Traveling by yourself
New Member
Posted on: Wed, 16/04/2008 - 12:14
I’ve been trying to get several friends to go with me to Europe for months now, however they are either not graduating on time or refuse to commit. I, of course, am still really wanting to go. My question is, how much fun is traveling by yourself? I’m worried that I would get bored, but if it is pretty easy to meet fun people at hostels, then that would be far better. I don’t mind spending some time alone, but that could get really boring after a few days. So, I suppose, my question is how easy is it to make friends that you can go out with, travel with, eat with, etc. at hostels?
Thanks.
I’m glad you posted this up. I’m traveling by myself for 16 days starting May 31st. I’ve traveled North American on my own before and always enjoyed it. I found that I can do whatever it is I feel like at the time and dno’t have to be concerned for someone else’s needs.
I’ve stayed in hostel type places a couple of times over the years, and you always meet other people. In fact, even when I was staying in a small hotel or private room, just being out and about, you always meet people. On trains and buses. As long as you are open to saying hello and talking about your travels, you will meet people to hang out with.
First time I went to Europe about 20 years ago, was with 2 friends from school for a month trip. We landed in London, and I swear, before we even left London after 3 days, you could already feel the strain. And by the time we finished up in Paris for the last part, we weren’t even speaking, but since we pre-booked the rail pass and hotel rooms, we were forced to travel together. But if we hadn’t pre-booked anything, I would have been out of there.
Since that time, I’ve travelled on my own almost every 2-3 years now, and always have a great time, meeting new people. Especially easier if you are hanging around a particular place for 3-4 days.
I always find that if you’re the one who’s got the guide book and done the research on when the train to Pisa leaves, you’ll almost always find someone who decides to follow along. If you follow Prague12’s suggestion of staying in one place for 3 or 4 days you have time to make friends and you may become the resident expert on the place by day 4. Having a few suggestions for “what to see/do today,” usually breaks the ice — you can always word it as a question if that’s too pushy for your style…. “Does anyone know if the lines are long at the Louvre today?” And if nobody follows, you get to do what you wanted to do anyway.
You do have to take some initiative to make friends, but it’s not very hard. You might have some lonely moments, but as long as you aren’t totally freaked out by eating/sitting in a cafe alone, you’ll have a lot more good times than bad.
And, as prague12 states, there’s nothing like the 24/7 togetherness of travel — usually in “close quarters” to destroy a friendhip.
I wouldn’t say it destroys a friendship, but you definitely don’t wanna see them for a while when you get home hahaha
ive been to europe twice. the first time travelled by myself for 25 days. the second time i went with my cousin and my brother. honestly i had much more fun by myself though it could be because that was my first time ever in europe perhaps? i dont know
My best friend and I have taken so many road trips and vacations together I couldn’t count them, and while those are never longer than a week, we still hit tension sometimes. Once, we left town at 12:00 AM and drove to the beach for a week, making it just before sunrise. It was magnificent. Then we spent 4 hours grumpy, eating warm yogurt, sleeping in my humid car in a Wal-Mart parking lot because our hotel check-in wasn’t til noon. We were pissed beyond measure, and you’d better believe it rubbed off on eachother haha.
I think long-term traveling with him could be amazing, but if we ever fly out to tackle some corner of the world, I think it’d be really wise to allow time apart. And I don’t mean spending the day doing different things apart, I mean “Hey I’ll meet you in Tangier next week” apart. Imagine the stories you’d have for eachother! And who better to share it with than a best friend?
Anyway, that was slightly off-topic, so to hop back on I’ll say that I’ve talked with lots of people who have traveled via the hostel circuit (and as prague12 said, even in private rooms), and the common denominator was that yes, you meet all sorts of people, all giddy and excited about their newfound freedom just like you. I wouldn’t worry about boredom ;]
I’ve been trying to get several friends to go with me to Europe for months now, however they are either not graduating on time or refuse to commit. I, of course, am still really wanting to go. My question is, how much fun is traveling by yourself? I’m worried that I would get bored, but if it is pretty easy to meet fun people at hostels, then that would be far better. I don’t mind spending some time alone, but that could get really boring after a few days. So, I suppose, my question is how easy is it to make friends that you can go out with, travel with, eat with, etc. at hostels?
It’s nice to be travel alone. Now one will dictate you can do what ever you want, still easy to have friends even if she’s not around with you. ,
You can have friends through
Thanks.