Many international students have done it. Even more people will spend a couple of summer weeks doing it. Lundagård’s Samantha Sunne knows what it is like to travel alone.
The single worst thing about traveling alone is that you’re always alone.
In my own experience, after nine or 10 hours of intrepidly exploring a foreign country, all I wanted was to sit down for a beer and a friendly conversation. Unfortunately, since I usually didn’t know anyone in my hostel, I had to content myself with Skype or Facebook chat, a far cry from real conversation.
Limited interactions
One afternoon, sitting on a park bench in Nuremberg, I felt a sharp pain in my jaw as I bit into my bread roll-ensconced hot dog. It was because I hadn’t opened my mouth since the night before.
Conversation is hard to come by in a country where you don’t speak the language. Cashiers and street vendors often speak English, sure, but those interactions are usually limited to “A coffee.” “One student ticket, please.” “Thanks.”
On the other hand, wandering the streets of some never-before-seen place can be a liberating thing. My explorations moved at precisely the right pace and direction because I ate when I wanted, I stopped for coffee whenever my addiction hit me, and I left a museum if it didn’t hold my interest well enough.
Expensive experiences
Just the other day I walked around Copenhagen with my brother, and the experience was markedly different. I felt like I spent forever waiting for him to put his luggage in a locker or take another picture of the train station.
One advantage to traveling with companions is money. Buying groceries for myself always felt like a one-way battle with the expiration dates, and there are often group or duo tickets for public transportation.
“Never once felt in danger”
Safety was never a concern on my trip, although of course you should take that with a grain of salt. For me, a short, skinny girl with a purse always dangling from my muscle-less arm, personal security is always something to keep in mind, even in my hometown.
But I was out and about at all hours during my trip, and with my purse zipped up, I never once felt in danger.
Once or twice there were some creepers in my hostels, but just enough for a couple uncomfortable situations, not dangerous ones.
And who’s going to make it through a foreign country without an uncomfortable situation or two?
Go out whenever you get the chance
Going out is also a thousand times easier when you’ve got friends with you, though. Of course it’s possible to meet people in your hostel and hang out with them, but that’s never a guarantee.
It takes effort to join a few strangers, engage in conversation, suss out their plans for the evening and net yourself an invitation.
I would recommend going out with hostel mates whenever the opportunity comes up, because you never know when it will. It’s better to go drinking on a Tuesday even if it feels random, because on Friday you might not get the chance to go out at all.
Leaving the comfort zone
The flip side of that is that you lose friends as quickly as you make them. I ended up making quite good friends even in one night, only to see them disappear out of my life the next morning.
The actual travel part of traveling was never a problem. I spent a lot of time at airports, train stations and bus stops, but I was never bored.
One friend said to me that the worst part of traveling alone was that you had no one to commiserate with when you found yourself suddenly on a train in the wrong direction or lost without a map.
But I still say the worst part is having no one to hang out with in the evenings, and even that I got used to.
To be honest, one of my many self-discoveries this semester is that I prefer traveling solo. I actually think my two-week sojourn improved my language skills, my willingness to try things outside my comfort zone and my sense of direction. Also, I am now a master at the one-handed self-photo.
