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If I had to choose a few words to describe all the travel I did in 2023, I would choose, “unexpected,” “epic,” and “how-is-this-my-life.” (Using hyphens for that last one to make it one word haha, and I mean it in a good way!). 2023 was the year I released my book, Infinite Entrepreneur, the year I started putting the DJ skills I learned in Fall 2022 to use, and the year of many twists and turns. Read on for the full 2023 recap!
I never really thought about the concept of solo travel until I was in Italy for my job after college and my roommate brought it up. She said during our Christmas break she wanted to do some solo traveling. She wanted to see the castles in Romania. The thought of traveling solo seemed so foreign to me, considering for our job we took groups of students around Europe, and prior to that when I studied abroad, we were always traveling in groups.
However, the more I traveled, the more I read travel blogs. I was engrossed in stories of times spent abroad and kept seeing the term "solo travel" pop up. My curiosity about traveling solo began to grow and I started looking into it. After all, while I'd love to travel with my friends, it gets to a point where it becomes too difficult to coordinate schedules, budgets, and expectations.
Amalfi Coast Positano boats
You can start easy. Start by going to a new city where you don't know anyone for a day. Have a plan with a bunch of things to do (or even no plan at all - whatever you prefer).
I'd didn't realize it at the time, but when I moved to DC for a summer job I took the first step. While I was going to meet and spend most of time with my co-workers, I didn't know anyone doing the program. I had never been to DC. I didn't know anyone at all. Taking a leap of faith to do something I've always wanted to do led to an unforgettable summer with new friendships, a rewarding job, and a city that holds a dear spot in my heart.
ROME
When I moved to Italy shortly after my summer in DC, I was the first one of our staff to arrive. Like DC, I hadn't met anyone I was working with in Italy either. I was by myself for a few days before everyone else started trickling in. Between the jet lag I was out and about, re-exploring the streets of the city I had studied abroad in two years prior. It was yet another incredible experience and something I'll remember forever.
Move somewhere completely new for a job - this helps you get used to taking risks by traveling somewhere foreign to you where you don't know anyone (living with your co-workers makes the transition smoother)
Sign up for a tour by yourself with a tour company - you'll meet others in the group and travel together
Volunteer abroad with a group or organization
Teach English abroad through a TEFL/TESOL/ESL company that has an orientation for other teachers in the same city you're moving to
Go somewhere solo and meet up with friends of friends
Do couchsurfing or air bnb to meet and stay with locals
arc de triomphe 1
Solo travel doesn't have to be lonely. In fact, some people tend to favor it versus going with people they already know. I've only had a full long weekend of full "solo travel" in Paris, but taking "risks" by moving to DC or to Italy by myself previously helped ease that fear. Also, Paris is a very touristy city so I knew I'd meet plenty of others traveling too (and I did!). While I haven't done a huge solo trip for a long period of time, the thought of going somewhere alone doesn't intimidate me like it used to.
I encourage you to consider traveling solo. It can be an amazing, eye-opening experience and is something I think everyone should try at least once in their lives, even if only for a few days. Getting out of your comfort zone allows you to grow, and solo travel - or easing into it like one of the ways above - will certainly do that.
Sedona 7
It can be difficult to sum up how travel changes you or what you learn from travel.
I feel like a lot of the time this happens when people asked how your trip abroad was. When I got back from my study abroad program a few years ago, all I could really say was, "It was amazing," because it was amazing. It's difficult to describe it in more detail to someone who doesn't share that common ground.
But as the years have gone on and I've been able to travel a little more, I've been able to reflect on what I've learned so far.
Humans have the same basic needs: to be fed, to have shelter, to be loved. We want to surround ourselves with positive people, friends, and family. We want to better the lives of others. We want to learn and to grow.
People are very similar, even if their ways of eating, living, or loving are vastly different than your own. They don't do things in a "weird" way, they just do things differently. And that is okay.
Florence
It's important to keep your wits about you while you travel (just as you would in any city) and to research the cities you're visiting beforehand to be aware of tourist scams. However, most people are nice people, and the world isn't as scary as you think.
In Paris, I encountered girls asking me if I spoke English, thrusting their "petitions" (scams) into my face, but I simply ignored them. However, there were quite a few people I encountered as a solo female traveler that weekend showed nothing but kindness.
