The Perks of Traveling Alone

Before I embarked on a 16-day trip to the United Kingdom, I received quite a few remarks about my traveling alone. That elicited a raised eyebrow and retort from me that went, “What? You’ve never traveled alone? You have no idea what you are missing?”

An officemate who I am close to went through some personal problems recently and as part of my recommended therapy, I enjoined her to travel. Alone. She looked at me as if I was mad, but I quickly threw in more logs to the fire. “If none of us have been able to make you feel well then maybe you should try traveling alone. The different settings, pace, and culture will be more than enough to get you back on your feet.”

She still hasn’t followed my advice (although she said she will finally do it in 2015). I guess, traveling alone isn’t for everyone. Or looking at it from a different perspective, some people prefer to travel in the company of others. Whatever floats your boat, really.

Obviously, there are pros and cons to traveling alone. However, I believe that there are occasions for everything. A trip to Six Flags or Disneyland is best with the kids. But for the most part, I have to admit that I like to travel alone.

It began when my boss sent me to Hong Kong to make a pitch without any backup. “You can do it,” I remember him saying as he assuaged my fears about convincing some European gentlemen about the plans for the following year.

Whether he was penny-pinching or he really had that much faith in me, I can never tell. I was just out of school and had never traveled abroad without my family. I was terrified and nervous. But on my first day, I was fine. Like any presentation I’ve ever done, I came prepared. I studied the denomination, the rail system, and the locale. I truly believe that the preparation is just as important. Going back to the first trip by myself – it was a liberating experience.

Since then, I’ve pretty much traveled around by myself – Japan, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.

And I am planning a solo sojourn to mainland Europe sometime soon. By myself.

Here are my personal reasons on why I enjoy traveling alone:

I can dictate my own pace and go where I want to go.

I can spend hours inside a bookstore – a must everywhere I go – and have the time of my life. I literally spend at least an hour inside HMV painstakingly going through every rack to look for albums I want to re-acquire or for new finds that I might want to lend my ears to.

During a recent tour of Scotland, I took a guided tour to Edinburgh. Some 10 minutes into the tour, I realized that I could do it on my own (and saved myself some money while at it) and ditch the places that didn’t interest me and just go straight to what interested me. At first, I was hesitant to leave the two girls from Macau who I was with. Once we got inside Edinburgh Castle, I asked if they were okay and if it was all right to go ahead. They said it wasn’t a problem and soon I was out in the city.

I have always had a good sense of direction and am glad I don’t have to rely on GPS. In the case of Edinburgh, I used to Scott Monument as my focal point. I knew that one on side was New Town while Old Town was on the other side. And that meant Princes Street was there.

I don’t have to worry if I the person I am with doesn’t want to have Mediterranean food if I am craving for it. I don’t have to get dragged to some place I don’t feel like going and I certainly don’t have to worry about others who do not like walking and tend to bog down the tour because they’ve got aching feet and such.

I prefer to go off the beaten path.

While living in New York City, a friend of mine, Sirene, a Tibetan who was looking to earn some money while going to school at New York University, and I started a “See New York on blah blah dollars*” tour via craigslist.

We offered the following: the rock ‘n roll, the movie location, sports and food tours.

The “Rock ‘N Roll Tour” included stops at Joey Ramone Way (CBGB’s), The Apollo, the Brill Building where Gerry Goffin and Carol King among many others wrote their hit songs, the Peppermint Lounge where Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” got started, the Danceteria where Madonna and the Beastie Boys got their starts along with the Smiths when they went Stateside, and The Bottom Line at Greenwich Village where Bruce Springsteen showed the world that he was going to be a rock star.

The “Movie Location Tour” took people to “the Five Points” (where the story of Leonardo Di Caprio’s Gangs of New York began, Katz’ Delicatessen where Harry met Sally, Eighth Avenue and West 47th Street where that iconic photo and scene of Robert DeNiro was shot for Taxi, and 57th St. and Lexington where that famous shot of Marilyn Monroe’s skirt blowing up supposedly from the subway underneath was shot.

I am sure you get the point. Since I used New York as an example, I know that most tourists would go to the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Times Square, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, the Museum of Natural History, and famous movie places like Serendipity or the Angels of the Waters. It’s all cool. I went there too. But there is more to the Empire State that just those traditional tourist spots.

So while in London recently, among many other things, I did the Jack the Ripper Tour and my own Rock ‘N Roll Tour where I recreated with a friend the album covers of Abbey Road, London Town, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, and Fine Malt Lyrics.

One time while walking the streets of Stanley in Hong Kong, I came across a street that had a bunch of vinyl record stores. That made my day!

It sure can be fun being adventurous.

You’ll never know when you’ll meet your Julie Delpy

Someone expressed fears about those scenes from the slasher flick, Hostel. As for me, I think of meeting my own Julie Delpy who played Celine in the Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight films with Ethan Hawke. If you saw the first of those films, Hawke’s character meets Delpy’s Celine on a train from Budapest to Vienna. They spend time together and eventually get married by the third film.

But it isn’t about falling in love or finding someone. It’s about meeting people. On a flight to New York, I befriended a man from North Carolina and to this day, we remain friends. During a trip to Vietnam, I became friends with a Singaporean who was also in Hanoi at that time. To this day, when I go to Singapore, we meet up, have dinner, and trade football jerseys and other collectibles. A couple from Australia have become good friends and they constantly badger me to go see them down under where I can stay with them. Some Japanese friends of mine come to Manila to go to Coron, Boracay, or Batangas. And when they are in town, I go around with them. In my trip to Northern Ireland, I became friends with some Filipinos I met who were also on tour. Now, we’re also Facebook friends. Hahaha.

As for love… well, there was this girl from Perth….

You sort of figure out your place in this world.

Traveling literally broadens one’s horizons. As you discover new cultures on your own, you realize what appeals to you and what doesn’t. What you’d like to see more of and know about.

For example, on a trip to Mexico to watch Luchadore wrestling, for some weird reason, I liked Mexican and Mariachi music and have since bought CDs of that genre. In some of my moods when I write, I play Mexican and Cuban music much to the chagrin or amusement of those around me. It got to a point where my friends would introduce me as the guy who loves Mexican music. At a party one time where I was spinning some stuff, a lady went up to me and asked me with some choice expletives to stop playing Mexican music. I didn’t oblige her because I was actually playing British Ska.

Having said that, the time you have for yourself allows you so much introspection that you previously never had. You get to the point where you have to figure out what you want in life and what are the important things in life for you.

Traveling alone teaches you to fend for yourself in so many ways.

I used to fret about who would take my picture at this location and that. In this age of the seflie, it is not a problem.

There’s some much to learn for yourself too like managing your time, learning to read a map and subway/rail system (that is actually quite easy) that improves your sense of direction, budgeting your money properly, looking for ways to amuse yourself, and discovering things on your own.

Whenever I travel alone, I think about how Globe Trekkers Ian Wright and Megan McCormick (my favorite hosts of that show) had so much fun discovering new countries, cultures, and locales on their own. And yes, I always have lots of fun.

* We charged a certain sum for the unique tours that did very very well. We quit it after a while because we decided to spend our money and see the world for ourselves.