I've been going -travel- backpacking since I was 23 and now I'm 28, going into 29. This is due to a book by Rolf Potts called Vagabonding that my friend lended me and I decided to give it a shot. Now, I travel solo whenever I can afford it but unlike a lot of the backpackers I meet, my commitments at home cannot allow me to go several months out. My longest trip was right after college with 6-weeks and that trip was mostly trying to figure out if hostelling, solo travel and all, was for me. I didn't venture out very far, I went to explore the NE US and Canada (I'm American) with the trip ending in Toronto where I saw my family to do a family vacation. After that, I did a short 4-5 day trips whenever I could, mostly in cities in America until I became more and more comfortable with the idea of solo travel. I've done a few international trips with mostly 10-14 days each. I wanted to write these points as a testament to my experiences with the time I've spent in the last 6 years, traveling on-and-off while I work full time and now graduate school. My last trip consisted of the Balkans and the U.A.E. where I finally met up with my girlfriend who I used to be classmates with back in grade school and high school. If I didn't travel before, I don't think we'd have the chance to ever meet or pursue this relationship we have now. Below are some points I'd like to point out, as to why solo travel is beneficial to me.

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So sorry, because this is long.as.heck.

• It's a good way to recognize your basic needs. - I've read it before on /r/minimalism which helped me a lot with my mental health when I was working a minimum wage job. Thanks to /r/onebag I was able to curate what it is exactly that I need for a trip of any length, what to bring and what not to bring. It enabled me to understand that I needed to purchase high-quality clothing or those that can be utilized for several things, and to be as frugal as I can possibly be. (thanks REI, Poshmark and Uniqlo). Currently, I have a 20 lb pack and my most prized items in it include Patagonia nano puff jacket(light as heck, spent $40 on Poshmark for it), a Fuji X-T20 + a 35mm equivalent prime lens, a 4-port USB universal charger, and my minimized 4-step skincare routine (cleanser, toner, moisturizer, sunscreen), I also have recently included an old iPad Pro for movies/photo editing, two Bluetooth earphones, and a car mount for times that I may need to drive a car.
• It can be a good way to be out of your comfort zone. - Think about it. You're in another country where you probably don't speak the language, your surroundings are much larger than you ever perceived compared to reading the Wikipedia page, the food, the scenes, everything is new, fascinating and different. The same things you see back home are done in uniquely different ways with different outcomes. I am always floored with what I'm able to learn from my travels that I am literally, always trying to see if there are flights available for my free time.
• It keeps your research skills in check. - I'm a planner, in fact, I'm an overplanner. With the limited time I have traveling, I try to research every single thing associated with the things I'm going to which results in multiple stars on my google maps for places I'd like to go to. This is where I look up the public transportation, day passes, the absolute best bang for your buck experiences I could possibly find for any particular area. I've learned to download maps offline for the places I go to because despite of having T-mobile's unlimited 2g roaming internet anywhere I go, it's still slow as shit because, 2g.
• It keeps your improvisation skills in check. - I can also be very chill that when I'm tired of overplanning, I would just say fuck it and hope to God that I meet people that have plans for the day at the hostel or the CS app. Most of the time, this works. I've had such a blast in Berlin with people I just met the day of, and it was a group of 8 of us that walked around the entire city. We drank, ate, took pictures, enjoyed the views and talked to each other about the places we've been to. I wouldn't have minded a full day of walking around and taking pictures with my camera too.
• It improves your stress tolerance. - Three times, I've been put in pretty terrible predicaments that made me kind of dull to stressful situations. One was when I was on my way to the airport in Japan where I found myself LOST in the Tokyo subway loops for 2 hours. It came to the point that there wasn't any more English on the stations and I've asked several times while boarding the wrong trains (lol). Another was riding the bus from Lille to Paris, only to be dropped off at the OTHER airport because the bus conductor read my ticket wrong. He let me board this Paris bus but the airport he was going to was ORLY instead of CDG which really messed me up because it was rush hour. I ended up taking an Uber ride that was 45 minutes long, arriving with 15 minutes to spare until they closed the check-in counters which I needed since I was bringing some beer home. The last one was my delayed flight from Croatia to Dubai with a layover in Istanbul which resulted in an amazing race-esque sprint to the boarding gate. I arrived with the signs flashing "gates closed" when I arrived at the counter and to my delight, they still allowed me to go in. Holy f, yes these situations really did happen to me but lol I mean, if worse comes to worst, it is what it is right? Actually, I have a flight to Abu Dhabi this June with a 1-hour layover in Atlanta airport which I am already dreading.
• It's a great way to know yourself. - I think this is the most overused reason for solo travel but I'll tell you guys how it works for me. With the travel I've done, I realized that I am an extroverted introvert. I love meeting new people and knowing where they've been, following them on Instagram and social media to see what they're up to, as inspiration for my next adventure. On the contrast, I enjoy being able to walk around in cities and enjoying the views by myself, taking my time with photography and eating my way through its pavements. My love for travel intensifies my love for cooking where I'm able to experience different cuisines and always challenging my palate to try something new. I've met people who are big history buffs, people who go on every single walking tour there is, and to see all the sights. For me, it's going to grocery stores and seeing what's uniquely stocked. So, whenever people ask me why I travel, I tell them that I do it for two things only: to eat and to take pictures. I've given myself a rule to take 3 pictures for each place I've visited but they have to be really GOOD pictures. This eliminates my obligation to carry my camera every day and to not go crazy on the shutter.
• It humbles you and cultural sensitivity becomes its own muscle. - I've read a thing forever ago which said that some of the really good Asian restaurants in America have the rudest customer service. It talked about poor manners, waiters rushing orders and not using polite words to address their clients. It got me thinking as to how things are when you are used to being in another place. Growing up SE Asian, I was also obviously raised in SE Asian values, so when I moved to the US, it is no surprise that my friends have considered me rude with some of the things I've done. Being able to travel gives me this lens that I have to understand that people's world views are different. It knocks me down a peg since I become the visitor and I should be the one conforming to how they do things. I've traveled with a guy who did nothing but talks about his home city and his job in America while I traveled with him in Europe. I wanted to enjoy the city and the company of my local friends who took the time to ride two hours to meet us while they showed us around. Honestly, I was really embarrassed. I felt utmost relief when I parted with him at the end of my trip. I understand being able to compare what's different from back home and where you are currently but doing that for the entire duration of a trip to someone can be very exhausting.
• It is a source of endless stories and experiences will be unique to you. - I've been keeping a log of the moments in my life where I've done things and felt peace and happiness from my travels. In an overnight bus ride from Zagreb to Mostar, I saw the stars and the moonlight reflected on the water as the bus drove by the coast. It reminded me of a time when I was in a cruise ship with my family and got into an argument so I walked around the deck, only to be greeted with a multitude of stars in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. I spent one afternoon in Quebec City at a park, thinking about my ambitions when I was 24, and deciding to really love and take care of myself. The people I've met in my travels have always given me something to ponder upon, always fueling my curiosities as to what else may be out there. To me, the essence of a life well lived is being able to learn and experience what this vast world can offer.

Currently, I am a bit burnt out from solo travel and I feel like more travel won't be able to solve this. With the last three trips I've done(around 2 weeks each), I found myself always looking forward to coming back from my school breaks so that I can resume working out, meal prepping, and studying. One day, I'd like to go on a 1-year trip but I know that's not an itching need to do anytime soon. This feeling ties back to knowing myself because I'm able to recognize my wants and when I should say no.

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Lastly, I'll leave you with this: If you have never traveled solo before or you're contemplating it, take small steps to try it out. Do a short trip and be receptive with how you feel about the whole experience. Pack as if you'd be gone for several weeks and try to stay in a hostel if that's your vibe. Try going to Couchsurfing events to meet people to travel with, use the app or just go around alone. Have a stacked itinerary or no itinerary at all, either way, it is better to have traveled and experienced it firsthand than to regret not going.

I hope the wall of text reflects how much things have changed for me in the last 5 years because of travel.