Dear vast and wonderful world,
My most treasured experiences have always been wandering you alone. When it’s just me on my own, riding the waves of solo travel I feel free and peaceful, I have no one else to account for, and I can explore you however makes me feel best. While traveling across your cities and wilderness I enjoy crossing paths with other travelers, but only for brief periods of time. Even when I’m in a crowded place with hundreds of people around me, being on a solo journey makes it feels like it is just you and me. Taking in your beauty whether in wilderness vistas or modern cityscapes, it is just you and me and this moment in time.
I’ve traveled with groups, family, my wife, and friends, but none can compare to the joy of being solo travel. Without the need to cater to other’s desires, I have the freedom to be spontaneous, to do what I wish. There’s no judgment or guessing how my companions really feel about the itinerary, and no need to wait for others to get ready or catch up. Do you remember the time I spent one whole day reading the latest Harry Potter in a tiny bookstore in Prague? Already lost in a faraway city on another continent, I got lost again in the world of fiction. Or how about the time I booked a 3-night ferry ride without a room and ended up sleeping on a hard half-couch in the ship’s library? I budgeted to only pay for the breakfast buffet and stuffed myself for 3 hours before spending the rest of the day wandering the ship, alone, hungry, and happy. Neither of those experiences would have been possible if I wasn’t traveling solo.
Solo travel doesn’t mean I was always alone, I often bump into fellow travelers and spend some time sharing new experiences together before drifting apart in separate directions. There was the Czech busker couple in Venice that I stopped and listened to for an hour before they packed up and we dove into the nightlife until the next dawn broke. Or the old New Zealendar in Phnom Penh whose arms were covered in sleeves and grey hair rolled over his shoulders like a mane. We raised hell through the city and even commandeered some rickshaws on that crazy night. But like sticks floating down a river that get caught in an eddy together for a while, after a short while we always got spit out and took our own paths to the next destination.
My days of solo travel are probably already past. I have a daughter of my own now and I can’t wait to watch her see the amazing sights of the world for herself. But even though I’ll likely grow to love that more, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the days I wandered you alone. Thank you for letting me experience so many of you sights, taste the foods grown in your soil, feel the changes in temperature, or a certain smell that just is so unique to one place. As I continue to explore the vastness you contain, I’ll always treasure the times we were alone together.