Also read: Solo Travel Stories That Confirmed My Faith In Humanity
When you travel, you can wear what you want, put on makeup if you want, or do your hair if you want. You'll never see these people again, so what does it matter if you decide to not make your hair perfect or wear the same thing two days in a row?
Istanbul Mosques
When you travel you're likely to come across religious locations. In Italy, you're required to cover your shoulders, knees, and toes in churches. In Turkey, females must wear a headscarf in mosques.
In general, knowing the cultural clothing customs will not only help you blend in, but show the locals you care enough about their culture while you're spending time in their country.
It's best to know at least a few phrases in the foreign language before you go and to attempt to use them. However, unless you're fluent, there will be parts of your conversation with others that sound entirely like gibberish. I've had a number of conversations where body language and/or the usage of hand signals were the majority of the conversation.
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Navigation was never my strong suit. When I got my driver's license at age 16 I was constantly getting lost...in the city I grew up in. Traveling forced me to be aware of where I was going and to be able to find my way around. Slowly but surely, I became more confident with directions to the point where I was leading tours for my job in Europe to cities I hadn't been to before.
When you travel you learn so much that is applicable to everyday life. Independence, communication, and cultural understanding are a few soft skills one tends to pick up abroad.
Going off of the above point - travel makes you wiser beyond your years. Going to school isn't something to be taken lightly, and even if you build off your education, there is so much to learn when you travel. You get life experience that you could never get by reading a book or watching a movie.
The more I travel, the more I realize I don't need a ton of material things. When you're traveling with just a small suitcase of possessions, it becomes clearer that you truly don't need a ton of stuff. Growing up on vacations I used to love to take home souvenirs. Now I'd rather spend it on experiences versus tacky trinkets.
I'll cherish the memories of the times I spent on a boat cruising through the Mediterranean or clinking beer steins with Germans at Oktoberfest more than snow globes that say "Cannes, France" or "Munich, Germany."
switzerland interlaken
It's important to give things another shot, because not everything is perfect. I fell ill with a terrible stomach ache a couple days before my weekend in Switzerland - a country I was extremely excited to visit as it held a high spot on my bucket list. I also lost my debit card in Turkey the weekend prior and had to borrow cash from friends throughout the weekend. And to top it off, it was really foggy, so even if I had had money to go skydiving, the weather conditions weren't safe.
Needless to say, the weekend in Switzerland was my least favorite trip in Europe.
But it wasn't Switzerland's fault. There were just a number of factors and unfavorable coincidences that all happened at the same time. I'll be sure to give Switzerland another chance if the opportunity arises. You can't totally judge something entirely based on one experience.
Denver Horses 4
One of my college professors once said something along the lines of, "When you look back at a past relationship, you have three periods: the comfort of being in the relationship, the break-up and grieving portion - which is undoubtedly the toughest part - and the part where you move on from it. Which part did you learn the most? After the breakup, when everything seems unfamiliar and tough and scary. You're out of your comfort zone. But after you've gone through it, you'll look back and realize that the point when you were out of your comfort zone was when you learned the most."
Moving to DC (a city I'd never been to) the summer after college for a job was out of my comfort zone. Moving to Italy at the end of that summer to work in Europe was even more out of my comfort zone. Leading a group of students by myself from the thermal baths through the Hungarian metro was, you guessed it, out of my comfort zone. But I did it. I pushed past the fear and got through it, and learned so much from doing so.
After all, facing your fears is the only way to get over them.
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There is no doubt that while travel is amazing, it does come with the occasional struggle. When I was leaving Lake Como with a friend last year, the taxi driver first overcharged us, and even though we paid him the full price, he still chased us all the way into the train station.
We missed our train to Milan because he started shouting, "Polizia! Polizia!" and almost got us arrested. Luckily the police officers believed us when we told them we did indeed pay him the right amount and he was just trying to scam us.
In that moment, I was not too fond of strangers.
For every frustrating situation like that, there is usually at least one (if not more!) good situation to make up for it.
During my solo weekend in Paris this summer, I experienced the kindness of strangers firsthand. I was by myself, in a foreign country, in a foreign city. Paris is an easy city to travel in, but these few moments where I was given a helping hand definitely confirmed my faith in humanity, and that a majority of the world is made up of good people.
While waiting in line underground to get into The Louvre, I was chatting with an English couple while we waited. I told them that I was most excited to see Napoleon's Rooms, which I believed would be worth the extra few euros to get in. They said they were most excited for all the Italian paintings.
