My first time travelling solo experience
WARNING: Long story
I'm 19 years old and I'm a guy.
Two years ago me and 2 friends started making plans for the time after school and before uni. We decided rather quickly on touring through New Zealand. So halfway through the planning my friends decided not to, for whatever reason.
Last 1,5 year of school pass by and it's June 2018. My friends are going to uni that same year and I'm not because I just went to school for 12 years and want a one year long break before going to uni. I have family in Thailand so I decided to go to Thailand and work with my cousin (I have dual citizenship). Still, one year just working wasn't that appealing so I looked up flights to NZ again and to my surprise they were quite cheap (around 600ish€; tbf I was flying from Thailand). Told my parents and they were like 'yeah sure do whatever you want lol'. So I booked the flight and my parents didn't expect me to do this and instead thought I would chicken out like I always did. And to be honest I was scared as shit. Going all by myself to literally the other side of the world for 1,5 month was both frightening and exciting because I'm not the most extroverted guy. Since renting a campervan for myself was too expensive I booked a KIWIExperience tour for again another 600ish€ (which I do not regret).
February was just around the corner and I had saved a decent amount of money from working with my cousin (wasn't enough lol). Bought a decent 35l backpack, packed my clothes (enough for a week of each shirts, boxers, socks, and shorts/pants) and off to Auckland I was. First days in NZ felt surreal like really weird. You are all by yourself, no one to talk to. But that changed once I left Auckland behind and started my tour. I sat next to a Brit on the Bus who also happened to travel alone so we awkwardly exchanged formalities and talked a bit. With every hour that passed the more comfortable I got talking to him and other strangers.
2 weeks passed and not only did I get comfortable talking to complete strangers but I haven't felt alone because I wasn't. I completely forgot that I was supposed to be there with my friends who dumped me and instead the guys and I met became friends even if only temporarily.
I had a lot of first times in NZ: First time in a hostel First time in an Irish pub First time surfing First 2am ocean swim First time tea with milk First time crawling in complete darkness through a cave First 3am walk to a mountain top to catch the amazing sunrise First time running out of money lol (absolutely worth it) And of course the first time experiencing the obligatory guy with a guitar in a hostel and on the beach.
I am so grateful for my friends opting to go to uni and that I made the riskiest choice in my still young life because if not than I would have missed out on a lot of stuff. I can't wait for my next solo adventure (which is just 1,5 months away) and I can only recommend going solo.
Submitted March 25, 2019 at 04:25PM by shronk_the_great https://ift.tt/2HEqRzR
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