Travel preference: alone or with others?

ed6hellsfresh

Just wondering what peoples preference was in terms of travelling.

I am by no means a hugely travelled individual, I've done a few 2 week trips to America/Canada on my own and to be honest I am quite sure I enjoyed myself much more because I was on my own. Benefits in my eyes: doing everything you want to do, doing it when you want, and meeting new people at every stop along the way.

Im sure people have preferences both ways, just wondering what everyones views on it were.

Fabio

I'd love to go travelling on my own but the parents have said otherwise! "You need someone to be there, think of it this way, what if you get sick?"

They have a point I suppose...

Arcee

I think it depends on the trip. Short trips to nearby cities are best with people but long trips of a few months or weeks to further away palces are great to do alone.

If you think about it too much, you'll find a hundred and one reasons not to travel alone, illness, safety etc but there's no point in missing out on on an amazing experience just because of what might happen. Take reasonable precautions, stay alert and you'll be fine. My golden rule is "if you wouldn't do it at home, don't do it on holidays" That usually keeps me out of trouble :D:D

ed6hellsfresh

Well yeh its actually a good point, there are two different types of holiday I suppose, a week away for a booze-up might bit a bit odd done alone... But I suppose what I was reffering to was the city hopping/hostel staying type of trip, should have clarified that.

Its good to here I'm not alone on this, which I suspected would be the case, I suppose my curiosity in the matter came about because some of my friends seem to think the idea of going solo on a trip is completely bizarre and scary, something which I fail to understand really.

I guess safety could be a concern and I suppose that will vary with the countries you are intending on visiting, but I think once you try doing a trip on your own, and you get meeting friendly/cool/weird folk in hostels, you quickly realise that a trip alone is at the very least AS enjoyable as one with friends.

S.M.B.

ed6hellsfresh wrote: »

Well yeh its actually a good point, there are two different types of holiday I suppose, a week away for a booze-up might bit a bit odd done alone... But I suppose what I was reffering to was the city hopping/hostel staying type of trip, should have clarified that.

Its good to here I'm not alone on this, which I suspected would be the case, I suppose my curiosity in the matter came about because some of my friends seem to think the idea of going solo on a trip is completely bizarre and scary, something which I fail to understand really.

I guess safety could be a concern and I suppose that will vary with the countries you are intending on visiting, but I think once you try doing a trip on your own, and you get meeting friendly/cool/weird folk in hostels, you quickly realise that a trip alone is at the very least AS enjoyable as one with friends.

I think you get a lot more of an experience out of it by travelling alone. In saying that, travelling with a group of friends or just the single friend can have it's benefits too.

Next time I head off (March hopefully) I'll certainly be doing it on my own though.

Arcee

If you want to travel solo but still have a little security, you could always join a tour? I've done a few of these and they've been great. The last one I was on had 11 people, all solo travellers.

The guide gets you from place to place and accomodation is sorted in advance but when you arrive somewhere they give you a quick orientation then leave you off for a day or two to do your own thing. You lose the total control you get when travelling alone and it is possible the rest of the group might be horrible people, but it's greatif you're a bit lazy and don;t want the hassle of dealing with problems or having to organise stuff for yourself.

It can be a good mix to spend half of your trip on a tour and the other half doing your own thing. It's useful if you want to cram a lot into a short space of time and are not sure how you're going to manage the logistics!!

banshee_bones

there are pros and cons to both but in general if you go away with someone, even someone you love to death and or are best friends and have never fought before theres a good chance you will encounter some experiences that will have you fighting before the end!

Going alone, you are on your own budget, your own timescale and you get to see/do all the things you want to do!

or if your really unsure about going on your own, go with a tour or volunteer group to start and to settle yourself into a new city/country and then maybe after the tour/voluntary work is over there may be someone who you could go travelling with from the group? or at least you would feel more confident?

SeekUp

Unless it's a long, relaxing weekend away, I always like to travel with someone else. I'd miss saying "did you see that?" when/if something cool happens. I like sharing travel experiences -- and there will always be things you see/hear/experience that you just can't convey to others once you get back home.