Once inside, we rushed to the ticket machines and were lucky to get there when we did - a massive line began forming behind us for the ticket machines. On the screen, I was surprised I wasn't prompted to purchase the add-on for Napoleon's Rooms and asked the English couple if they knew anything about that.
They offered to hold my machine (one of them stood at mine and the other stood at their's) while I quickly ran over to the information booth to ask. Turns out there was no extra fee for the rooms! I hurried back to the machine, thanked the couple for holding it for me, and was grateful I didn't have to stand in the continuously-growing line.
Since Paris was the first portion of my summer Europe trip, I was really jet lagged. On Sunday after hours of walking and exploring the city, I collapsed onto my hotel bed into a deep sleep. When I woke up from that long nap at 9pm, I happened to be really hungry. Upon the realization that it was late Sunday night and the cafes and grocery stores were closed, I thought I might have to skip dinner and wait till morning.
But - alas - there was a Starbucks around the corner! I walked over to it and my hopes were tarnished as the sign on the door said it closed at 7pm on Sundays. As if on cue, a man walked up to me and told me there was a different Starbucks about 10 minutes away that was open till 10pm on Sundays. He said he was headed to that area and would show me the way.
In the past I would've had my guard up and politely declined, but my instincts told me he was a normal person and not a serial killer. As we walked we chatted about where we were from and the differences in culture (he was from Vietnam and is living in Paris). We parted ways once we got to Starbucks, but I'll remember our conversation and the kindness of him showing me the way. I was also glad to find food!
The next night I walked a long 45 minute walk from my hotel to the Eiffel Tower to see it light up at sunset. I found a nice spot in the grass and was marveling at the enormity and beauty of the tower. A man came and sat down near me, photographing the tower. He then started a conversation with me, saying he was a magazine photographer and it was his first assignment. I learned he was from Turkey, and told them I was in Istanbul recently.
Our conversation wasn't really going anywhere after that, but he lingered a little. My gut instincts told me he was also a normal man and there was nothing to worry about. (Besides, there were hundreds of people around anyway).
However, a group of American students sitting near me noticed this and invited me to sit with them. They weren't sure if I was uncomfortable or not, but in case it was a bad situation, wanted to help me out. I learned they went to school in Florida and were studying abroad for the summer. We chatted about college, Paris, traveling after graduation, etc. It was nice to make temporary friends for the evening and know that even though we had never met prior, they were kind enough to invite me to hang out with them to keep me out of a (potentially) bad situation.
While these are all little moments of kindness, they are all moments where I realized that most people are good people.
Even things like holding the door for someone, giving a warm smile, or pointing out directions to those who are lost goes a long way. Let's continue the kindness both while traveling and in everyday life!
Earlier this summer, I got an exciting and somewhat unexpected opportunity to go to Europe to work for a few weeks. With that opportunity came flights paid for by the company, and which could be flexible if I wanted to travel before/after. Of COURSE I jumped at the opportunity to do a little side-traveling! While I wanted to do a big trip around the Balkans or travel around Spain and Portugal for a few weeks, there was no way my budget would've allowed either trips at the time.
Instead, I chose to spend a long weekend in one of the most popular European destinations...Paris.
Though I had been to Europe a few times prior and had even been to the French Riviera, I had never made it up to Paris. I've had so many friends tell me that I would love the city, and from the popularity in books and movies I knew I had to get there.
I had seen so many pictures throughout my life of Paris and the iconic Eiffel Tower. I had seen videos on Instagram of friends jumping or dancing around with the tower in the background. I had seen it sparkling at night in the background of a scene on Gossip Girl, my favorite show.
Seeing the Eiffel Tower in real life from Placa de la Concorde was exciting, but it wasn't until I got up close to it that it took my breath away. That thing is giant! I found a spot in the grass in perfect view of the tower and watched it slowly light up as the sun set. It was beyond beautiful - much more so in person than it was in photos. And then it sparkled at 11pm that summer night and was even more gorgeous.
I realized at that moment why Paris is such a popular city for people to travel to. You can find beauty everywhere in Paris - even at the seemingly "cliche" spots like the Eiffel Tower. That's why this quote resonates with me:
"It's Better To See Something Once Than Hear About It a Thousand Times"
If you've been wanderlust-ing about going somewhere, find an opportunity and go. Looking at pictures of your dream destination will only fulfill you for so long.
