The Lonely Ranger On Tour - a Story About Solo Travel

A couple of weeks ago, I took a little trip. I was supposed to go with my friend, but she cancelled on me last minute, so after putting some thought into it, I decided it was time for me to go somewhere by myself. The first time that I traveled to another country alone was when I was 15 years old and went to summer school in London for a month. After that, I went to boarding school, my master’s, and an internship, all abroad. The difference between then and now is that if you go to school, you actually have so-called ‘places to be’. On a vacation, it’s just me actually not having anywhere to go except for where I want to go.

 I got on a plane to Miami and afterwards to New York. I rented a car and just drove around and only did things that I wanted to do. I ate at restaurants by myself, I went to bars by myself, and I even asked strangers to take pictures. Long story short: I loved it. There is a feeling of freedom that comes along with being on the opposite side of the world without having no place to be or no one telling you where to go.

I remember leaving Amsterdam airport when a horrible feeling of fear came over me. I completely panicked and started crying. “What am I going to do? What will people think of me if I enter a restaurant by myself? Or even worse, a bar?”

When I arrived in Miami, I realized it doesn’t matter what you do; as long as you do it with confidence, no one will question anything. Sure, I could tell every person that asked why I was alone some sob story about how my friend ditched me but 1. They probably don’t even care, and 2. I didn’t really feel like playing the victim card. I decided to put that theory to the test and went to a restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental. I read beforehand that it had one of the best views in Miami, so I really wanted to go, so I dressed up a little and drove down there, parked my car at the valet, and just went in. As I walked into the restaurant, I told the host I wanted to sit outside at one of their best spots. I ordered some food and champagne and just sat there. I saw a couple of people looking at me, but I just sat there, with my sunglasses, like nothing was up believing in what I was doing.

Things got a little awkward when I asked the waitress to take a couple of pictures of me (and by a couple, I mean I asked her twice because, of course, I can’t get it right in the first ten pictures), but afterwards, I just gave her a massive tip so she would focus on that instead of me being a little off. At one point, the manager even came and offered me a glass of champagne on the house, but unfortunately, I had to drive, so I had to politely decline (with pain in my heart, of course). At that moment, I decided that during the rest of my trip, I was not going to feed my social anxiety by being shy and letting people feel sorry for me. I went on that trip by myself because I wanted to; that was the story I believed for the upcoming weeks.

There is another thing you realize when you’re traveling alone. Sometimes you need to take that one step back to have a clear view of what is happening in front of you all along. When you don’t have people around you to share your day with, you take out your phone and text the people you most care about to tell them about your adventures.

After a couple of days alone, away from home, it just hit me like a bus. There was one person that I found myself texting every single moment I had WI-FI. One person that I took pictures for, one person that I bought little things for because they reminded me of them, and one person I unexpectedly cared about.

I remembered what I had learned in Miami. Whatever happens, no matter if you realize that your best friend is maybe not such a good friend after all or if you realize that the guy that you really like does not like you back, keep your head up, with confidence, and believe.

Traveling alone has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. It has not only made me realize how many great people I have in my life to care about but also how strong I can be on my own.

Who would’ve thought that I would ever say this, but I guess Kylie Jenner had a point. 2016 is the year of just realizing stuff.