Sometimes you're forced to travel alone

During my late 20's there was a time when I started to make some money but my friends weren't. Some were busy doing other things. In these fork in the roads you have to choose to do things yourself. If you don't then you're going to miss out on opportunities. So there were a few instances when I went out and travelled alone.

One of my first trips alone was to London in the UK. It was a time when I was just making money and I had never really gone overseas before. It was a time when absolutely everything blew my mind and I will never forget those times. The smells, the sights and the tastes of those times were all new to me. I felt like a new man when I arrived in London.

Not knowing where I was everything was an adventure. I would walk the streets of London for hours and not getting bored because everything seemed to be foreign to me. It was great because I didn't really have a timeline for anything. As no one was with me I had no obligations to anyone. I was on my own and pretty much travelled on my own time.

There was a great sense of freedom with this. I loved the fact that I didn't have to wait for anyone or have to abide by their interests. It was purely a selfish trip where I did everything for myself.

One of the by products of this freedom was the fact that I found that I was a little bit more of a jerk then usual. In this foreign land that no one knew who I was I was able to be whoever I wanted. There was no one there to tell me no don't do this or this isn't like you. I was able to explore who I wanted to be whether that was good or bad.

In a way this is great because you start to realize who you really are. With no attachments you start to become who you really are in some ways. In other ways you may realize you are a monster. I kind of learned that I can be a monster when I travel alone. There were a few times I would do things that I would question after the fact that I did them.

I truly learned that I enjoy traveling with people rather than by myself. Not only because people put me in check for doing idiotic things but because it's nice to share experiences with people.

Don't get me wrong, I do love the freedom that I experience while traveling alone and there is a time and place for it. I really loved these experiences but it didn't feel right that I would enjoy these experiences only by myself. These sights and smells were amazing and they needed to be shared. I didn't like the fact that I was the only one enjoying them while my friends and family were back at home not enjoying the same things as I was.

It's sort of like when you get a new house. Why would you want to only stay at your home and not invite friends to host parties and enjoy their company in your home. In this case the world was my home and I wasn't able to invite my friends and family to enjoy this new home with me.

In a way I felt very selfish and privileged to be able to experience these things on my own. What about other people that actually study this city and never had the means to go there? Without people around my mind was able to wander about and think of so many weird things.

At times I would get a bit homesick. What's the point of things if you can't enjoy them with people. We are social creatures so traveling for too long alone started to get me to go a little crazy. I honestly don't know how some people are able to travel years on end without seeing friends and family. Then again they're able to probably make friends wherever they go. The problem is that you don't really have stable recurring friends in this lifestyle.

So in the end I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about how I interact with others and how I like to travel. I really wish I could travel more often by myself but I honestly don't like it that much. Short periods of time is nice but for lengthy vacations it can be a big drag.