The first question I was asked every time someone found out I was going on a three month trip to Japan was “Who are you going with?”. Most were stunned to find out I was going by myself and more stunned when they found out that I didn’t know anyone in Japan.
“So you’re just going by yourself?”
That’s was the plan. Although I did have Stephen Fung, Michael Kwan and John Chow around for some Dot Com adventures in Taiwan and Carl Nelson joined me for a week in Tokyo, for the vast majority of the time, I was solo. I had my own apartment in a city where I didn’t speak the language or know anyone. Why?
- You make all the decisions. Whatever you want to do, you can do. No need to discuss or vote, just do whatever you feel like. Of course, this doesn’t sound like a big deal but if you’ve ever been on vacation with a group of friends, stuff like this will pop up here and there. You might have a lazy friend who wouldn’t want to trek to a remote part of town to go to a fantastic restaurant or climb a mountain to reach a zen temple. You might have a…”thrifty” friend who would be opposed to spending a couple hundred bucks on concert tickets or going for an expensive dinner.
- There’s no schedule but your own. This was probably the biggest deal for me. As much as I absolutely loved backpacking through Europe with my friends a few years back, I didn’t have the time to take all the pictures I wanted or stay in certain areas as long as I could. When you’re by yourself, you don’t have to abide by any schedule but your own. If I wanted to spend 8 hours in Yoyogi Park hanging out with the street musicians and taking their portraits, I can. If I just wanted to go shopping for a whole day, I would. It’s also not just about getting what you want but when you’re with others, you have to be considerate of their preferences as well. Honestly, I’d probably feel bad if they let me just sit around and take pictures all day and hold them up too. This is also especially important if you’re on a different sleep schedule…I mean, if you’re like me and like to stay out all night.
- You meet new friends. Of course, this probably isn’t for everyone. I luckily am rather extroverted and can talk to just about anyone. It works the other way around too. Solo travelers are more approachable than those in groups. Meeting new people opens opportunities for adventures you probably would not have had otherwise. I mean, making a new friend might mean you end up at a cool party, at an awesome restaurant you had no idea existed or listening to a great band at a surprise live show. Sure, people we know give us comfort but if you’re into the unexpected, you’ll have a lot of fun traveling by yourself. Be spontaneous!
- You’ll pick up a language faster. This, of course, doesn’t really apply if you’re traveling in a country that speaks your native tongue but I speak much more Japanese now than when I started and I credit this to the fact that I was completely forced to learn everything I could. Until Ms. Danielle came to visit and go for sushi, I didn’t have a single full English conversation my entire time there and had only a couple until Carl came in early August. Granted my Japanese is still rather horrible but it is better than it would’ve been. When you don’t have any other English-speakers around, you interact more with the locals and that forces you to pick up your dictionary and phrase book and dig in. Luckily, Japanese folks are extremely polite and were more than willing to forgive my poor grasp of their language but hey, it got better!
- You’ll learn something about yourself. Traveling alone gives you a lot of time to think between broken conversations in languages you don’t comprehend. When you’re in your own head for a good amount of time, you think a lot more about things that you otherwise may not have. Also, unless you are entirely inept, you’ll learn that you can do a lot more than you previously thought.
Traveling solo can be a challenge at time since there’s really no one there for you to fall back on but that just means that when the fun kicks in, you’ll also have a sense of accomplishment. You’ll be more adventurous and spontaneous since there’s no one to tell people back home if you threw up in a taxi or something else embarrassing. Of course, this isn’t carte blanche to be a jackass.
Give the solo trip a shot sometime. You might surprise yourself with what you’re capable of and how alive you feel without any distractions.