Most people give up on travelling because there is nobody to accompany them. They can’t imagine enjoying a place all by themselves.
It’s true that when you have a travel group you tend to enjoy it more because you can talk with each other, eat, laugh, stay together and explore the place enjoying each other’s company.
But travelling alone and going on a solo exploration can also be fun if you know how to do it.
Just because no one is willing to accompany you on a trip should not stop you from going on your solo adventure.
In this blog, I am going to share with you how exploring a place all by yourself can also be an enriching experience for you.
For most of the years, I have lived by myself – all alone. I had my office colleagues but outside work, they had their own life. I love exploring new places and I also didn’t find any buddy to come along.
I told myself – Let’s go solo!
Whatever may be your solo travel destination, here I list down 9 interesting things that I do or did to make the most of my solo adventure that you can keep in mind:
Table of Contents
1. Go for a Long Walk:
When I shifted to a new locality in the city of Pune, I didn’t know the surroundings. So, one evening just near sunset I decided to explore what the place looked like. I took to the footpath and started walking. I had nowhere to reach, I had no goal to visit someplace. All I wanted to do was take a long walk and understand the lanes and by lanes of the nearby places.
As I walked the path I observed the shops, and I observed the kind of people walking around. I came to know that if I had to buy groceries where should I be coming? If I had to have breakfast there was a restaurant near the corner. I came to know that there was a Mall at a distance that I could visit and explore.
That day I walked – wandered would be a better term – for about two hours taking different paths and getting to know the places that I could visit. I got used to the kind of roads there in the locality, my foot got used to the the footpaths on which it walked.
That day I didn’t buy anything but came home rich with the knowledge of the nearby places where I was going to spend a good number of years staying.
If you too are visiting a place for the very first time it pays to get out of your house or your hotel and go exploring the neighborhood.
Many years later my wife and I had to stay in a Hotel in Chennai for a day. After breakfast, we came out and explored the nearby marketplace on foot looking at things and eatables that were sold along the path. We bought a few items and had some chat items from a roadside stall.
These walks open up our minds towards our surroundings and their culture followed by the people of that particular area.
Now I am not saying you will only get to experience positive things always. You never know what kind of people you will get to meet or bang into while on foot. And that person will teach you some life lessons in his very own way and style. That’s what is adventure, isn’t it?
Whether you are travelling to a new city or are shifting places within the city, it always pays to move around and get familiarized with the new atmosphere.
2. Visit your city online before you decide to physically travel to that city:
Whichever is the best place for your solo travel in India, in this internet era, you are just a few keywords and click away to explore the city you plan to visit.
Do some research on the city. Google some questions related to the city:
Places to visit in <your city name>.
Is it safe to travel to <your city name>?
Is <your city name> expensive?
Where to stay in <your city name>?
These small queries will give you an overall picture of what you can expect from that city. These are but a few questions. Do google your queries to see what information the internet throws at you.
Once you have the answers you are looking for or at least most of the answers, go ahead and prepare a rough itinerary of all the places you can visit once you are there.
3. Take a bus tour of the city:
Many cities run open bus tours of the city. You can hop onto one such bus along with other travellers and go on a long journey across the city.
If you are in Mumbai, you can buy a ticket at Gateway of India for the open bus tour. It’s a round trip. The bus starts from Gateway of India and terminates at the same place. It will take you across the city and you can see Mumbai in its full glory beautifully lit up.
Find out if the city you are planning to visit has such kind of bus tours for the tourists visiting the city.
Even if there are no such buses available and you are of an adventurous type, let me share with you something different you may want to try.
Just hop onto any local bus and ask for a ticket for the last stop. Grab a window seat and experience the city watching from the comfort of your seat as the bus navigates its route towards the last stop. If you see something interesting you can always get down to explore. Just note down the bus number so that you can catch the same bus number from the other side of the road and return to where you started. Make sure you write down or remember the name of the bus stop from where you board the bus.
One important thing, just don’t try this late into the night because all bus services have their predecided last round of the day. You might get stuck and then may have to find different modes of transport to return.
Once my wife and I got stuck at a stop and had to take a ride on a tempo to reach the main city from where we took an auto back home.
