Solo travel is something that scares a lot of people at first – I know it scared me, especially before I even came to Spain. But now that I’ve gotten the hang of traveling around and navigating new places, I wasn’t feeling too nervous about my first solo trip (although some nerves were still there). In the end, I loved my first solo travel experience this past weekend in Dublin! While it’s certainly fun to share your travel experiences with friends and family, solo travel can be a great as well because it can open you up to getting to know yourself better and becoming more independent as well as open you up to meeting new people.

On my first day in Dublin by myself, I made friends with some people in my hostel shortly after I got there and ended up having so much more fun than I would have otherwise. I made new friends, went to a free whiskey tasting thanks to one of them and was introduced to some cool pubs and bars (I liked one so much for its food that I went back a few days later.).

The next day, I happened to meet a girl in my hostel who was also going on my Cliffs of Moher day trip, and we hung out all day and later got dinner together. She goes to school in North Carolina too, so maybe I’ll see her again sometime. Then after our dinner, I returned to the hostel and made some new friends. We went out to some pubs together and hung out a little bit the next day too.

I’m just so glad that I went solo on this trip. Not only does it make planning much easier, as I can do whatever I want, but it opened me up to meeting new people and having new experiences. Also, I think that now that I’ve traveled solo I will be more cognizant of others in my future hostels who might be traveling solo too and invite them to spend time with my friends and me.

Also, I just feel so much more independent now. A year ago I had never even flown completely by myself, let alone taken a train to a different city, flown from there and then navigated a brand new city all on my own. Things like that might have scared me before, but now, they’re easy. Flights don’t stress me out (that much), I do most planning for many of my trips the week of (maybe not the best idea), and I now don’t mind sitting down in a restaurant and eating alone.

So what are you waiting for? Don’t let the lack of having anyone to go with necessarily keep you from traveling. If it’s somewhere you’ve dreamed of going, then go!

And if you’re thinking of going to Dublin, check out my Dublin travel guide.

Happy travels,

Mikala

Have you ever traveled solo before? What was your experience like? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!