Traveling solo was one of the best things that I have ever done, and I am not done yet. Just taking a break right now to visit family. I was scared and lonely, but I also never felt more alive and free!Just a recap so you know what I did, I quit my job, packed my car, and left on a three month trip to see the National Parks and other great attractions in the United States. I live on the East Coast so my trip was all over the West!
Things that I learned (Now this is my opinion. You may not agree to all these.)
- Your family/friends may not agree with what you are doing. After deciding this is what I wanted to do (quit my job and travel.) Some of the people in my life didn’t like it. At all! Some called me stupid. Some told me I was making a mistake. I was getting a lot of criticism and a lot of it wasn’t very nice. You may have to go through some hardship with the people you are close to, in order to live your dream. My advice, don’t let anyone talk you out of doing something you really want to to. If these people want to be in your life, they will come around. And if they don’t it is on them. Don’t feel bad because you want to live your life the way you want to. It’s your life!!! And you only live once.
- There will always be a job. One of my biggest concerns before I quit my job was money. Money unfortunately has a way of controlling us. Not all of us, but most of us in this world. I worked constantly my whole life. Always living the conventional life. The life we are told to live. Money was one of my biggest concerns before doing this. Will I have enough? Will I be able to get a job when I come back? Being out in the wilderness and traveling has a funny way of changing our personalities and some time during the adventure, your thought process changes. People for the most part change when they travel, especially solo because you have a lot of time to reflect on things. Somehow, traveling made me think of money in a whole new way. I use to think I needed a whole bunch of it, and I did because I bought all this stupid shit! I lived pay check to pay check. Then… I started to have a whole new thought process on money. I pretty much buy things I only need now instead of what I want. That alone is a crazy money saver! I started to realize what is important in my life and what is not. And there are jobs EVERYWHERE!!! Do you really think you’re going to let yourself starve to death? No. You will find a job. And for whatever reason, I don’t see money as a big issue as I once did. I guess I value my life a little more and I know I will figure it out, and I will figure it out in a good way. And that brings me to my next point.
- You value your life so much more!!!!Before, the weeks and months passed me by like a commercial. I barely remembered the day. I barely grew. Now, I can pretty much feel every day. When I traveled by myself for the three months, I felt every single day! I grew every single day! And with this, came so much more value in my life. I became so much more connected with myself. My likes, my dislikes, my personality. I may not have all the answers, but I know what I don’t want. And I don’t want my conventional 8 to 4 Monday through Friday job, and I will do whatever I can to get by without it. And I know if I do end up with one, it will be a job worth having. A job you feel good about.
- It is not all rainbows and happiness when traveling. I had bad days just like any other person would have. To be honest… I cried through almost every single state I was in! I was lonely at times. I missed my family, my friends, the comforts of home… And that’s OK. And I think that’s what makes these trips so special. If it was just all happy and non-stressful, it wouldn’t be as memorable. The trip I did was so special to me because I was lonely. I had to fight every day to keep going. I didn’t give up. I hiked up the tallest mountains and pushed myself everyday conquering miles and miles of trails. When you get lonely, it is OK. Because then you will see the most beautiful rainbow you have ever seen, or meet someone so kind and then the loneliness will just fade away, and you will be happy again. 🙂 You do meet the kindest people traveling! It really is amazing!!!
- It’s not as scary as everyone says it will be. Everyone always talks about the danger of hiking alone or really going anywhere alone. Just don’t go places you shouldn’t be and you should be fine. Just don’t walk up any dark alleys at night. BOOM! No seriously, it’s all about common sense. I was extra careful and prepared. I registered a beacon in case I was ever in serious danger. If you don’t know what a beacon is, it is simply a handheld device that you will carry on you, and if you are ever in a serious situation, but I’m talking serious, you can push this button and it will send out an emergency stress call through Satellite and someone will get it, and will come rescue you. I carried a beacon, a knife, bear spray, a whistle, a compass, a map, an air horn, and a first-aid kit with me, pretty much at all times. If I was pretty close and not going far I would just bring my knife with me, just in case. Basically, if you are prepared and put yourself in good situations, you shouldn’t let fear stop you. Anything can happen to you at any time and my grandma always believed, when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. Here is a link to the Beacon I bought.
