Traveling Alone for One Year ¦ Five Takeaways I Have Learned
Overcoming Discomfort
In 2016, I lived one of my craziest dreams: traveling alone for a whole year. I had the opportunity to visit three continents and 17 countries in 12 months. I went through South East Asia, Oceania, and South America. This adventure allowed me to discover many different cultures and taught me so many lessons on a personal level.
Getting out of my comfort zone was undoubtedly one of the main reasons that pushed me to travel alone - I wanted to keep growing. Immediately upon landing in Bangkok in Thailand, I faced uncertainty. The mission was simple: after two long flights from my home country, Switzerland, I had to get to my hostel via a taxi. Unfortunately, once I got in the cab, I couldn't communicate the address of my hostel to the taxi driver because I discovered that his alphabet was different from mine. He could not read it, and I did not know what to do. Finally, he called the hostel to find his way there.
It took me a month to feel truly comfortable and confident with my new reality: moving every three or four days to a new place. This taught me to adapt quickly to my environment and embrace uncertainty and discomfort.
Enjoying Every Single Second Of Life
Traveling alone makes you lose track of time, and it is quite an incredible feeling. I was living fully, and I felt truly alive in the 'here and now'. Living this way made time pass in an instant. I barely had time to realize what I was doing before it was already time to go back home. I went back home with this incredible feeling of total fullness and gratefulness. What an adventure!
Traveling alone doesn't mean being solitary all of the time. Actually, it is quite the contrary. Once you arrive at a hostel, it is quite easy to meet other travelers, and you quickly create great friendships. Meeting new people is the true gift of traveling alone. The people I met made me look at life from a brand new perspective. They teach you so much through their experiences and their backgrounds. This allows you to create great connections and forge unforgettable memories.
My Five Takeways
Here are my five takeaways from traveling alone for a year:
I have all the resources to overcome any life obstacle.
Meeting people is easy, and you create great friendships.
Don't trust the news and the media; the world is not as bad as they want us to believe.
I learned to handle my emotions better and found peace within myself.
Invest in experiences rather than things
