Looking Forward: My First Solo Trip

“Alone! Are you mad?”

“It’ll be so boring.”

“It won’t be safe. You have never done this.”

“What will you do? Who will you chill with?”

These were only a handful of the comments and questions thrown at me when I told friends and family of my plan to embark on solo trip to Vietnam.

When I initially thought about embarking on a solo trip, I didn’t have a clear reason. I just want to travel before I begin work after graduating in May – none of my friends want to go on a trip, but I need to explore a new country one final time with no commitments. The more I reflect, the more I believe that the true reason for deciding to go to Vietnam is because I don’t want to be held back by others while traveling.

The Motive for Solo Travel:

Solo travel is just another way to see a new place. Personally, I travel in order to: explore a different culture, experience new food, admire breathtaking landscapes, and learn from a place’s rich history. While these are all great reasons to travel I believe that the form of solo travel will allow me and anyone else to push the boundaries of what a trip can be far beyond our prior imagination.

Solo travel is about more than exploring a new place. It is about exploring yourself Here are my top 5 reasons for solo travel:

1. Doing things your way – There is no excess baggage and no need to consider what others want to do. You can do anything and everything at your own pace.

2. Stepping outside of your comfort zone – Arguably the biggest and most daunting. Inevitably there will be speed bumps and issues that arise over the course of a trip. Traveling by yourself ensures that you must solve these yourself, thereby dealing with the stress efficiently and effectively.

3. Meeting NEW people – The biggest pro to traveling solo. In a group you are instinctively drawn to spend all of your time with the people you are with. Solo travel and solo accommodations (hostels/dorms) enable you to meet fellow travelers who are either in a group, couple, or traveling alone like yourself. Additionally, you can seek out deeper conversations with locals and take their experiences and recommendations into account.

4. Unlimited time – There is absolutely no agenda to follow apart from the one you create for yourself. You can modify things at free will and make the most of every second of your trip in any way you please. If you want to sit at a coffee shop for hours on end you can, lounge on the beach reading a book you can! Opportunities and time are endless.

5. Reflection – Traveling alone allows you to be more mindful of your surroundings but also about what you are doing and why you are doing it. You can be more introspective and intentionally slow with every step you take but also the true outcomes from them.

While these are some of my biggest reasons to travel alone, I will not truly know what solo travel has in store for me until I set foot in Vietnam. It’s that unknown combined with the known quantity of what I can control that makes solo travel even more appealing and exciting.

Why Vietnam:

Having returned to Mumbai for winter break and given the short nature of the break I wanted to pick a place close to home. Admittedly, I had never thought about Vietnam as a ‘dream’ destination for me until very recently. However, speaking with a couple of friends who had recently visited Vietnam taught me about the diversity of experiences the country has to offer. It is a country with rich history, culture, food, and beyond all the traditions it has one of the most beautiful UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ha Long Bay. The completeness of a country the size of Vietnam is what made it increasingly appealing. It has pretty much everything I could ask for, packed with cheap prices and an ease of travel enabling one to experience it all.

My Approach:

For the overall trip I want there to be a fine balance between taking time out to enjoy the little things but, also packing in as much as I can at a reasonable pace.

This serves two purposes:

1. I get to see the cities for what they are as well as what others around me are doing.

2. I will be able to make the most of my time and do some of the ‘touristy’ things. All while maintaining a comfortable pace in what would otherwise be a hectic trip.

I hope to implement some of the advice and suggestions from my conversation with Jaylen Patel. The biggest thing I would like to focus on is the balance between spending time in groups with strangers and doing things by myself. Both have their own charms and can teach you a lot about yourself. I have followed the theme of taking it slow in my past travels, however I have never been intentional with it. That extra thought or deeper focus has primarily been limited to specific parts of a trip as opposed to the entirety.

Ultimately, I want this trip to be a test run of what solo travel could look like. I am sure that some things will go well, and some won’t. We will see how it goes and that uncertainty is truly what I want from this journey. I am confident that if I maintain the right approach, I can gain a lot from this trip. Hopefully, it will open the door for me to take further adventurous trips around the world.

Initial (basic) plans