I had never really traveled by myself until this past month. Before this, I’d always gone places with someone or had plans to meet someone when my plane/train/automobile stopped. So when I found out I’d be going to Europe for work, I knew this was my chance.

At the end of May, I spent two weeks in Dublin, London & Copenhagen. I traveled mostly alone, ate mostly alone and explored mostly alone. It was like breathing fresh air for the first time in a long time.

Being alone, so far from home and everyone you know, is equal parts liberating and reflective. I don’t even know if I could fully explain it. The quiet gives you time to be uninhibited, to explore, to think, to eat, to smile at strangers, to be meditative, to feel lonely, to wander and get lost, to practice gratitude, to feel annoyed that you missed that train because you couldn’t figure out the damn map, and mostly…to feel alive.

Traveling alone and outside of your comfort zone is a privilege. I know that not everyone has the time, money, or energy to do so. A year ago, a trip like this would’ve been a fantasy for me. But as soon as you are able to travel, I sincerely recommend that you go.  It is an essential element for growth. You don’t have to go that far. Just go. And take no one with you. I’ll let Cheryl Strayed take it from here:

“Go! Go! Go! You need it one more time, darlin? GO.

Really. Truly. As soon as you can. Of this I am absolutely sure: Do not reach the era of child-rearing and real jobs with a guitar case full of crushing regret for all the things you wished you’d done in your youth. Sugar knows too many people who didn’t do those things. They all end up mingy, addled, shrink-wrapped versions of the people they intended to be.

It’s hard to go. It’s scary and lonely and your band-mates will have a fit and half the time you’ll be wondering why the hell you’re in Cincinnati or Austin or North Dakota or Mongolia or wherever your melodious little finger-plucking heinie takes you. There will be boondoggles and discombobulated days, freaked out nights and metaphorical flat tires.

But it will be soul-smashingly beautiful, Solo. It will open up your life.”

– Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar