Travelling is one of the best ways to experience the unique cultures and sights of this world. But when it comes to planning your travel, one of the biggest decisions you’ll make is whether to travel alone or with a friend. Both options have their benefits, so how do you choose which is right for you?
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HOW TO DECIDE TO TRAVEL ALONE OR WITH A FRIEND?
- Deciding Whether to Travel Alone or With a Friend
- Benefits and Negatives of Travelling Solo or With a Friend
- Benefits of Travelling Alone
- Benefits of Travelling With a Friend
- Are There More Benefits Travelling Alone or With a Friend
- Negatives of Travelling Solo or With a Friend
- Downside of Travelling Solo
- Downside of Travelling With a Friend
- More Downsides to Travelling Solo or With a Friend?
- What it’s Like For a Solo Traveller to Travel With a Friend
- In Conclusion …
Deciding Whether to Travel Alone or With a Friend
When deciding whether you want to travel solo or with a friend, begin by considering what your goals are for the trip. If your main goal is to disconnect and have some alone time, travelling solo may be the better option. Solo travel allows you the freedom to make all the decisions and to have complete control over your itinerary. This is especially helpful if you’re looking to challenge yourself and step outside of your comfort zone.
Looking For A Shared Experience?
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a shared experience and the chance to create memories with someone, travelling with a friend may be the way to go. Travelling with a friend can offer a sense of security and companionship that is hard to find when travelling alone. It also means you have someone to split expenses with and someone to share the experience with.
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Consider Personality and Travel Style
It’s also important to consider your personality and travel style. If you’re an introvert who values quiet time and reflection, solo travel may be the better option. On the other hand, if you thrive on the social interaction with a travel companion, then travelling with a friend may be more your style.
Benefits and Negatives of Travelling Solo or With a Friend
Travelling is an exciting and eye-opening experience that enriches the soul and broadens the mind. However, deciding whether to travel alone or with a friend can often be a tough choice. Each option comes with its own set of benefits, which ultimately depends on one’s personality, travel goals, and preferences.
Before making a decision as to whether to travel alone or with a friend, let’s take a look at the pro’s and con’s of each travel styles.
Benefits of Travelling Alone
Solo travel offers a unique opportunity to embrace your independence and step out of your comfort zone. It provides an opportunity for self-discovery, introspection, and personal growth as you interact with people from different cultures and navigate unfamiliar territories. It allows you to set your itinerary, make spontaneous decisions, and take risks that you may not have the chance to do with others. It also teaches you valuable life skills such as problem-solving, adaptability, and self-reliance.
In summary, there are many benefits to travelling by yourself. Is solo travel for you?
- freedom to do what you want, when you want
- alone time for reflection
- push yourself out of your comfort zone
- more apt to socialize with strangers and make new friends
- make spontaneous decisions
- teaches valuable life skills
- learn how to problem solve
- become more self-reliant
- personal growth
Benefits of Travelling With a Friend
In comparison, travelling with a friend can enhance your overall travel experience as it’s an opportunity to share memories, bond, and create a shared adventure. It allows you to enjoy new experiences with a companion, laugh at inside jokes, and rely on each other for support. It also provides safety in numbers, as you navigate foreign lands and overcome language or cultural barriers.
In the alternative, travelling with a friend will also provide many benefits, such as:
- companionship
- assistance with making decisions
- lack of loneliness
- a bonding experience
- provide safety in numbers
- someone to share memories with
Are There More Benefits Travelling Solo or With a Friend
In summary, there are benefits to travelling alone or with a friend. Whichever option you choose, it’s essential to embrace the experience and make the most of it. After all, travelling is about exploring new worlds, gaining new perspectives, and creating lifelong memories.
Negatives of Travelling Alone or With a Friend
Whether you choose to travel alone or with a friend, there are also potential pro’s and con’s to both which need to be taken into consideration. Let’s take a look at the negatives of travelling solo or with a friend.
