After nine months on the road, I headed to the Bonneville Salt Flats to reflect on the ups and downs of solo travel.
The salt flats are 30,000 acres of nothing but salt in the middle of the desert flanked only by mountains in the distance.
You could drive across the flats for miles without passing another living soul. A fitting back drop to reflect on what it’s like to travel alone 🧳
Traveling alone allows you to decide exactly how you live your life. You have complete freedom to live anywhere. To do anything. To author your life’s story.
But you also end up spending a lot of time by yourself. Some people see that as a bad thing. But i don’t.
Spending so much time alone allows you to really get to know yourself. What do you like? What do you hate? What makes you uncomfortable? Where do you need to grow? How do you handle adversity? How do you deal with uncertainty?
You get to dig deep down and truly get to know yourself and what makes you happy. And i think that’s really important.
I believe if you can’t experience happiness by yourself, then you’ll never be truly happy ✨
If your happiness is contingent upon stuff, vacations, or other people - anything outside your mind or your body - then you’ll never truly be happy. You’ll always need something else, someone else, or to be somewhere else. There will always be something missing.
But if you can be happy traveling alone - whether you’re in a crowded restaurant or out in the middle of the Bonneville Salt Flats - there’s something special to that.
You gain the piece of mind that you can be happy just who you are - and just where you are - even if you are out there alone.
This isn’t to say traveling with others isn’t great. to share experiences with people you enjoy spending time is one of life’s treasures,
But traveling with others should add to your experience - and not be necessary to be happy.
But what do i know? I’ve only got a handful of experience traveling solo this year. This is just my point of view. So i ask you this:
What are your thoughts on traveling alone? 🤔