Travelling Alone After a Breakup

As someone who has travelled both as part of a couple and as a single, I can say they both have their pros and cons.

The pros:

– You can keep your own schedule and do exactly what you want. You can pack in activities or lie in until you want to get up for brunch at 11am. When you want to change plans, you don’t need to consult anyone.

– You’re forced to talk to other people, which is a good thing.

– You’ll realize you’re more independent and capable than you thought you were.

– You get to dine alone. This might sound like a con, but in my book it is a pro. Dining alone allows you to eat when and where you want, and you get great people watching opportunities.

– Freedom to meet people along the way and do some of your travel with them e.g., you meet another girl and decide to do a day trip together. Staying in hostels makes it more like you’ll meet people you want to hang out with and do activities with. If you prefer hotels, staying somewhere with a hot tub can increase your chances of finding people to talk with and hang out with. Staying at a hotel where breakfast is included can also help facilitate meeting people as you’ll talk to people over breakfast.

The cons:

– You don’t have anyone to split the cost with. Because of this con, you may need to do things like take the bus rather than take a taxi. It’s a little bit of pain but you get used to it.

– You’ll get hassled and hit on more. In my experience, when you get hit on abroad, it’s hardly ever by people you’d want to be hit on by!

– You have to organize everything yourself. Although if your ex was lazy or not good at travel research, then you might’ve been doing everything yourself anyway.

– You can end up spending too much time in your room. It’s important you figure out some activities you can do in the evening and still feel safe. Otherwise you’ll get bored. When you get bored, you’ll start to get lonely.

– It can be hard to feel safe if you are potentially looking to find a date on holiday. Sometimes people consider choosing organized “singles” holidays in this scenario. There are even options for people you are single parents who want to meet other single parents.

If you’re used to travelling as part of a pair, or have just had a breakup then traveling alone can make you feel a bit upset about not having your partner to travel with. However, solo travel can be just as much fun is couples travel, and there is no reason to be lonely.