Why you should travel alone at least once in your life
"Today, yes, yes, just today, it's been half a year since I took the plane that took me to Bangkok . And today, just today, I want to share with you the conclusion I have reached after these months: traveling alone is easier than traveling alone ". This is how one of her posts begins Patricia Jiménez, the adventurer behind the blog ** Drop everything and go .**
This nomad knows well what she is talking about she has been on the road since 2014. It was then that she left her position as R&D technician in a pharmaceutical company and she traveled to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina. In addition, she has done the Camino del Norte to Santiago and right now she is on tour in south america , where she plans to visit "at least" Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia and Peru.
Nevertheless, embarking on that endless route was not easy: "He had many fears ... to get bored, to get sick, for something bad to happen to me, for someone to hurt me, not to enjoy myself, to fail with my dream, to feel alone... I was wearing one heavily loaded backpack she says with a giggle.
Nevertheless, after the refusal of her entourage to undertake that first trip behind his back, she decided: "Although since I was little I had moved around Europe alone, I always did it to settle down for a while in some city. It was in May when, after burning all the cartridges and trying to convince people to join my plan to travel for a season, I was aware that if I wasn't traveling alone I wouldn't do it, and I decided to do it: I left to Asia without a return ticket ".
Of course, the idea has given him many more joys than disappointments , and she actually considers that "every woman should travel alone at some point in her life" . "You don't need to grab your backpack and go without a return ticket to Asia, but at least escape for a weekend in Spain or a week in Europe. Take time for yourself, get to know each other and learn to be alone should be a maxim for every woman," she explains.
Don't just stare at the world from the window... Throw yourself into it!
Of the same opinion is Natalia Lagunas, Professor of the Department of Psychology at the European University and PhD in Neuroscience. "Traveling alone is a recommended experience for anyone, because in addition to allowing us to get to know each other better, it will also help us evaluate the social and emotional resources we have ", she comments.
For example, traveling alone "will allow us learn coping strategies (coping) with which we have before stressful events with whom we are not usually in contact. To further improve our self-knowledge, we can take a travel diary , in which we will write down all the experiences lived during the day ", Lagunas continues.
"An example of its benefits is found in a study conducted in 2011 by the University of Wolverhampton, in which a woman who conducted expeditions to the North Pole He kept a diary of her experiences. This allowed him identify which were the situations that stressed you the most, ranging from adverse environmental conditions, to personal challenges or the progress of the research project in which she was working. This analysis was useful to know what coping strategies did she use in the face of those stressors and to assess the effectiveness of those strategies and be able to improve them on successive expeditions," explains the Doctor. "The situations we face may not be the same as this explorer's, but the self-awareness strategy can be just as enriching."
Traveling alone you are free to enjoy as you want!
Lagunas also agrees with Jiménez that there is no need, from the outset, to set out to go around the world: "Perhaps a short trip and to places with certain comforts is the best start to identify the problems that can be an added stress in our adventure. This first “comfortable” trip can allow us evaluate our coping strategies, improve them and then embark on an adventure that demands greater capacities from us and in which our previous experience can be of great help ", she comments.
Jimenez delves a little deeper into this idea, telling us: " I don't think there is a type of woman who is more prepared than another to travel , but I believe that there is a type of trip for each traveler. You just have to find yours ". In fact, she has found profiles of all kinds in her journeys: "I think that sometimes we think that the traveling woman has to be determined, strong and sociable, and although in many cases it is like that, also there are more introverted and more doubtful travelers. Afterwards, each one has her own reasons for doing it. There are women who need time to think , others to pamper themselves and others that just need to move", explains the author of Leave it all and go.
A trip for every traveler
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION
" Traveling alone is no more dangerous than traveling alone. Traveling alone is like traveling alone. So why do we have this idea, etched in stone, that traveling alone is much more dangerous? Why do we need continuous confirmation that a woman can travel alone? Women have always been considered the weak sex. Year after year, century after century, we have been convinced that we are more vulnerable. We need to be protected we have to walk in a group and we should not walk unaccompanied at night. Nevertheless, we are stronger than we think ".
This is how the chapter begins Is it dangerous to travel alone? of the book that Patricia sends you when you subscribe to her mailing list to encourage you to try the solo adventure honeys . "Traveling alone you will find support in many people who think they should protect you . Men who believe that the world is difficult for women and will want to help you. Guys who will try to make your stay easier. You'll find mothers who will help you as they would like someone to do with their daughters, older sisters who will want to help you and little sisters who will want be close to you so you can tell them about your adventures And the best? Only those women already make up 50% of the population and live in all parts of the world. Because a woman will defend another if she believes that she is alone and in trouble " she continues.
In fact, when we ask what what has surprised her the most about traveling alone At this time, she replies without hesitation: " I have surprised myself , how comfortable I feel and how much i learned either; She has surprised me by the fear that other women (non-travellers) express when you tell them that you are going alone. But above all, she has surprised me, and she continues to surprise me, how others turn to help you ".
Traveling alone doesn't have to be dangerous
Thus, the advice of this globetrotter for those who carry the bundle on their shoulders is none other than... the one she would give to a man: "So that traveling alone is not dangerous, you simply have to have the same precautions that would have the one who travels alone. It is a mistake to believe that man, by virtue of being a man, thinks he is 100 percent safe when traveling unaccompanied. They also have to they don't feel particularly strong, that they are afraid or that they fear encountering groups that could harm them. That's why everyone when traveling alone has to be r attentive to the events that occur around you, trust your common sense (something that is sharpened alone) and travel within your comfort zone (it will be the journey itself who takes you out of it without looking for it) .
Lagunas, for his part, agrees with Patricia, although with nuances: " If proper precautions are taken, traveling to the places you want to visit should not be a problem. If we are not sure about the risks, we can consult the Internet sites where other women who travel alone tell their experiences. Some of them, like Girl about the globe and Solo Travel Girl, can be a source of inspiration, in addition to helping us answer questions," she tells us.
Nevertheless, the psychologist believes that traveling alone is easier than doing it alone. "Not only because of emotional factors -emotional independence is usually reinforced more in men than in women-; social factors may be less favorable for the women. In other words, we cannot ignore the fact that there are places and situations in which being a woman is a disadvantage, but not traveling does not make us immune to the dangers ", she concludes.
In any case, traveler, The decision is in your hands . We can help you with these ** tips for solo travel ** and ** these wonderful destinations ** to get you started; Patricia also offers to do it on her website, having a "virtual coffee" with you and even giving you a hand with the trip planning. You dare?
It may be the best thing that happens to you in life!