull yourself together". Travel will make you twice as resilient as you thought you could be. 

Laughter is essential
If you can't laugh about a situation what can you do? You will go through so many different experiences some good, some bad and some just weird but if you laugh it off, even if it takes you a day to do so, it will make the experience so much more enjoyable for yourself.

Things won't always go to plan but sometimes the bad things can be good.
While not everything will go to plan it doesn't mean that the bad things that happen to you along the way or that stop your plans from happening are always bad. I am a firm believer in everything happening for a reason and that if something isn't meant to be it won't but it may lead you to better things. Keep an open heart and don't plan on sticking to a regimented plan and just see where the world takes you. For better or worse it will be an amazing journey. 

16 comments:

  1. This post reminds me of my younger days, lol. I did so much solo travelling between 17 and 26. Sometimes I miss those days. But you are correct, you do learn so much about yourself.

    Beauty Isles | An Island Girl's Beauty and Lifestyle Blog

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    1. I'm so grateful to have had the experience. Tell me Kimmy where were your best experiences travelling?

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  2. Hi Emily Louise!

    I've never travelled solo'cause i've always been a bit scared at the thought of it, but your post is really inspiring!
    Keep on being so positive!

    Have a lovely day!

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    1. Thanks Silvia, I wont promise my next post being as positive but I have always said that I wanted to share what is real not just a 'polished' perception of what is going on.

      I'm so glad you enjoyed this post and found it inspiring. If you ever want to have a chat about solo travel feel free to drop me an email.

      Thanks for commenting.

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  3. I love this post! can't wait to travel alone someday to know what it feels like !
    Jade x

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    1. Thank you! It is an incredible experience, and as I said above you learn so much about yourself and what you want/need in life. So excited for your future plans x

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  4. Great post. I would love to solo travel!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Elisa, where would you like to travel and when?

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  5. Great post! I've only ventured to London and York on my own haha but I really enjoyed being able to go off and do things independently, I'd love to be ballsy enough to travel abroad alone, I think it'd be an amazing experience. Thanks for sharing your useful tips :)


    VioletDaffodils
    xx

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    1. I think anyone can be ballsy enough to tavel abroad alone, the only person stopping you is yourself. Thats another thing I learned. So happy your enjoyed the post. x

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  6. What a great post.
    to this day I have never travelled solo but I have never had the opportunity to do so I have always been in relationships so I have always travelled with my partner.
    After reading this post it's inspired me to at least try and travel solo.

    Andrea
    https://beautywithandrea36.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. It is definitely worth doing at least once in your life Andrea. I'm glad it has inspired you, thanks so much :)

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  7. I totally love this post! I went traveling last year and I'm going again next year because I love flying solo. It's something I'll cherish forever x

    Sam // Samantha Betteridge

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    1. Thanks for commenting Sam. I'm so excited for you to go travelling again! Where are you going? I hope you have a wonderful time.

      Travel does give us memories we cherish forever and they are so potent. Wishing you the best with your adventure. x

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  8. I love solo travel as well, it doesn't happen as much anymore but you do learn so much from it as you have said! I'm just glad I get to keep up a whole lot of travel at the moment too :D x

    Jasmin Charlotte

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    1. That's great to hear Jasmin! Even if you can't travel solo long term getting in lots of mini adventures is always worthwhile. Where have you been going to? X

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