4. Have a Conversation with the Locals:
The best way to know about the place and its people is to have a good conversation with the local population. And I would like to include the bus conductors, the shopkeepers, the auto or cab drivers in the list of the local population. These people can tell you about the city that you may not find in any tourist guide. The only criteria is that they should be able to understand your language and you should be able to understand their language.
Another way to engage with the locals is to attend local events and festivals celebrated during your visit period. You can google the events happening in the city. Pick one or as many as you can that interest you and visit those events.
Get to know what the locals are celebrating and start a conversation with them about the festival. Buy some festival-related sweets from the market and try them out.
It pays to be inquisitive if you are travelling all by yourself. Whoever you meet locally, strike up a conversation and ask questions related to the city. You’ll get first-hand information about how the heart of the city beats and what’s the weather like there.
5. Capture Memories:
With a Smartphone in your pocket, you have a tool that you can use almost anywhere and anytime to capture the moment in the form of a picture or a video.
If you are a lover of words you can capture the moment in your travel diary by painting a picture with your creative sentences.
Documenting the moment or editing a vlog allows you to engage with the event once again. You experience a deeper understanding of the people and place. It creates a deep memory that lingers with you for a long, long time.
6. Learn Day to Day Useful Local Phrases:
I am in awe of people who fluently speak three to four languages other than their mother tongue and English. I believe that an individual should be able to have a conversation in at least a minimum of three languages.
And it need not be a foreign language.
One big advantage of living in India is that you get an opportunity to learn different languages and unique dialects of a region. It instantly gets you connected to the local people.
If you are travelling to a state that doesn’t speak the language of your state then you can pick up a few daily used phrases of that state’s language and use them as you interact with the local people.
Even though you can buy a small book on how to learn that language or learn from Google, the best way is to observe the locals speak in their native language. Initially, you may not understand but after some time you will start getting the feel of the word’s meaning. Combine this with your body language and you will get a grip on the vocabulary.
You can even talk to the staff of the hotel where you are staying and ask them to translate for you some regularly used phrases. Write it down in your pocket diary or any note app on your smartphone and you can revise it as and when you get time.
7. Try Local Dishes:
If you don’t try out the local dishes of the city then you are missing out on something.
When first time I visited Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu, after marriage, my wife introduced me to a local dish called Kalaan.
Kalaan in Tamil means mushroom. It’s a popular street food in the city and is sold across the bakeries that are spread in the city. You can also find some street side stalls offering the dish. Maybe because of this, the Kalaan is also known here as Rottu Kadai (street side shop) Kalaan.
Mushroom pieces are fried in oil to make them crispy and crunchy. Then they are dunked into onion-tomato gravy. The dish is semi-dry and is served with a garnish of finely chopped raw onion. The way it is prepared, you can have it as a snack or even as a light breakfast.
The internet is filled with recipes to prepare Kalaan. It’s so simple a dish that you can make it at your home too.
But to seek out the local dishes enjoyed by the common man of the city you need to visit small restaurants and hotels. You may not find these dishes in big hotels and fancy restaurants. Even if you find them, you may not get to experience the real raw local taste.
As you sit in a roadside restaurant check out the menu. Look at the names of the dishes you have never heard before. Maybe it might be a very common dish for the locals but for you, it may be something novel to try. Another option is to ask the waiter about the local dish available.
8. Stay Alert and Aware of Your Surroundings:
When we travel to a new city we tend to think and believe that everything there is going to be smooth sailing. We rarely think or don’t want to think of things that may go wrong. But it pays to be cautious about our surroundings.
Now, this step is not to stress you out. Whether you are travelling to a new city or are staying in your city, it is always better to be aware and alert about what’s happening in our surroundings.
It is good to be friendly with the locals but know your limits and don’t cross them.
If you book a private taxi or take an auto, you can break into a conversation with the driver and get to know the city and its people better.
Nowadays in India, almost every big and small shops and shopping complex accept Gpay and other mobile platforms for even the bare minimum transactions. Today is an era of QR codes. Just point your Smartphone camera, scan and pay. So, you can consider carrying a minimum of cash in your wallet.
