– Seth Godin
I believe that few experiences can be as good for getting to know yourself as traveling alone. I did it for the first time in my early twenties. While I was doing a specialization in finance, I went to do a student exchange in France. And the whole experience was wonderful. A couple of my classmates had gone too, so I can't say I went alone to the whole experience. But it was my first time in Europe and one long weekend I wanted to go to Paris and nobody could go with me. At first, I hesitated a lot, but I dared.
I took the train and went to spend 4 days alone in Paris. I slept in a hostel with strangers in a room. The experience helped me to know what I was capable of and that I could go wherever I wanted without depending on anyone else.
Then over the years, I had to travel several times alone abroad for work and I always took the opportunity to explore with my only companion the places I had to visit.
But life moved on and I got married, started a family and solo travel became a thing of the past, and gave way to travel as a couple or as a family, and I love it that way, to be honest. But recently a solo trip came up out of necessity. At the beginning of the year, I had to travel to Colombia for a couple of weeks.
I needed to attend an appointment at the American Embassy in Bogota to renew my visa and then wait for my passport to be returned. At first I insisted to my husband to go with me, but he had work to do and could not take so many days off.
At first, I honestly did not like the idea of spending two weeks alone in another country, even though I already had been in the city. But then I got my head together and let that young Eliana with an adventurous spirit show herself a little bit. I had to take advantage of the opportunity to spend two weeks dedicated only to me. To do whatever I wanted.
I did so and enjoyed the experience.
Something that at first I didn't like so much was eating alone sitting at a table in a restaurant. But if I always ate at the place where I was staying I would miss out on one of the best parts of traveling which is trying different things than what we usually eat at home. So on more than one occasion, I found cool places where I could sit and eat at the bar. And it was great because I always ended up chatting with one of the employees behind the bar and seeing the things they served to other people.
I liked that the plan for each day was to do what I felt like doing. I walked a lot, drank a lot of coffee in nice cafes, spent hours browsing books in bookstores, and visited some places that I know the husband would have put buts. Like the morning I spent touring the Botanical Garden of the city that I have yet to write about.
And I also rested. I hadn't rested like that for years. If I didn't feel like going out one morning I would just lie down. Or after long walks in the city, I would arrive and lie down for an hour without any remorse. I really rested. I don't remember when was the last time before that I rested so well.
I also visited the Arepas place of a friend I met at Hive and had my first encounter in person with a hiver.
So as you can see the experience was great. And although I love to travel with my family, I wouldn't mind a little solo getaway for just a few days once in a while.
My advice if you have to make a solo trip is to do your research on the place you are going to visit. Stay in an area where you feel safe. And let yourself go. Do what you like. Get some rest.
This is my answer to one of the topics for this week's Ladies of Hive Community Contest #175.
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