If you want to learn more about my Eurotrip, check out Part 1 of this series. These posts are all focused on the lessons I learned and adventures I had during my travels. This leg of the trip reflected my solo travel experience.
The Self
After a whirlwind of upset stomachs, exotic foods, and vaulted ceilings, I arrived in Berlin for the last leg of my journey: the self. My plans were to explore Berlin and Amsterdam after a few friends recommended that these are safe places to travel alone as a very obviously, non-native female.
So off a went to Berlin. And almost instantly upon arrival I was hit with an unfamiliar feeling: a helpless loneliness. I just wanted to curl up in bed and not think about how far away I was from everything familiar to me. It wasn't like I hadn't traveled before: I'd been to Singapore, I'd visited Thailand, I'd traveled solo in the US. But this felt entirely different. Without the security of familiar faces or even a purpose for being there, I was crippled with a case of the loneliness.
But this triggered my instincts to seek out company, so I started striking up conversations with strangers. One thing led to another, and I ended up spending a whole day with a new Italian friend and another day sharing stories with a girl from Argentina. And through these new friends, I was able to learn about the world, different cultures, and new perspectives. They shared stories of their pasts and dreams for their futures and I did the same. It was a practice of trust and vulnerability that helped me adopt a new humility. I learned about Let's love for her hometown of Buenos Aires and Cecco's conflict between his Italian roots and his love for the progressiveness of other parts of the world. But despite our disparities, our laughter was universal. No matter our disparate paths that brought us to Berlin, we could still share laughs about terrible Lego constructions and the craziness of German weather. We had our differences, but could all appreciate the beauty of the city around us.
After a delayed flight and the previous three weeks of travel, I arrived in Amsterdam excited, but ready for a break. However, plans dictated otherwise. Luckily, the freedom of solo traveling allowed me to spend the next few days on my own to experience the other side of traveling alone (besides meeting new people): meeting myself. I'm already quite big on self-reflection, so being with just my thoughts was nothing novel. However, in the past it was always for a few hours, not a few days. Which inevitably led to me getting bored with my own company and resorting to people watching, self-reflecting, and thinking about tremor pen (intellectual thinking is not my natural state).
There is definitely a lot of merit to traveling alone and I would recommend it to everyone, but perhaps only as a one time thing. Of course everyone gets something different out of solo travel, and it really depends on your mindset and starting state. No matter what though, it takes you outside of your comfort zone and that's a learning experience just waiting to happen. However, the way I see it, a lot of the benefits to solo traveling can be gained through other means. Learning from people, self-reflecting, and being inspired by new experiences can all be done by just making a more conscious effort to connect with yourself and the people and places surrounding you on a more regular basis. Appreciating the privileges you have or adopting an understanding of the sameness among humanity are all lessons learned from the first time around. I see a diminishing return to the benefits of traveling alone, but then again I may be a special case. I love exploring the world, but I love sharing those experiences with others even more. I feel like travel is inherently an experience to be shared. It's not about the city, but exploring together, laughing together, making memories, and so much more. Traveling is about new experiences, and those are best shared with others.
I went back and reread all the Quora posts that had raved about the benefits of solo travel and inspired me to go on this adventure in the first place. I now read these with a much better understanding of what they mean. When they mention that you will be very lonely or when they rave about the insane amount you will learn, I see my own experiences. One Quoran wrote: "a smile goes a long way anywhere in the world." And it's so true. Through my travels, I've discovered how sporting a friendly face is all that is necessary to open up the doors of conversation with that group of girls from Ecuador working in UK nurseries or the fun Italian man who loves to laugh and studies Mandarin.
So off a went to Berlin. And almost instantly upon arrival I was hit with an unfamiliar feeling: a helpless loneliness. I just wanted to curl up in bed and not think about how far away I was from everything familiar to me. It wasn't like I hadn't traveled before: I'd been to Singapore, I'd visited Thailand, I'd traveled solo in the US. But this felt entirely different. Without the security of familiar faces or even a purpose for being there, I was crippled with a case of the loneliness.
