When envisioning a travel day in your head, there are a couple visions that could pop up: One vision could include hustling through the airport with your family or friends by your side, joking with them in bag check queues and passing out (kind of) comfortably on one of their shoulders mid-flight. The other scenario entails a solo meander through airport corridors in search of your gate, wearing your headphones despite not listening to anything and timidly asking someone if the seat next to them on the plane is taken. While the former seems objectively better than the latter, I love the way traveling alone makes me feel.
If you read my last blog, “My Love Letter to the Airport,” it’s pretty evident that I have a strong passion for traveling. I have flown many miles since my early youth, especially since the two sides of my family lived on opposite sides of the country. I have also taken many international trips to visit friends and family abroad, so I am now very well-versed in the travel processes (although it hasn’t always been that way; I did leave my passport on the plane once when I was 12, but that’s a story for another time). Since moving to Berkeley from Southern California, I have flown sans companions more times than I can count.
This summer, however, I traveled exactly 5,831 miles by myself. I am spending this summer interning in Madrid, and let me just say, the journey from California to Spain is no easy little travel day — I visited a total of five airports and spent too much money on the inflated prices of airport restaurants. However, despite the multiple layovers and bags that weighed more than my standard poodle (the biggest one), not once did I wish someone was there to accompany me.
Traveling alone gives me a sense of independence and autonomy. There I am, navigating high-stakes circumstances where so many things could go wrong without anyone there to help me. Traveling requires micromanagement to ensure you (and your bags!) get to your desired destination, which is obviously easier with more hands on deck. Not to mention, if you screw up, you’re stuck with a lengthy and expensive process to make sure your travel plans aren’t disrupted — especially for international travel. But when I accomplish a seamless travel day by myself, I get a rush of empowerment and self-sufficiency.
However, one thing I don’t like about traveling alone is the ensuing boredom. On my venture to Spain, I had a four hour layover in Lisbon, Portugal. I probably wandered around the petite airport five consecutive times, walking about 10,000 steps. With my family and friends asleep and zero understanding of Portuguese, I was stuck with my bags, headphones and retching anticipation to get to Spain already. To the employee who saw me pass by the O Mercado five or six times, in retrospect, I should’ve bought a pastel de nata, or custard tart, for my flight.
While traveling with company is generally more enjoyable, I find that I appreciate traveling alone even more. As an independent person, I like the time to myself to do my own thing, whether it is finishing a couple chapters of my book, curating my Spotify playlists or writing my blogs. Traveling is the perfect time to mentally recuperate. With each solo trip, I feel like I gain a stronger sense of responsibility and discipline, giving me the confidence that I can accomplish much more difficult endeavors in the future without the assistance of others.
So if you have never traveled alone and are nervous about it, I promise you will be just fine. Just make sure that you are on time and that you have your boarding pass, passport and a positive attitude that everything will be alright. Take a deep breath, and enjoy the journey!