Thoughts: FIRST SOLO TRIP

Here’s how it all started: One fine day as I was sitting at my desk during work, a random thought flashed upon me ‘Hey maybe I should go for a short getaway.’ So that happened only 2 weeks before my trip, and I only finalized my destination a week later (Yeah, abit crazy I know). Since it was a last minute trip, I did not want to ‘drag’ anyone with me (troublesome to get last minute leave for many).

& yes so I went on a SOLO TRIP to Bangkok! I thought I should share some of my thoughts as a solo traveler.

Firstly, I know it can be pretty scary to think about doing everything on your own. Honestly I have been thinking of going for a solo trip since last year, but didn’t manage to do so partly because of this reason.View of the city from my hotel room 🙂

But hey, actually it was not as scary as I thought. Yes of course during the trip most of the time you might not have anyone to talk to, you have to stay alone in the hotel room, find your own way to your destination blah blah.

But you get to enjoy the whole room to yourself! jump happily around the room

Nevertheless, I felt that I actually enjoyed my ME TIME during the trip. (Probably because I talk too much everyday during work too haha). & how scary can it be when you have the almighty GPS heh (I totally think it’s one of the smartest invention in the world). There were times when I did lost my way, but nah don’t think too much, follow the GPS & you’d get there 😀

Honestly, you get a lot of freedom to go wherever you want, w/o worrying that you might waste other’s time doing things they don’t really fancy etc. I don’t need to be afraid of wasting anyone’s time if I lost my way or if I want to shop/sight see a little longer etc.

There are 2 sides to everything right, so I must admit that although you get a lot of freedom during the trip when you travel solo, there is a very minor problem to me (well maybe a blessing too) about travelling solo, which is sharing of food.

I don’t like to have heavy meals for every meal, partly because I prefer to save spaces for other food haha, especially when I’m travelling! So usually, I always get to do that when I travel with others (share the calories too hehe). BUT when I travel alone, although I can eat whatever I want, but it can be a bit restrictive as well (It’s all in the mind, I know:p).

Shall blog about some of the places I went to eat in the next few posts:)

Next, I think it’s a good chance to meet people when you are travelling by yourself (Best chance to open your mouth & talk finally). Somehow, when you are travelling with others, other travelers might not want to ‘disturb’ the group, but when you are alone, people will be likely to talk more with you.

I joined a local tour to the villages this time, and within a day I was able to talk to different people from different countries, Korea, Hong Kong, USA etc. It’s pretty interesting to do ‘tourists watching’ (literally watching what other tourists do when they travel)as well. You will be surprised and entertained by how some tourists behave hahaha.

View from the train during the 2 hours LONG ride

 But do remember that if you try talking to other tourists, yet they don’t seem very keen to continue the conversation, IT’S TOTALLY OK! Some people might really just want to enjoy the journey by themselves, or they probably might be going through difficult moments so that’s why they wanna go for a holiday (many many reasons), so don’t take such ‘rejection’ personally yo!

Some reminders that I thought would be useful for SOLO TRAVELER:

• Please do remember to bring extra cash like at least 20% more of what you plan to bring, because you have to pay for everything by yourself, no sharing, & your cash will seem to run out pretty fast in a short time (Girls, if you are planning to do shopping PLEASE PLEASE bring more money). Alternatively bring at least one credit card along.

Why I say so is because I understand some people do not like to bring credit card out for overseas use, in case they overspend, lost it etc. Well, these are valid reasons definitely, but when you are travelling SOLO, remember you are settling all payment by yourself, so it’s always better to bring a CC along, and it will really save your life if you ACCIDENTALLY overspend heh. You wouldn’t want to get stuck in the country on the day home because you have no money for transport right.

• Selfie camera, selfie stick, tripod, whatever helps you in taking photo with the beautiful country you are visiting.

For myself, I find my camera with rotating screen really useful, I find it troublesome to fix my phone to selfie stick, so I think my camera alone can do the job well, so bring whatever you WILL USE to help yourself take photos.

• Always check your belongings whenever you leave a place, YES EVERYTIME. Imagine if you lost your phone with the precious GPS, in a foreign land :O

Anyway, that’s about it. I do encourage that everyone should do a SOLO trip at least once in your life. It need not be a very faraway country, but the purpose of a solo trip is probably to understand yourself as a traveler better, and if you don’t usually plan your own trips, you will understand better how your planner felt whenever he/she plans the trip for you #beappreciative, because you need to plan everything for yourself now.

It was a good experience for me, although it was a really short trip, & I will probably do it again, for a longer period of time next round!

I think it really works if you don’t think too much & just book a ticket for yourself to travel alone, because the more you think, probably the more you hold yourself back. JUST DO IT 🙂

CIAO~ 🙂