But this triggered my instincts to seek out company, so I started striking up conversations with strangers. One thing led to another, and I ended up spending a whole day with a new Italian friend and another day sharing stories with a girl from Argentina. And through these new friends, I was able to learn about the world, different cultures, and new perspectives. They shared stories of their pasts and dreams for their futures and I did the same. It was a practice of trust and vulnerability that helped me adopt a new humility. I learned about Let's love for her hometown of Buenos Aires and Cecco's conflict between his Italian roots and his love for the progressiveness of other parts of the world. But despite our disparities, our laughter was universal. No matter our disparate paths that brought us to Berlin, we could still share laughs about terrible Lego constructions and the craziness of German weather. We had our differences, but could all appreciate the beauty of the city around us.
After a delayed flight and the previous three weeks of travel, I arrived in Amsterdam excited, but ready for a break. However, plans dictated otherwise. Luckily, the freedom of solo traveling allowed me to spend the next few days on my own to experience the other side of traveling alone (besides meeting new people): meeting myself. I'm already quite big on self-reflection, so being with just my thoughts was nothing novel. However, in the past it was always for a few hours, not a few days. Which inevitably led to me getting bored with my own company and resorting to people watching, self-reflecting, and thinking about tremor pen (intellectual thinking is not my natural state).
There is definitely a lot of merit to traveling alone and I would recommend it to everyone, but perhaps only as a one time thing. Of course everyone gets something different out of solo travel, and it really depends on your mindset and starting state. No matter what though, it takes you outside of your comfort zone and that's a learning experience just waiting to happen. However, the way I see it, a lot of the benefits to solo traveling can be gained through other means. Learning from people, self-reflecting, and being inspired by new experiences can all be done by just making a more conscious effort to connect with yourself and the people and places surrounding you on a more regular basis. Appreciating the privileges you have or adopting an understanding of the sameness among humanity are all lessons learned from the first time around. I see a diminishing return to the benefits of traveling alone, but then again I may be a special case. I love exploring the world, but I love sharing those experiences with others even more. I feel like travel is inherently an experience to be shared. It's not about the city, but exploring together, laughing together, making memories, and so much more. Traveling is about new experiences, and those are best shared with others.
I went back and reread all the Quora posts that had raved about the benefits of solo travel and inspired me to go on this adventure in the first place. I now read these with a much better understanding of what they mean. When they mention that you will be very lonely or when they rave about the insane amount you will learn, I see my own experiences. One Quoran wrote: "a smile goes a long way anywhere in the world." And it's so true. Through my travels, I've discovered how sporting a friendly face is all that is necessary to open up the doors of conversation with that group of girls from Ecuador working in UK nurseries or the fun Italian man who loves to laugh and studies Mandarin.
My encounters with these new friends and my travels overall have made me more grateful than ever: for being English speaking, for having a friendly face, for having the chutzpah to take off and travel alone and learn so much. I also have a new appreciation for my friends and family for being the stability I need in my life and the people I can forever share my experiences and memories with. So it's with a new humility and openness to experiences that I sign off on this Eurotrip. Arrivederci, au revoire, adios, and until next time :)
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I'm so grateful that I got this opportunity to travel and discover the world. I just turned 20 right after this Eurotrip, and with that comes the realization that I will never be this young again. Hell, I'm already getting tired a week or two into traveling; imagine the exhaustion I will feel from traveling a few decades from now! I'll be limited in the places I can see as my muscles weaken and I have more responsibilities to my name. The upcoming 5 or so years are the best years for me to hike the mountains of Peru or explore the streets of Vietnam. Despite this Eurotrip, there's still so much (if not more) that I want to see. However, it's nice that this trip has taught me so much about my traveling preferences. Through travel, I want to learn how people live so I can better empathize with others and expand my mental schema to understand the world. It'll be a long term goal, but I'm excited to see where my future travels will take me and what new lessons I will learn.
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