Traveling in Solitude

what I learned after traveling solo internationally.

I was always waiting for the perfect opportunity to travel. One day, I realized that I was the only person holding me back. You don’t need to wait until your friends save enough money for a vacation. You don’t need to wait until your partner’s time-off request is approved. You don’t need permission to live the life you want to live. Many times we think we need permission from others when it’s really about giving ourselves the permission to simply do what we want to do and be who we want to be. When you finally have the courage to travel alone, you experience what it’s like to have complete control of your life. Anything you want to do, you can do. It’s not a matter of if you can make it happen; it’s a matter of how you can make it happen.

Traveling solo internationally was once one of my biggest fears; now it’s one of my proudest life accomplishments. You learn about true self-reliance. You submerge yourself into uncomfortable situations where you have to think on your feet, analyzing maps and your surroundings, absorbing as much information as possible to make sense of the new environment you’re in.

You also learn that every action you take has a direct consequence, no matter how little it seems. Imagine the stories that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for a specific sequence of choices and connections. What if you decided to stay at a hotel instead of hostel? What if you decided to look through people’s stories on Instagram for an hour instead of having a conversation with your bunkmate? Traveling alone creates an environment for you to relive your child-like curiosity and courage, often leading to the most meaningful human connections and explorations of quintessential sights in each city.

You learn that language isn’t the only way to form a connection; sometimes it’s through art, music, food, culture, and even pain. A few years ago, I befriended a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan during my travels in Berlin. He barely spoke any English, and Google translate could only do so much. We spent the next few days hanging out together and connecting through art and music, from taking pictures of street graffiti to exploring underground nightlife. I felt the sadness in his eyes as I waved goodbye from the train platform. It was an empathy that I hadn’t experienced before. I felt like my fleeting kindness triggered a familiar bittersweet pain in his heart. On one side, I felt the pain he felt after his parents were murdered by terrorists who hated them solely based on their ethnic heritage. On the other side, I felt like my optimistic spirit, although just a memory now, reminded him of possibility and hope of seeking refuge and a new life in Germany.

These experiences while traveling alone have shown me how soft your heart can be when you have an open mind. You become more patient; you listen before speaking; you embrace people’s differences; you reflect before assuming. When we judge others, it’s a reflection of our past pain left unhealed. When we look beyond what we perceive things to be, we open up and express our imperfections and pain that make us human.