I Had Zero Experience Of Traveling Solo When I Booked A Trip To Colombia- ALONE
Isn’t eating alone scary? Won’t everyone stare at you? Isn’t it dangerous?
I used to hate eating alone at restaurants, let alone traveling to a foreign country!
Won’t everyone think I am a loser? I have no friends. Maybe I smell bad and no one ever told me? Am I ugly, fat, stupid? The list goes on and on of self-hatred.
Everyone will stare at me like my Tinder date didn’t show up!
This is probably the worst. People will think I am not even datable-even in a foreign country where I know nobody.
I always had a circle of friends around me whenever I went out or had a boyfriend. I always had a safety net because why would I ever want to go anywhere alone?
Isn’t this what friends are for, keeping you company so you never have to be alone with your thoughts or feelings? And when you get sick of your friends' chatter, you just drink yourself stupid to escape the mindless chatter of boring nonsense that never interests you.
Well, I used booze to numb my mind.
By default I am an introvert, an Empath; I just didn’t realize it until I traveled alone! And quit drinking. That is another story.
So I landed in Colombia Alone. What do I do now?
My Spanish sucks. It is better now. The one thing that you have to know when you travel alone is that you are alone. There is no one there to turn to.
There is no friend who speaks the language, no friend or boyfriend to tell you which way to turn. This is all on you now.
The first time I ordered a coffee, I almost had a panic attack, but I got my coffee.
People will look; they will stare. It is not because you appear lonely. It is because you are alone and do not need anyone else. There is a weird sense of empowerment when you actually think, wow, I survived today.
Be prepared for the questions
Where is your husband?
He let you travel alone!! Yes, ladies, I still get this question after three years of solo travel. It’s cultural and still uncommon for us ladies to travel alone. Do not take this as the area you are in as unsafe, yet it is just unusual to travel alone as a woman in certain countries.
The skills you learn from traveling alone are ones you can find nowhere else.
I learned to rely on my instincts a lot. You have heard about intuition, and sometimes we follow it, and sometimes we don’t. Well, when you are traveling alone, that instinct is strong, and you learn to listen.
Colombia is dangerous, they can take you into sex slavery?
Ok, this is actually a comment I got from a female co-worker. I still remember her saying this to me. Really, she was actually saying this to me. I just looked at her and laughed.
Maybe that was an inappropriate response. I also think I told her if someone steals me, my grandma always promised they would return me because I can be kind of a pain in the ass.
To be fair, the sex trade is alive and well here in Colombia. It is sad, but they mostly want little girls. So they are not coming for me as an adult woman.
If we fear everything in life, we would never leave our houses.
My solo travel adventure has lasted six years, and I have gone worldwide.
For women, traveling alone has become the norm. I have run into so many solo female travelers. We all have the same mindset.
Be smart, watch your back, and be more vigilant. I think we women are naturally more vigilant because we have always been told it's dangerous.
I honestly have heard more bad things happening to men tourists than women. Why? Because we women have always been told.
It’s scary, you can’t do it, you’re JUST a girl.
These statements may have helped women blaze trails of solo travel for years. They have also helped us be independent at work. We do not have to have a husband, a man, to always be with us.
Take advantage of what women in the 20–30’s worked hard for.
And to be honest, we are still working hard to get rid of the stereotype that women “can’t do it” because we are women. These days are still here, but we have our freedom and right to stand up against it now.
Something women didn’t have back in the day. So travel solo, as a woman, it is your right.
Learn who you are, what you want, and who you can become.
Traveling solo will open up a whole new world for you.
Even if it’s learning that you can be alone with your own thoughts or that you can eat at a restaurant alone, it is a beautiful thing that we GET to do, as opposed to our ancestors, who could not because they were women.
So, where are you dreaming of going?