Most of the city’s roads can be littered with all kinds of things. As you walk on the road be careful where you place your foot. If you find something odd on the side of the road don’t risk walking over it. Just walk around it.
In some cities crossing a busy road can be a mission in itself. It can be a daunting task.
While crossing the road look at both sides of the traffic multiple times before you take the first step to cross the road. You may have people riding or driving from all possible and impossible sides of the road. And if unfortunately, they hit you, instead of apologising to you they will blame you for not looking out.
Some people on the road appear super-duper busy. Looking at them you may wonder that even the Prime Minister may not be as busy as these people appear. Once I saw a middle-aged couple travelling on a bike. The husband was not wearing any helmet and was riding the bike while her wife sitting behind was holding the mobile phone to his ear – he was talking on the phone as he rode his bike.
Another super-busy item I saw on the road: a man was carrying about seven – eight trays of eggs in his hands. His mobile phone is placed in between his ear and his bent head touching his shoulder. This super man is talking on the phone and at the same time is crossing a busy road.
Have you ever been so busy and such a multitasker in your life?
I strongly suggest you don’t try these stunts.
Let me share with you a secret:
If you want to have a safe and peaceful walk or ride on the road just remember this: Believe that you are the only person on the road with eyes, rest everyone is blind.
Another thing you should be careful about while crossing a road:
If there is a divider in the middle of the road and you are standing on the divider or near an opening in the divider to cross the road, make sure to look at the ground near your feet. There might be some odd rod jumping out from the ground or some other garbage lying around or the road might be covered with slippery mud or sand. If you only look out at the incoming traffic your legs may get entangled with the things near your feet and you may get hurt.
9. Embrace Solitude:
While travelling all by yourself to a city you may want to take out time to spend a peaceful time away from crowded places to introspect.
The best places for self-introspection are those that are larger than life. Places like beachside or a huge garden.
I have sat at the beach all by myself for hours and hours watching the sunset and allowing my thoughts to flow in and out of my mind.
I have come to realize that if you want to de-stress yourself or want to clear your mind then the best place is to sit in the lap of nature. The nature tends to suck out your negative energies and thoughts. You come back with some new ideas and perspectives.
As you sit in solitude you can ponder over what you have experienced in the city. If you are a blogger you can jot down your thoughts and experiences or just sit and enjoy the ambience.
Seek out places in the city where you can spend time all by yourself without checking your Smartphone.
In Conclusion
Today most of us are afraid to be alone or terrified by feeling the fear of loneliness. As soon as we find ourselves alone our immediate response is to pick up our mobile and start checking the notifications. If there’s no notification we dive into our favorite social media app and start absorbing whatever the social media posts are throwing at us.
Why am I afraid to be alone?
This is one question we need to ask ourselves frequently and then work towards a state of being where we become our own best friend.
It’s not easy to be with yourself because it was never taught to us. I mean how many of us knew from childhood that we can enjoy our own company?
Today when I see some small children they show the signs of enjoying themselves. They play all alone with their toys, they talk to the toys and themselves as they arrange their toys in a certain way. It’s awesome. But this happens only till the time they are introduced to television or smartphone. Then their mind takes a backseat and just starts absorbing all kinds of content that the internet and television presents them.
Long ago I heard a one sentence story that I would like to share with you:
Once upon a time there was a young and active boy and then he was gifted a Smartphone.
That’s it. The story ends here. After that you, the reader have to imagine what would have happened to that active boy. It’s no rocket science.
In the twenty-first century we debate on television channels on how any kind of slavery is bad for a healthy society. We have come a long way after slavery was abolished. But look at the irony – we willingly have become slaves.
Not to any one person but to our Smartphones.
Sometimes I wonder: Do we own our Smartphones or is our Smartphone owning us?
We buy these expensive masters and take good care of it. Even better than we take care of ourselves. We are willing to pay extra for the insurance cost of our Smartphone but think it’s a waste of money when it comes to buying insurance for our own lives.
It’s time to live our lives beyond our Smartphones, beyond being dependent on technology or anybody to make us happy.
It’s time to look into the mirror, smile and say:
Hi! I am your best friend. Now let’s go out and live our life!
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