“It’s ok if you travel alone sometimes. You are brave enough.”
-Unknown-
***
“Travel is at its best a solitary enterprise: to see, to examine, to assess, you have to be alone and unencumbered. Other people can mislead you; they crowd your meandering impressions with their own; if they are companionable they obstruct your view, and if they are boring they corrupt the silence with non-sequiturs, shattering your concentration with ‘Oh look it’s raining’ and ‘You see a lot of trees here’. It’s hard to see clearly or to think straight in the company of other people. What is required is the lucidity of loneliness to capture the vision which, however banal, seems in your private mood to be special and worthy of interest.”
-Paul Theroux-
***
“To have never taken a solitary road trip across country? I mean everybody’s got to take a road trip, at least once in their lives. Just you and some music.”
-Elizabethtown-
***
“Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.”
-Ernest Hemmingway
***
“Travel only with thy equals or with thy betters; if there are none, travel alone.”
-Dhammapada
.
All of these people and these quotes put a lot of emphasis on travel companions- or traveling without companions. I said in my “Travel Confessions” post that I am not made for solo travel. I have done it, and I had a good time and saw a lot of great things. However, I love spending that time with my family and friends, also. There’s just something exciting to me about sharing these experiences.
However, while thinking back on my past trips there are definitely people that I have gone places with that I had a miserable time, and more than anything I wish someone different had been there, but sometimes that I had even been alone. There are definitely people that you travel well with and people that you don’t travel well with.
.
There are pros and cons with each, and I thought I’d share mine from personal experiences:
SOLO TRAVEL PROS:
•You’re on your own time-frame
•You see only what you want to see
•You’re more open to making new friends
•You have more opportunity to think about what you’re experiencing
•You build up your confidence and sense of self
.
SOLO TRAVEL CONS:
•You’re alone- you might get lonely
•There’s no one with you to share these memories and experiences with
•Depending on where you are you can feel less secure
.
****
.
COMPANION TRAVEL PROS:
•It’s one of the greatest experiences to share with the people you love
•You see things that you might not have thought to go to if your companion hadn’t suggested them
•It can cut costs down greatly
.
COMPANION TRAVEL CONS:
•People have different travel styles- which can be frustrating in may aspects of travel
•People move at different paces and have different interests
•People can distract you from what you’re experiencing
.
.
Another thing to think about with this is the opposite side- What kind of travel companion am I?
•I try as hard as I can to be agreeable and morph your travel style with your companion’s
•Make compromises
•Don’t be afraid to do your own thing, and let others do their own thing
•Have a good attitude- no one wants to tote someone around with a crappy attitude
•HAVE FUN!
I wanna hear from you!
Do you guys prefer to travel alone or with others? What are your biggest companion pet peeves? How do you try be a better companion?
No Comments