- You become so much stronger. This is an obvious one. When you travel, solo or not, you learn and grow so much! I think everyone should travel at least once in their life. Make time for it. Put it as a priority. You really get in tune with yourself and learn to trust yourself so much more! Plus, you get to see a lot of really cool places and have a lot of awesome stories to tell ;).
- You won’t regret it. I have never met one person that has regretted traveling. Not one. So if your wondering if you should or not. Chances are, if you take a leap of faith, you won’t regret it.
- You meet the best people. I’m kind of an introvert and I am shy. I was very nervous on meeting people, and I actually didn’t think I was even going to meet a lot of people on my travels. Nor did I really want to. Like I said, I’m an introvert. The first part of my trip, I barely did meet anyone, and I think it was because I had my old mentality. But like I said earlier, somewhere along your travels, you change. All of the sudden I started meeting people and these occurrences would happen more and more frequently as time went on. I remember for about a solid month, I met someone I believe almost every single day. Two occurrences I had in my travels where I spent three days with a person. We met on a hike and kept hiking. It was amazing! I don’t know how it works, but I went from an introvert, (and I believe I still am one) but something changed. I started to let more and more positive people in my life, and that’s the key word is positive. That’s another thing that happens. You start to weed people out of your life that aren’t good for you. Even if you have known these people for a while, you know it’s the best thing to do, for you.
- One more thing. Your feet become your best friends. Most people hike with mountain boots, but trail running shoes work best for me. I pumped out some serious miles on my trip. People travel for all different kinds of reasons; trying new foods, experiencing the culture, architecture, music, and the list goes on. My reason… Mountains!!!! I spent pretty much 90 percent or more of my trip, in the wilderness, up mountains, hiking on trails, in the middle of no where. So I had my fair share of blisters! I had 13 blisters on my feet at one time, and I took care of them! It was crazy and I literally went through first aid KITSSSSSS!!!!!
Sahale Arm, North Cascades National Park
OK, i’ll stop talking. I just learned so much and my experience was so rewarding. If you are planning on doing a trip yourself, I highly recommend it! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!
Sincerely,
Livingonthedirt/Shelly
Shelly, you have no idea how inspirational/helpful/terrific this site is and you are so brave and encouraging. hopefully within the next year or so I will be able to do this. keep up the good work on the site and I look forward to reading all the stuff to come. im 26 and from Rochester, ny, so I know what I feels like to want leave this area and go explore.
Thank you so much for those kind words Dillon!!!! And were neighbors lol. Just keep saving and you will get there. And honestly, if you put traveling as your number one priority, you will start seeing the money roll in. And if you are money conscious on the road, you don’t need that much. A lot of people tend to think you need all this money to travel when you really don’t. Keep up the hard work. You will get there :). Keep in touch.
no problem, you rock. haha small world but its been quite a few years since I’ve been to buffalo. I like to think im good with money even for being alil young but still like to have some fun here and there. I think I may have to print out some of your blogs for future reference, though. and I will def keep in touch.
You are adding value to your life and the lives of those you meet. Thank you for chronicling and posting your adventures.
I live next to the Olympic National Park in the Elwha Valley and hike as much as I can. For the past several years, I have added night hiking to my adventures. I solo hike 80% of the time, therefore, for night hiking I stay with well known trails. I hike above tree line 2-3 days before a full moon and several days after to help illuminate the trail. I enjoy the twilight, and look forward to the times when the sun is setting over the ocean and the moon is rising over the mountains in the east. I understand and appreciate the solitude and peaceful experience. These journeys do help a person sort out the treasures in life from the chaff. Enjoy your adventures and continue to write.
Thank you so much Chuck! You are such as inspirational writer. Do you have a blog because I will so follow you :). I will do my best to keep going along. I love the wilderness and travel so much. It is definitely my passion. The hardest part about it, for me is money. I hate money! But I need it to feed myself and get airline tickets :(. Trying to figure out right now how to go international with very little money. I’m hoping to get a job soon :). Just applied to several jobs around the world. We’ll see. (Fingers Crossed.)