Downside of Solo Travel
When travelling solo, there can be bouts of loneliness or homesickness, and it can be challenging to handle stressful situations on your own. For the introverted traveller, travelling alone can make it tempting to retreat into your shell and miss out on opportunities to connect with others.
As with many things, in summary travelling alone has some downsides such as:
- loneliness
- nobody to share the experience with
- more difficult if you run into a stressful situation
- temptation to retreat and miss opportunities
Downside to Travelling With a Friend
In contrast to travelling by yourself, travelling with a friend can lead to conflicts and disagreements, which can put a damper on the trip, and ultimately ruin a friendship.
Moreover, travelling with a friend can limit your ability to meet new people and fully immerse yourself in new cultures. It’s easy to stay in your comfort zone and rely solely on your companion for entertainment and companionship.
Like solo travel, travelling with a friend also has its downside:
- can lead to conflicts and/or disagreements
- you have to take some else’s interests into consideration when planning an itinerary
- makes it easier to remain in your comfort zone
- limits ability to meet new friends
Are There More Downsides to Travelling Solo or With a Friend
In the end, it’s about finding a balance between independence and companionship when travelling. Whether you choose to venture out solo or with a friend, staying open to new experiences, people, and perspectives is key to making the most of your travels. So pack your bags, prepare for adventure, and get ready to explore the world on your own terms!
If you are deciding whether to travel alone or with a friend, these articles may help you decide which is best for you.
- The Ugly Side of Solo Travel: Untold Stories
- Best Summer Destinations for Solo Travellers
- 15 Things Every Senior Should Know Before Travelling Solo
- What I Wish I Knew Before My First Solo Trip
- Inspirational Quotes For Women
- Solo Travel: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
- Travelling Solo With a Disability
- Solo Travel: Escaping Your Comfort Zone
- Small Group Travel For Seniors Who Don’t Want To Travel Alone
- Best Cruise Lines For Solo Cruisers
What it’s Like to Travel With a Friend After 13 Years of Travelling Alone
This is a question that I never really thought I would need to answer. I always loved exploring new places and cultures on my own, but when a friend asked if I would like to join her on a trip to Bora Bora, I found myself eager to give it a try. Afterall, the island of Bora Bora had been a dream of mine since I was a little girl.
The experience was definitely different than what I was used to. For one, I had to consider someone else’s preferences and interests when planning our itinerary. I also had to adjust to having constant company, which was both comforting and sometimes overwhelming.
Just One Tip: When deciding to travel alone or with a friend, it is important to consider the personality of the person you will be travelling with. Ensure that you enjoy the same activities and that you are compatible.
In the end, I discovered that unless I’m travelling with family, solo travel is the better option for me when travelling for an extended period of time.
Deciding If Travelling Solo Or With A Friend Is Best For You: In Conclusion …
When all is said and done, there is no right or wrong choice between travelling solo or with a friend. It all comes down to your specific goals and preferences. Whether you choose to travel alone or with a friend, remember to be open to new experiences and to enjoy every moment of your adventure.
Let me know in the comments below whether you choose to travel alone or travel with friends. Which is better for you?
SAFE & HAPPY TRAVELS 🙂
Travel Solo Like a Pro!
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PIN TO DECIDE TO TRAVEL ALONE OR WITH A FRIEND?
I enjoy both being solo and travelling with friends, but there’s only a handful of them I would choose to travel with.
I love the freedom I get and setting my own pace when travelling alone. I am a seasonal traveller though and have never been away for more than 3 weeks at a time so I don’t know if I’d suffer from homesickness or loneliness if I were to travel full time. Travelling with friends can be fun and sometimes you just want someone there to share those special travel moments with but it’s important to set boundaries to avoid disappointment.
I agree. I’m good going away for a couple of days with a group of friends, but any more than that, I much prefer going solo
Without a doubt, traveling solo is my preferred option. I soon got used to traveling on my own and alone as a woman. People don’t always understand the option, but this is how I feel I travel best. It’s a great opportunity to get to know yourself, it’s being able to have much more freedom. I think that everyone should travel the way they feel best, but I definitely think that, at least once in their life, everyone should go on a solo trip.
