Why I love a solo holiday

And how it can get you unstuck

7 years ago I went on my first ever solo holiday to Morocco, I felt equally drawn to the idea of travelling alone and terrified of it, and at the last minute I almost talked my partner into coming too, but in the end, I overcame the fear and went by myself. I loved it, and since then I’ve found myself gravitating towards solo holidays, especially at times when I feel stuck. I find the experience to be really transformative, and here’s why.

It clears your head. My first solo holiday opened my eyes to how much time and energy I spent navigating the wants and needs of other people. Alone on holiday all of that noise is quietened and you have space to tune in to yourself. If you’re prone to people-pleasing tendencies like me, your wants and needs may have been quiet for a long time. Tuning into these on a small basis every day, “What do I feel like doing today? What do I feel like eating this evening?” ripples out to much larger areas of life, “What do I want from my job? What’s important to me in life?”

It builds your self-confidence and self-belief. Going away alone is daunting, but if you face the fear and do it anyway you come out the other side with a renewed sense of self-belief. I remember the elation I felt as I sat on the plane home from that trip to Morocco, I’d done it! This increased self-confidence opens you up to new challenges, you find yourself thinking “What else could I do that I thought was too scary?”.

It gives you a new perspective. A shift in environment, however small, can be a really powerful way to get you thinking differently. This can be as small as working from a new space or taking a new route on your commute to work or the extreme end of immersing yourself in a new country and culture. It shows you different ways of living and opens you up to new possibilities.

A solo holiday may seem totally out of reach, especially in the depths of a cost of living crisis, but you don’t have to go to a far-flung destination for several weeks at a time to get the benefits. You can get a bus to a nearby village you haven’t explored, or plan an afternoons walk to an unfamiliar countryside location. The key is to do something that feels a bit daunting to you. If you do feel like travelling further afield on a budget check out WorkAway, hosts offer accommodation and board in exchange for some work. I’ve used it twice, a few years ago, but had great experiences!

My tips for solo trips:

• Weave in some activities, these could be one-off activities like a walking tour or a cooking class. Or you could base your whole trip around an activity like a yoga retreat or a surf camp. One of my favourite ever solo trips was when I walked the Rota Vicentina in Portugal. Planned activities make the vastness of alone time less daunting and I always find I do my best thinking when my body is moving.

• Don’t overfill your schedule with things, make the time and space to relax with yourself and your thoughts. This can be uncomfortable and take time to ease into, resist the temptation to be constantly plugged into a podcast, music or audiobook. Take a notebook and pen and write down things that come up for you.

• If you are going to stay overnight, go for somewhere small, soulful and where you would likely bump into the same friendly faces. A shared Air Bnb with one other person can be awkward especially if you wind up with someone who you feel uncomfortable around, on the other end of the scale, a massive hotel complex can leave you feeling invisible. I’ve found a happy medium to be a private room in a hostel, a small locally run bnb or a boutique hotel.

Is a solo trip something that you might benefit from? Do you think you could find a way to make it happen?

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