Hello guys!
It's been a while since I last wrote on this blog and this is due to university's commitments.
Some were shocked after learned that I went alone to Lithuania and Latvia, two Baltic EU states, alone, without any travel partner, as some don't even know where these two countries are. I completely understood that. While most of the people prefer travelling in a group (and sometimes me too), I believe that you should travel alone at least once or twice.
I'll explain my points based on my previous experiences:
It's strange, but I heard this phrase a lot from my friends of European origin. But here's the point: if you travel alone, chances are that you will stay in a hostel to reduce costs. You may even consider using Couchsurfing as a hospitality exchange platform to build new friendships. Such platforms are chances for you to meet new people. Who would even know that in Vilnius I met three awesome roommates; a Georgian solo adventurer who started travelling to the EU after visa restrictions were lifted, a researcher from Poland who spent 12 hours in a Vilnian library for each day of stay and an Australian who is waiting for his visa to meet his Russian wife in Moscow!
There's one similarity between us: all of us were solo travellers too!
2. Language immersion
I've written about my experiences speaking Russian in Latvia here, even though at that time I was in my fifth month of learning it. Well, any languages will do. Imagine anyone who's learning my native language comes to Malaysia and stay with a local family; trying to speak in our native language. They will surely help him, and I see this case is stronger in countries where English is either not really popular or is taught but rarely spoken on the streets.
3. Getting out of the comfort zone
When you travel as a group, the group leader will delegate tasks to each of the trip members. Let's say you will be travelling to Amsterdam and Bruges in a group of 4. Each will organise transportation, food, accommodation and arrange the tentative respectively. If you're travelling alone, you need to learn them all. This will give a valuable experience to be utilised when planning for your next travel; either in a group or solo.
TL;DR
I can't deny the fact that solo travel can be quite risky sometimes. However, if you read the stories of successful people; they have one thing in common: They take risks. When they failed, they learned so that the mistake will not be repeated again. So keep calm, explore the world and meet new people along the way!
See you soon and safe travels!
Wan
30 Mar 2018
London, GB