I completely agree with you! My family completely supports my solo travel, however, none of my friends understand it at all. I LOVE
I completely agree! Unless I’m travelling with family, I won’t travel any other way now. My family supports my solo travel, however, none of my friends can understand it and think I’m crazy.
You’ve outlined a lot of good reasons for and against both style of travel, and it’s true that there’s no one answer. I think it’s important to experience both. Also, when I am travelling with someone, I try to keep the solo traveller mindset so that I’m not closed off to meeting other people and I’m still stretching myself to grow.
I completely agree. I do the same thing. Since it’s very seldom that I travel with others (other than my family), I tend to talk to everyone and still do my own thing. It surprises a lot of my friends that I do this lol.
Great post! It’s taken a while but I’ve started getting better at knowing which trips are good for friends and which are good for a solo adventure.
Sometimes it’s a difficult choice, however, I agree that sometimes you need to go with friends (for a weekend lol)
I think you’re right, you need to decide what you want from the trip from the outset to know what’s best for that trip. I enjoy solo travel more but going to places I wouldn’t go solo is better with a friend. Or for a shared experience – this year I’m doing a big hike vacation with a friend. But I also always allow some alone time in the trip – as an introvert I need that
Exactly! I agree that there are certain trips I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing solo, but in those cases, I think I’d go with a small group tour rather than a friend.
What a great guide! I love traveling with friends but it’s definitely challenging. Solo and group travel both have very different vibes. There are some trips that lend themselves to group travel better than others too! So many people put down group travel, but there are a lot of pros to it as well!
I completely agree! I’m actually working on a post now about the benefit of group travel (mainly for us older folk lol)
This is a quite comprehensive coverage of all the pros and cons of travelling solo or with someone.
I have done both but have decided I much more prefer going solo, probably for all the reasons you have mentioned. I have definitive, once in a lifetime objectives to do on each trip, so am wary of having to compromise on achieving them. On the other hand the cost of paying full for accommodation is an expense that could be halved and I often miss the security (especially in less secure places and situations) or having a companion.
I’m an avowed solo traveller now, only joining friends on short, repeatable city trips.
Good article that anyone considering the two options would be well advised to read, to get a grounding of what each style entails.
Barry, I found your comment interesting. I’ve always wondered what solo travel was like from a male’s perspective. It’s not much different from a female really. After travelling with a friend for a week, I too have decided that it’s solo travel all the way for me (unless it’s with my family).
Thanks for reflecting on travelling with a companion and without. I personally can’t recall a nice experience travelling with someone so for me the solo option is the best. Even tho it can be beneficial to split costs and share experiences together I find travelling with someone too demanding and overall I don’t get much out of a trip where someone just moans all the time. I hope your recent experience travelling with a friend to Bora Bora has kept the friendship in tact.
Carolin | Solo Travel Story
I completely agree! I’ll be sticking to solo travelling as well lol
We found this post really interesting. We have been together since we were students, so have always travelled as a couple – which itself has a different dynamic. You cover all the pros and cons for travelling with a friend or travelling solo but your conclusion – staying open to new experiences and perspectives and enjoying your adventure – really sums up the best way to travel, whether alone or with a companion.
I completely agree. In the past, I thoroughly enjoyed travelling with the my husband (best of times), however, travelling with a friend is just not the same.
A nice blog post which lays out the questions to look at when deciding to travel solo or with somebody. For me having done both, I enjoy the company but can’t disregard the pros of travelling alone such as being in complete control of where I go and what I do. True that there is no right or wrong way to do it, just do it your win way and enjoy!
Yes, cost is definitely a factor when travelling alone. That’s the main reason I agreed to to my Bora Bora trip with a friend. Otherwise, I would have never gotten to see this beautiful part of the world