Travel Alone.

Travel alone. I say this from the deepest pit of my stomach and with every feeling in my body. Fly to another country and backpack, or drive to a city a few hours away from your hometown and explore. Eat by yourself at a restaurant or stay in a hostel. Traveling alone can be of your own interpretation, but you will know what I mean once you do.

Being by yourself is hard. We get nervous to do something alone for the judgement of others or the fear of ourselves. We think we are alone when we live by ourselves, or when we are driving in our cars. We think we are alone when we go to bed at night or put headphones in our ears and work out at the gym. That is not alone-- not really anyway.

Really being alone is when you are in a place you don't know or with people you don't know and you need to ask for help. Being alone is when you go to a restaurant and you ask for a table for one, or go to the movies and buy a ticket for one. It is when you are the sole person who makes a decision, not based on what others might want you to do or want to do themselves, but actually choosing that meal because you want it, or taking public transportation instead of renting a car because you think it is the more practical thing to do.

Not long ago, I went to a wedding in Longmont, CO. Being from Austin, TX, I had to fly and with the wedding being on a Friday, I arrived to Colorado on Thursday and decided to make a weekend out of it and leave on Sunday. I found a super cheap flight with a smaller airline, but that being said, I decided to not pay the expensive addition to have a baggage, so I somehow was able to stuff the necessities only in a simple backpack that could fit under my seat.

Yes, for 4 days, I lived out of a backpack but it was all fine. I took a bus from Denver to Boulder, and then Boulder to Longmont. I worked from my computer in a local coffee shop and ate by myself. I rented a room from an airbnb, and walked everywhere to save money on ubers. I decided not to rent a car and use public transportation. I decided I wanted to try local beers at a local pub, and sit inside rather than outside. I walked for a little bit and then stopped at a cafe and got a coffee. Do you see what I did there? I made the decisions. And again, you won't know what that means until you try it.

And maybe that sounds lonely, but here is ALSO what happened: I tried amazing beers at a pub that only brew in house that otherwise I wouldn't be able to try elsewhere. I learned that Colorado is experiencing their 9th worst forest fire in history and I didn't know that because its not being shared on the news. When I walked into that local cafe, I needed a plug and 4 people-- yes 4 of the 10 people allowed in the cafe-- offered to switch seats and assist me on my needs for a plug. I tried coffee, green tea and a date bar that not only supported small businesses but also was only local to that cafe. On a snowy Sunday, I saw people feeding the homeless in the middle of the 16th street mall in downtown Denver. I caught up with four college friends that I hadn't seen in over 5 years, making me realize that time can go by and if you make genuine friendships, time doesn't make a difference.

Too often we rely on others to make decisions. If someone asks you where you want to eat, typically the response is "I don't care, where do you want to eat?" But as you say this, secretly you are hoping that it isn't mexican food because you just had it the night before but those words already came out of your mouth so you can't take them back. I mean you could, but then you might be judged-- on the fact that you ate mexican food the night before, or the fact that you are too picky because you don't want mexican food this time.

See what I mean? The point, is you will learn so much about yourself. Everytime I travel alone, I learn something new or experience something above myself. I am an avid traveler, reader and writer, so traveling alone just inspires me, but I also believe it is one of the most soul searching acts anyone can do. I have built confidence, grown interests and am proud of myself for saying I can even do it. I have grown independent, have learned about many cultures and am realizing that there are still incredibly nice people out in this world. I have grown out of my bubble, even to the point that I could say, I am creating my own bubble. I am creating my own identity, and isn't the point in this world to be our truest selves?

Travel alone, and I promise, you will not only find out who you really are, but you won't regret it either.