Traveling "Tout Seul"

A couple of weeks ago I took my first ever solo trip. While it was just for a weekend, it was an experience I definitely recommend to everyone. While I consider myself an independent person, I do find myself needing human contact (other than my students and colleagues) quite often as well. I was excited yet nervous for a weekend of traveling alone; however, now I am craving to do one for a whole week.

As you know, I was bit by the travel bug two years ago and my desire to see the world has yet to subside. However, I have gone to every city and country with other people. Never had I been able to experience a place by myself, explore by myself, and form opinions about a place by myself. Traveling alone was something I always wanted to do, but never found the time. For my first solo trip I went to the other side of France and explored Colmar and Strasbourg (close to the Germany border). These were two cities I have always dreamed of visiting and when I found the right weekend and my train pass had free tickets that weekend, I jumped on the opportunity.

Rather than a classic summary of my trip (which was amazing) I figured I would highlight the best parts of traveling alone and why I feel everyone should do it. These 3 days alone left me wanting to do more solo trips when I have the opportunity and here's why:

1. You Can Set Your Own Schedule 
One thing about traveling with other people is that everyone has a list of things they want to see and do. I have been lucky that the people I have traveled with before usually had the same ideas as me int terms of what we wanted to see and do. However, traveling alone means you can see what you want in any order you want and go at your own pace. For those who know me, I am a terribly fast walker. So being alone meant I could go at my own pace.

In Strasbourg I was able to visit the gluten free restaurants I wanted without having to drag non-gluten free people with me. I could stop for food or coffee any time I wanted. I could pop in somewhere and explore a church or cathedral without gathering the opinions of everyone else. I could get lost and wander wherever I wanted without other people asking where we were or how to get home. I like to travel without a map until I really need to find somewhere, and traveling alone let me do that. I found places and restaurants that were more for the locals than tourists and explored the city the way I wanted to.

This also makes trip planning overall easier because you don't need to consult with anyone else about your daily schedules and sites.
           
2. Confidence Builder
When traveling alone, you're the only one responsible for you. That also means you have to do all the talking, you have to approach everyone, and you have to do everything alone. I use to always cared how people perceived me. While I still do think about that sometimes, venturing off by yourself is a good way to shove those feelings to the back of your head.

First, you're going to have to eat alone and do everything alone. In Europe it is pretty normal to see people eating and drinking alone, but it was still never something I desired to do on a regular basis. But, this process forced me to do that. I would sit and people watch as I ate a steak frites and drank my red wine and realized I was perfectly happy just sitting there by myself. The same thing happened at every meal. And even as I sat alone at breakfast and looked around at the families and couples enjoying a Sunday morning meal, I was able to sit and enjoy my food and coffee. Eating alone was a lot more relaxing and enjoyable than I originally perceived.

Secondly, you have to be confident in your communication skills. Luckily I was traveling in France where I know a good portion of the language. However, some of the friends I travel with have a much higher/fluent level of french than I do, and they tend to do most of the talking. But now that I was the only source of communication, I had to use my french and be confident I could communicate. That weekend alone I got 4 compliments on my French. At that time, I had been living in France for over 6 months and that was the first time I consistently got comments about my language skills. It helped me build confidence on my improvement and overall ability.

3. Relaxation
It is actually so relaxing. Aside from not having a schedule or itinerary to follow or opinions of other people, you just do what you want and no one to report to and nothing to do get back to. Similar to being in charge of your own itinerary, being by yourself is overall relaxing as well.

It is much more relaxing to be in charge of your daily activities and meals. You wander where and when you want, you sit when you want, go home when you want, eat when you want, you literally just do what you want. And after a week of working with kids and reporting to your boss and other colleagues, having time where you create your own schedule is much less stressful.

4. You Can Create a More Meaningful Experience
Without even discussing the beautiful places and sites that I saw in Strasbourg and Colmar, I can tell you it was one of the most meaningful trips I ever took. Why? Because I literally can say that I went by myself and navigated the city by myself and saw everything by myself.

Overall, just saying that I had the courage to go somewhere new and foreign with a foreign language all alone is very meaningful to me and I am proud to say it as well. Also, I got to see things that I wanted to see and form my own opinions and experiences, they are memories that I will always have. Every trip I have been on I have loved, but I have shared the experiences with others. These are moments now that only I will have and only I will remember, I get to personally cherish them "tout seul."


5. You Can Become Better at Traveling
The one concern I did have before leaving was how I was going to fill all my time. Yes Strasbourg and Colmar have endless beauty for me to look at, but I began to realize that I fill a lot of time by talking to my friends and searching for things to do with them or even the 45 minutes we spend trying to find a restaurant to eat at. It started to dawn on me that I won't have to wait for people to catch up with my walking speed, or consult with others on sites or restaurants, and I would have more time than I am use to. And when I arrived and began exploring, it happened. I would walk around for hours and realize how much I had already seen, and it would be 2pm. So what do I do with the rest of my day? I would walk some more, I would sit and enjoy the city and people watch, I would ask people what to see and where to go (also another confidence factor), I would research online, etc.

Also, if something were to go wrong, you're alone and you have to figure it out alone. So if you're faced with a travel hiccup or delay or cancelation, you're on your own. But once you experience something like that by yourself, there's nothing you can't do when you're traveling with other people.

In conclusion, just take a trip alone. Whether it's a weekend, week, or more, find somewhere to go. Even if I decide to move back to The States soon I will find myself doing this. Whether it's taking a solo trip to Door County, Wisconsin or a small town in France, the experience is still undeniably amazing and something everyone should experience.

Also sidetone because I do want to explain these cities a bit...Strasbourg and Colmar are two cities in the Alsace region of Eastern France next to the German Border. It was cool to be in these cities for many reasons. First, all the signs had both french and german on them due to their location. Definitely weird to see the contrast of these two languages. Also, all the menus I saw included both french and german cuisine. I saw a lot of duck and brats next to each other and a lot of pretzel stands too. Architecturally these cities look like they're stuck somewhere between the 14th century and Beauty and the Beast. It is truly breathtaking and unexplainable.

You'll have to reference the pictures to see for yourself. Also, Strasbourg is amazing and I want to live there and is a beautiful gluten free heaven. That is all I will say.


Bisous xx
Libby