Taming loneliness while traveling

This post was first published on the excellent blog of La Cordée stores.

---

"Don't you get bored of always traveling alone?" I am frequently asked. Basically no. In fact, I get asked this question so often that I find it fun to answer it. As in this Espaitec's where I invent that my personality is so beautiful that it is the reason why I never get bored in my presence…!

My answer is not as ridiculous as it might sound. Traveling alone allows you to spend a lot of time with yourself. Especially by bike! It's not just a myth, traveling alone really helps you get to know and trust yourself. Here are some advantages, disadvantages and tips for traveling alone… and happy.

The benefits

We are constantly surrounded at home: as a couple, at school, at the office, as a family. However, the time spent alone allows us to motivate us intellectually: to learn an instrument, to read, to draw. I am convinced that without those long hours spent in the saddle thinking, taking notes of what I see, and stopping when I want to talk to people on my way, I never could have write a book. Accompanied, I would not have noticed so much the details of the landscapes I am crossing and I would not have had the same encounters.

Traveling alone also allows you to be fully in control of your journey. Each branch involves a new decision making. Every order at a restaurant, in a foreign country, is a potential challenge.

Traveling alone allows you to make no compromises on your itinerary and to take time for yourself.

In my opinion, however, the best advantage of traveling solo is openness to others. It's so much easier to get invited all over the place when you're alone. We are less threatening, and people approach us more. We also get more invitations because it costs less to invite one person to eat or sleep for a night or two. Finally, when the people I meet ignore the languages ​​I speak, they approach me without this barrier. Then we take care of the rest of the conversation!

The inconvenients

Of course, traveling alone is not always perfect. Crossing a desert or climbing a mountain pass requires a lot of mental strength, especially when you have no one to share the challenge with. Sometimes I wish I could share my daily life, from routine to epic moments, with someone to create common memories. Not to mention that immortalizing beautiful moments is much easier when we have another person to take a picture of us.

Also, a few times I was sick and weak enough to pass out. A sidekick to help me would have been welcome in these cases. (We still would have had to not have eaten exactly the same unhealthy food!)

Taking your own photos sometimes requires crossing the water to set down your tripod, retrace your steps and play the actor in front of your own camera.

Some things

Over the years on the road, however, I have found a balance between traveling alone and with others. I occasionally meet people with whom I decide to ride a bit. Obviously, hostels are also full of potential friends. Sometimes my family or old friends come from Canada to join in on mine for a few weeks.

In the company of Davide the Italian and Freddy the German, in Chile.

Alone or accompanied, I nevertheless listen to podcast probably 98% of the time (see the ones I listen to on question 6 of my FAQ). There is an almost endless choice of downloadable shows. With a good selection, you never get bored.

I also buy SIM cards in the countries I cross. Often faster than local Wi-Fi connections, they cost a fraction of the price we pay in Canada. I only buy data that allows me to stay in touch with my loved ones via Messenger, WhatsApp, Facetime or other.

A drone is also a great tool (and a great toy!) To take a picture of yourself. Here I am in central Chile.

I communicate locally with signs, photos on my phone and sometimes use Google Translate. And I embrace the challenges. I enjoy going to have my hair cut where I don't speak the language. I bring a picture of the cool that I want, but most of the time it's the barber who decides what he wants to do. So I learn to let go of what I can't control.

I am learning to be good with myself. And by dint of talking to me in long moments of silence, I begin, in fact, to find that I have a pretty good personality…!