Solo Travel Is The BEST Travel

If you have never traveled somewhere alone, whether it be internationally or not-I highly recommend it. I love traveling with friends or with my husband etc. but when I am alone, the experience is SO much different.

Machu Picchu has been on my long bucket list of places to travel for for a while as it is supposedly one of the most spiritual places in the world to hike to.  Most people take the famous Inca Trail to MP, which is originally what I was planning on doing. BUT the more I looked into, it the more I realized how much better of an alternative the Salkantay trail would be. Inca is a famous trail and with that comes lots of crowds/tourists.  My preferred way to travel is off the beaten path, even if I am missing what everybody else is looking at.  Stumbling upon a small Greek wedding reception at a hole in the wall restaurant in Athens.  Getting lost in the streets of Barcelona. People watching in Paris. Playing games with Balinese children.

When I learned about the Salkantay Trail a few things caught my interest right away, one as I said is that it is not a crowded trail and two it is a more difficult grade to hike. Off the beaten path AND more challenging? SOLD.

If you were to tell me that I would prefer solo travel 5- 10 years ago, I would have called you crazy.  I am a people person.  I used to hate being alone for ANYTHING. Hating to be by myself was me avoiding myself.  As I got older and started working through some of those inner demons, I started to CRAVE alone time. Why? Because I like myself now.  I approve and am proud of who I am.  Took a while to get there.

The first time I ever decided to embark on a journey on my own was going to Indonesia for two weeks on a Habitat for Humanity Trip in 2011. I was not entirely alone, I was with 10 other people who were complete strangers on day one…friends on day 14.  To get there was a challenge in itself. I traveled for 25 hours by myself, had to layover in Taiwan to get a new boarding pass and navigate a foreign airport and then met my new friends (who again were strangers at this point) in the airport in Bali. I then hopped onto a bus and took a 3 hour winding bus drive through the Indonesian hills trying so hard to not puke in the back because I was so jet-lagged and had motion sickness.  My new friends later told me they thought I was just shy or unfriendly at first, but I was literally in the back of the bus with my head down praying and trying to calm my breath the whole drive there so as not to get sick and embarrass myself.

That first day was HARD. I was not just out of my comfort zone, I was millions of miles away from it.  I thought to myself many times the first few days and throughout the trip.. “why did I do this?”, “I wish I had a friend here”, & “I am so scared”. We spent the next two weeks with a sweet little Balinese family, building a house for them, getting to know the kids, neighbors and family in the area while they helped us.  Once I got into a groove with the tasks and the workload, I was so happy and glad I came and that I did it alone. I still missed home a lot, felt a little lonely, but I knew God put me there.  When our work was done, we got to explore the touristy part of Bali for a few days before we went home. That was awesome, but truly the best part of the trip was getting to know that family.  They helped me understand and love the REAL Bali.

When you are traveling with friends, it makes things easier. If I had a friend on that trip, I would not have been as scared, I would not have been challenged emotionally and spiritually.  I would not have had to summon some inner strength. I probably wouldn’t even have wanted to come home as bad as I did those first few days.  Because having a familiar face when you travel provides you with a safety net, with a part of home, which of course can be a good thing.  But, it can also mean that you miss out on a lot because your eyes are not as open to your new surroundings. I wouldn’t have become as close to my other team members if I brought a friend.  I would not have taken as much time to hear their stories. But I did because I had nobody to latch on to, which in turn made me more open.

When the opportunity for me to finally go to Peru came a long, I knew it was something I had to do and do alone. I had not done a solo trip since Bali and this is kind of my last ‘hoorah’ before we hopefully start a family.  So I want to take it all in. I want to get to know the group of strangers I am hiking and camping with, be challenged physically and fully appreciate the nature around me. I have realized that even though I am as scared as the next person to be out of my comfort zone, I love throwing myself far out of it.  I see it as a challenge and I just close my eyes and make the jump.  You should try it sometime, it’s exhilarating and amazing.

Stay blessed in the mess 🙂