What fills your soul in a way that nothing else can? Are you mountains or ocean? Sun or snow? Adventurer or relaxer? If you plan to fill your life with travel, getting to know yourself and your own travel style is incredibly important. And the only way to truly discover that is to venture out on your own.

I’ve always been an independent soul. However, I was never one to venture out of the country alone, as travel relies heavily on my greatest weakness (directional ability).

But having sipped from the sweet cup of solo travel and subsequently been absolutely intoxicated by the experience, I am evermore convinced that everyone should take at least one solo trip in their lives. Preferably out of the country.

Solo travel awakens so much inside of you. You discover what you’re made of. You’re intensely attuned to your surroundings. You’re free to do whatever—and whenever—you want. You discover your own motivations and learn so much about yourself.

On my first solo adventure, I discovered that what I thought my motivations for travel were—were not actually so. I used to travel because I thought I needed an escape from my life in the city, but it turns out that my travel motivation is much more pure. In my core, I am wanderer, an adventurer.

I want to see the world. I want to feel so infinitely small on a dot of a land in the middle of a vast ocean, and then step into the water and feel instantly connected to the world. I want to swim with wild creatures and feel even more alive for having taken the chance. I want to look up at the night sky and see different constellations than I’ve seen before.

But even more than that, I want to face the fears that have the potential to hold me back. I want to confirm—over and over—that I am strong enough and capable enough to do life the way I want to.

Before I even booked that first solo trip, I was thoroughly convinced that international travel was something that I couldn’t do on my own. Now I *may* have to be convinced to not travel solo.

The only way that I was able to discover these things was by taking that first trip. I got to overcome inevitable challenges by myself. To navigate  unfamiliar transportation. To book my own excursions. To plan my own days. To do whatever, whenever I wanted. All without having to ask someone else “do you want to _____?” All without having to ask someone else “will you do ______ because I’m not good at that.”

It was, in a word, empowering.

And that’s the virtue of it. No matter where you go solo, the journey is as much a discovery of self as it is a discovery of a new place.

-jz

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