Recently I have been involved in several conversations about travelling in general. I have been asked countless times about my opinion on the topic of travelling alone or with company. Seems like there is a never ending debate on the subject...

Let me just gather my thoughts for you on the subject then: This article is for the ones who have already experienced travelling alone, for the ones who are addicted to it, for the ones who are afraid of it, and even for the ones who dislike it.

When it comes to travelling, I have always preferred going alone, and try to avoid travelling in big groups of aquintances. There is something entirely peaceful when you explore places for yourself, by yourself. (or if you have a really worth companionship, that can be wonderful as well, but more on it later...)

I have fallen in love with cities and countries so many times, that I just stopped counting. But only when you are on your own, can a place touch you so deeply that it steals your heart once and for all. Because traveling is all about that afterall, isn't it?

It is a romance... an open relationship, where new loves do not mean you have to break up with the old ones, but it means that your heart and soul is enriched with another blissfull expreience along the way. Traveling leaves you speechless, then makes you a storiteller for a lifetime.

 So pack your bag, and let's escape from reality for a little time...

1. Finding yourself is extremely hype today, may it be through songs, novels, make-ups, sexual orientations, writing, drinking...  and so on, and so forth. Every day I see people trying to find inner peace or whatever they are searching for, with more or less success. Blessed you are if you can be successful with those. But let me just tell you a little secret: being on your own in a foreign country means you will have to learn to count on yourself. And in this way you will find yourself, you will gain strength and confindence you have never ever dreamed about. It is worth a try, isn't it?

2. If you are willing to explore another city or even another country and you go in a huge group of people let me just tell you what will definitelly happen: one of you will want to see the local cathedral, others will want to take a picture with their cup of Starbucks coffee, other people will want to go th the riverbend or to the nature, and there will be some, who just want to take hundreds of photos in general and check in on Facebook. So you will have to compromise, you may even be stuck in situations you want to avoid. And might just skip what is important to you as time is always limited.

3. As I mentioned before, a city can only really seize you when you give it a chance to come up to you and show its secrets. But while you are outside having a chat, posting statuses on FB with your #travellingBFFs & #Starbuckscoffees it is quite hard to hear its calling. What I would highly suggest is to walk down main street, turn left or right on the first lane and find a quiet place with locals. Have a coffee or ale in the nearest cosiest pub, which is not a main tourist attraction, and ask your bartender for some ideas. If you are respectful towards their city and they see a true interest in your eyes, I guarantee you that they will help happily.

When you go alone you explore yourself, you rely on your skills, you dive into your thoughts, you find emotions and secrets about you that were just around the corner all these years, but you haven't had the chance to meet them as the surrounding noise of the world was just too loud. 

So what I ask you politely, please go out and expand your limits, you will not regret it, I promise.

And if you have mastered this form of art, try out the next level: there are those lucky combinations of travelling companions (usually 2 people) who can just understand each other really well, have similar thoughts and a well balanced friendship. It is quite rare to find, you can consider yourself lucky if you have one or two of those individuals. Rather pleasant can it be to have a conversation over the meaning of life while walking on the streets of a lovely town or city. 

So when you have already mastered the art of travelling the world by yourself, have a friend by your side who is much alike and do it all over again. You will have then two rather astonishing worlds to compare.

 I do hope you liked my article, you can find previous ones here.