Solo travel.. my take!

As most people know, I love travelling on my own and it so happens that most of my travels have been solo travel. I had done an earlier post about how fun it is doing trips on your own. I do know it is not everyone’s cup of tea and that is perfectly fine! There are a few who keep talking about travelling on their own, but just don’t do it, cos they are unable to get themselves to do it. They need to accept it and let it be, instead of harping on it.

Another thing that most people assume is that just cos I travel on my own, it means I don’t have friends or am a loner. I am not, trust me! I plan these trips on my own cos I love it and I enjoy my space & freedom when I am off exploring a new town. I don’t get scared, or even if there are moments of uncertainty, I just take a moment, breath and figure out a solution. Nothing is rocket science or life threatening. If it does get to that point, am sure I will find someone to rescue me…

So, is there a flip side to travelling solo? Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it flip side, but yes there are a few sticky points in this. Actually I have so far faced only two issues.

      1. Photographs –

Well, when you are exploring a new town, you go about enjoying the scenes, sights, and devour the local treats.  There are bound to be a few landmark buildings that you click pictures of. But then when you want a picture in front of the place, it becomes a “what do I do now” kinda moment. There have been so many trips where I have not a single picture of myself at the location. But over the years, I have started asking other travellers or a local to click my picture. This time during my USA trip, I asked someone or the other at literally every spot to click a picture of mine. I did click a few selfies, but then am not comfortable with that and invariably the picture looks weird.  And then there is the whole “is anyone watching me shamelessly click a picture of myself”… lol

       2. Looking out for your things while you go do an activity –

I was in Goa, at Calangute beach and spotted a few parasailers and others on the jet skis. I so badly wanted to give both a shot but then I had my backpack with me which contained everything from cash, to room keys to my ID, cards etc. What do I do? There were no locker facilities or a safe place to put these. And so, I spent nearly an hour walking up and down the place, all the while my eyes and mind was keen on doing these activities. It did notice a family that was staying at the same place as I was, and smiled at them. In a few minutes, we were yapping away about how hot it was and so on. I don’t know if it was telepathy or the man had been watching me stare longingly at the para sailers/jet ski, but he suggested I go give them a shot. When I hesitated, he immediately said don’t worry, you can leave your bag with us. It will get wet and you wouldn’t wanna get your things wet/lost in the process. His wife chimed in and reassured me. I decided to throw caution to the wind and do just that.  Phew, it was such a relief to come back to the shore and see them holding onto my bag.. God bless them! The kids were so curious to know how the activities were and we yapped a while before going our separate ways!!  Not sure if I will trust people so willingly everywhere….

What are the other issues you have faced when travelling alone? Any scary/terrifying/awkward instances ? Do share…