Solo Backpacking, What I Learnt

While it’s debatable if solo travel is just heading out to travel alone or experiencing all our travel moments alone, taking the plunge to travel by ourselves is a brave step and it changes us in more ways than we can imagine. Solo backpacking is one of the most powerful ways to gain experiences and life lessons in a short span of time. It gives us the independence to experience what’s out there – beyond our comfort zones – by ourselves. No more making endlessly delayed plans with friends, no more waiting for the perfect traveling partner. Just ourselves and the resolve to take up a life changing sojourn. Much like the famed author has said ‘‘The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau.

And once we’ve taken the journey, it teaches us unparalleled life lessons. We are never truly alone when we travel solo; we meet people and see places that we never have before and that widens our horizons and our imaginations. After taking several solo trips, my journeys taught me some valuable life lessons. From being responsible about myself entirely to learning to love my own company.

What Solo Backpacking Taught Me

1. That the world is not as bad as it’s made out to be

With most media flooding us with information of whatever’s going wrong with the world, we tend be more fearful than necessary. It’s time that we pause, breathe and stop! The world is not as bad as it’s made out to be! Lots of people travel in the world and tourism is one of the fastest growing economic activities in the world.

As a UNWTO General Secretary pointed out, “International travel continues to grow strongly, consolidating the tourism sector as a key driver in economic development. As the third export sector in the world, tourism is essential for job creation and the prosperity of communities around the world.”

Even though there has been a lot of noise about growing political unrest in developing and developed world, people are continuing to travel.

According to research done by IPK, Perlin, Terror attacks and political unrest had no impact on the overall volume of worldwide outbound trips in 2017. The global travel industry remains on a growth path, led by Asian and US travellers. The number of outbound trips will probably increase by about 4-5% in the following year.

This just goes to show that traveling is here to stay and the fear-mongering factories need to take a backseat. Sure, being safe and taking precautions is important but to let fear get the better of us and not travel is the worst thing that we could do to ourselves. There a lots of locals out there who welcome, interact and take care of travellers and that’s what has kept things going till now.

road trip - backpackers car

2. Your ‘Comfort Zone’ truly is the worst place to be in

There’s nothing quite as limiting as staying within your own comfort zone. Familiarity truly breeds contempt – for our environment, for our horizons, for our limits and for our imagination. Learning to take our lives in our own hands is an important lesson that traveling alone teaches us. A life limited and restricted by air conditioning at a certain temperature, remote controlled by smartphones and laptops and by being around people who are social and cultural clones of us – what are the new things that we are learning by living lives of monotony? When we travel solo, we are compelled to take care of ourselves in a different environment. We get past language and cultural gaps and talk to people who we would never meet otherwise. From handling our budgets to taking care of ourselves when we fall sick – leaving your comfort zone for greater experiences is a good idea.

3. Material Possessions are in fact, Immaterial

So the wait to get the next best smartphone, the statement perfume that ‘defines’ you, the right ‘lipstick shade’, the right handbag, the right car, the next raise… The list is never-ending and before you know it the time when you could explore the world  is over. A memory collector, an experience collector, a traveler – these are better labels to have than to have no memories when we go to sleep at night.

learning a language
Use smartphone apps

4. Enjoying one’s own company is underrated

We cannot deny that we spend the most time with ourselves and it is important to enjoy your own company. It’s not about romanticizing loneliness but it’s about celebrating solitude. Our experiences, our travel stories, the countless strangers we encounter, the countless destinations we pass through are our very own collectibles.

5. Solo Backpacking is not as  ‘Hippie’ as it is made out to be

We have to take care of our tickets, our luggage, where to go, what to do, how to be safe, how to interact with people who do not speak the same language as us, how to manage on a fixed budget and all of this – single handedly. Not that being hippie is any kind of a pejorative term for me. But the independence, spirit and managing skills needed for solo travel call for more attentiveness than is usually attributed to pot-smoking hippies.

byron bay camping
Campground Byron Bay

6. Traveling is a lot more intimate than it’s usually considered

Group travel perplexes me simply because a significant amount of compatibility is needed between people. There are tourists who rush from one sightseeing escapade to another, from one experience to another in a manner that prioritises quick consumption of a destination over absorbing the essence of it. Travellers, as opposed to tourists, tend to value the essence more than anything else. A ‘boring’ day sipping coconut water by an infrequently visited beach is better than hopping 10 beaches for some. You usually uncover these traveling habits during the journey rather than knowing it all about people/friends before it begins. The places you visit, the conversations you have, the memories you make, the walks you take… These are very personal things and solo travel lets you keep these experiences – up, close and to yourself.

7. Being comfortable in silence needs patience

More often than not, during the course of our journey we spend our time in silence. Deep meaningful conversation through a journeys is the highlight of a trip rather than the norm. Because of the frequency of silence during solo backpacking trips, it becomes important to be comfortable in silence; to be comfortable in your thoughts and to let the destination do the talking – metaphorically. It can be hard to be comfortable with silence as we tend to look towards doing something.

traveling alone solo backpacking
Don’t be afraid to do things by yourself

8. Traveling is an opportunity to give back to society

Traveling makes us a part of a global village. Whenever we head to a new destination, we leave a part of us there which stays forever. The memories and experiences that we have become etched in our hearts. If such is the impact of traveling then it can certainly be used for a greater cause. This idea struck me when I met some ‘voluntourists’ during one of my trips in South East Asia. I decided to take it up myself and it was then that I stumbled upon a responsible travel option across South East Asia. I headed to Chiang Mai and spent a few days with the hill-tribes of Ban Mae Jok. A truly riveting experience, as I watched how beautifully and sustainably the tribes lived. The photo album and travel journal that I filled from there are my priceless collectibles.

While it can be debated what solo backpacking is exactly, the fact is that solo traveling is a thoroughly life changing experience. We head out on solo backpacking trips in search of experiences but return as storytellers. Come join the solo travel club, it’s a coveted one for sure.

Author: Aparna is a 20-something Critical Humanities and Indie Movie Enthusiast who likes to travel, mostly solo, is here to share stories and get travel inspirations.

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