I think i am allowed to say that there is nothing quite as dismal as travelling alone. This is because i am a bonafide 'lone ranger'. I mean there are perks, and obvious ones include meeting more people, not being lassoed down by anyone you love, and other such normal and decidedly blatant upsides. However, it isn't for me.
Undoubtedly, many will disagree with me, saying "it's the only way to travel". So, in order to dissipate their argument, i am going to provide proof. This proof is solely for all the lone doubters out there, or those of you who went travelling with friends and got a bit fed up of them at one point but never truly separated, you just slept apart for a couple of days (well, for a start that doesn't count, but you might think it did, it doesn't. No, i'm not bitter, just honest. But you can take it, you're a big boy.).
Below there are three of my most wretched photographs from travelling on my own; all of which perfectly illustrate the art of taking photos of yourself with beautiful backgrounds. But that isn't the catastrophe. Not nearly as much as the fact that, even though i was often alone at these beautiful sights, (in these three photos i was, in fact, alone all day on all accounts) i have still insisted upon looking like i was having the time of my life. It's painfully obvious that the third one was towards the end of my trip, when the poses were wearing a little thin.
See what i mean? Tragic.
To travel alone, or not to travel alone.
ReplyDeleteI have over the years tossed to and fro over this issue. At first I thought it Romantic, the independence and freedom would allow you to delve into the inner workings of your mind, either for interest’s sake or more likely for some kind of creative purpose. Like in the middle of the night, travelling alone always seemed like a period in which creative juices would flow in a kind of trance like state. You have time to write and read and most importantly watch.
However on the 9th of January when I left my dad to travel away to India all alone I hated it. Not because I was leaving but the prospect of the next two days- getting on a long-haul flight and then a domestic flight before meeting those who would great me-daunted me. I didn’t enjoy it. I hated that I had to experience anything alone. There was no-one that I could share my thoughts with and this is when I realised that it was this that I wished for the most. I didn’t want to share my thoughts with my diary but desperately wanted someone to go through everything with, even the dull stuff.
But again, since then I have thought differently. Travelling can be quite a stressful experience. Needing to make decisions within a group is always hard, one may have these priorities and another may be very different. This is not something to brush over but really to think seriously upon as this can turn an incredibly enjoyable trip into a tense and upsetting experience. Who has the responsibility to organise where they stay, or what train to get on? If you are lost and one is determined that they had come from this direction but the other from another, how do you decide which way to turn in the end, without getting down each other’s throats?
Surely one must be the leader and the others must be happy to follow? But how often can this happily occur. What if you want it all to be democratic, surely one must back down in their opinions sometime?
Maybe it can work if you have not got more than one opinionated or strong character in a group. But this rarely happens.
So, if travelling in a group can be hard what makes travelling alone attractive after all? Firstly, you can make your own decisions. No, shall we go this way, or shall we go another. You can follow your own nose, and if you get lost or have a shit time you only have yourself to blame, not anyone else.
Secondly, you will never be alone. With modern technology you can always keep in contact with those you love, however far away they may be. With the invention of the ‘lonely planet’ you will also most often end up travelling on similar routes as other like-minded travellers and also staying in the same hotels. Maybe you could join a couple of others for a few weeks, but then break apart and meet some others. In my brief experience of travelling round India all the travellers I’ve met seem to have set out alone but met some interesting people on the way and ended up joining them. This seems a perfect compromise between travelling alone but also enjoying communion with others. You still have your freedom but then you are also with people who are probably more similar to you then the friend you organised to come with you from the beginning.
If you are organised yourself and you do not rely on anyone else to organise where you are going, or to find cool places to stay or see, being by yourself has no disadvantages.
Do go travelling with people. However unless they are the perfect match for you, ditch them and travel alone.
Just a load of splurging really.
To travel alone, or not to travel alone.
ReplyDeleteI have over the years tossed to and fro over this issue. At first I thought it Romantic, the independence and freedom would allow you to delve into the inner workings of your mind, either for interest’s sake or more likely for some kind of creative purpose. Like in the middle of the night, travelling alone always seemed like a period in which creative juices would flow you into a kind of trance like state. You have time to write and read and most importantly watch. Watch everybody and everything – as from a doorway of a fast-moving train..
However, on the 9th of January when I left my dad to travel away to India all alone I hated it. Not because I was leaving but the prospect of the next two days- getting on a long-haul flight and then a domestic flight before meeting those who would great me-daunted me. I didn’t enjoy it. I hated that I had to experience anything alone. There was no-one that I could share my thoughts with and this is when I realised that it was this that I wished for the most. I didn’t want to share my thoughts with my diary but desperately wanted someone to go through everything with, even the dull stuff.
But again, since then I have thought differently. Travelling can be quite a stressful experience. Needing to make decisions within a group is always hard, one may have these priorities and another may be very different, these problems can turn an incredibly enjoyable trip into a tense and upsetting experience. Who has the responsibility to organise where they stay, or what train to get on? If you are lost and one is determined that they had come from this direction but the other from another, how do you decide which way to turn in the end, without getting down each other’s throats?
Surely one must be the leader and the others must be happy to follow? But how often can this happily occur. What if you want it all to be democratic, surely one must back down in their opinions sometime? Maybe it can work if you have not got more than one opinionated or strong character in a group. But this rarely happens.
So, if travelling in a group can be hard what makes travelling alone attractive after all? Firstly, you can make your own decisions. No, shall we go this way, or shall we go another. You can follow your own nose, and if you get lost or have a bad time you only have yourself to blame, not anyone else.
Secondly, you will never be alone. With modern technology you can always keep in contact with those you love, however far away they may be. With the invention of the ‘lonely planet’ you will also most often end up travelling on similar routes as other like-minded travellers and also staying in the same hotels. Maybe you could join a couple of others for a few weeks, but then break apart and meet some others. In my brief experience of travelling round India all the travellers I’ve met seem to have set out alone but met some interesting people on the way and ended up joining them. This seems a perfect compromise between travelling alone but also enjoying communion with others. You still have your freedom but then you are also with people who are probably more similar to you then the friend you organised to come with you from the beginning.
If you are organised yourself and you do not rely on anyone else to organise where you are going, or to find cool places to stay or see, being by yourself has no disadvantages.
Do go travelling with people. However unless they are the perfect match for you, ditch them and travel alone.
Just a load of splurging really.