Traveling alone opens you up to learning about cultures, new landscapes, among other things. But perhaps the most important take away from solo travel is when you get to know an inner version of yourself, with capabilities you never thought you had.

1. Deeper self discovery. With solo travel, you figure out who you actually are when nobody’s influencing your choices and decisions.

2. Solo travel forces you to level up social skills. The take away is that you may get to have new friends along the way. Random connection with a stranger do make an impact. That food server in Thailand or your seatmate on a shared car in Cusco then becomes part of your story. If you’re lucky, you get to keep in touch with them through social media.

3. You become wiser and more adaptable. Difficult situations, language barriers, getting lost, etc. You handle such moments with grace (or not, ok lang din. no one will see you), and you then realize you solve problems better than you thought.

4. Eating alone is power. No compromising on where to go or what to eat. You then carry this mindset back home.

5. Standards become more flexible. Discomfort becomes tolerable. Also refer to #3.

6. Understanding loneliness and solitude are two different things. Being alone does not mean being lonely. Solitude can be quite addicting at times.

7. The world out there is not as scary as you think. Certain fears die down. I conquered my fear of steep pathwalks when I climbed Huayna Piccu Mountain in Peru. People refer this as the stairs of death.

8. Hype up a braver version of yourself. You keep yourself going under difficult circumstance, and that confidence sticks with you to your next solo travel destination. The travel skill just keeps getting better.

Traveling solo is a transformative experience. Try it at least once.

This then brings me to come up with a list of solo travel-friendly cities that I’ve been to. This will be my next blog content. Wait lang. Aw!