I was on a hike yesterday when I wondered, why do I like to travel solo these days. At that time, the short conclusion that “because that’s what I enjoy!”

As I reached home I thought it would be fun to write down my thoughts as of September 2021 to why I travel solo. Few years down the line, maybe when I have a companion, it would be intriguing to come back to this post and compare.

Then vs now

When I was in India, I used to travel alone and enjoy my own company. Those trips were usually 1 day outings without overnight stay.

Now in USA, the trips often go as long as 10 days. And they are frequent at the rate of 2-3 times a month.

I do like traveling with friends

Just wanted to emphasize that I do like hanging out with friends too. It’s a separate fun experience altogether which I often go for. This post is specifically about the why solo part.

Why

• Because that’s what I like and enjoy!
  • This happiness is unexplained, it comes from within.
• Freedom
  • Freedom to eat anything I want. I eat out quite rare and when I’m out – I seek to try different food cuisines. Typical Subway, Starbucks, McDonalds’ or Indian Restaurants don’t make the cut for me.
  • Freedom to wake up at 2 AM in the morning to see sunrise. Well, is there anything special in sunrise? Does it offer some supernatural energy? Yes and Yes.
  • Freedom to go to any spot I want. I like to visit ghost towns. I like to stop at roadside fruits / vegetables shops. I like to stop at random places to fly drone.
  • Freedom to sleep in motel or in hotel. Those luxuries not available? Setup tent and sleep. Too bored to setup tent? I’d just park the car on side and sleep in car.
• Confidence
  • After making several solo trips in USA, my confidence level has boosted dramatically.
  • Eating alone at an upscale lakeside restaurant? No probs. Doing to a random bar in a random town in middle of Montana? No probs. Heading to a national park with no advance accommodation reservation? No probs.
• Better use of drive time
  • I listen to either audiobooks or podcasts on my long drives. I listened to the book about Disney CEO, “The Ride of a Lifetime”, during my 10 days solo trip. I grasped immense knowledge about media and film industry from it. Same goes for my favorite podcast, “How I Built This”
• Silence and solitude
  • Often when I’m in nature, I do not want to talk. Just sit there and listen to ambient sounds.
  • This solitude recharges my drained out mind and body.
• Little things
  • Like playing music of my taste and playing same track 10 times in row.
  • Like stopping for coffee 5 times a day.
  • Like walking 2 extra miles to get perfect photo under perfect lighting.
  • Like killing 3 hours to get 30 seconds timelapse.

Many of the things I listed here may not any sense to others. Maybe they won’t make any sense to me in a few years. Until then.