Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of Solo Travel

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SOLO TRAVEL
A SENSE OF REFRESHMENT FOR LIVING
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Introduction
Travelling to newer places is one of the major practices implemented by the human beings
since the early ages. This is quite an important and healthy practice and plays a mighty role in
refreshment of the minds and motivating oneself for the stressful work schedules. Travelling
to better and unknown places is a great option by which, the travellers could gather lots of
experiences and memories for their lives (Berryman, 2015). However, solo travel is a
completely new practice and is much in trend amongst the youngsters and the young
travellers nowadays. Travelling alone across a new region could be quite thrilling and
exciting in terms of the solo travellers. The purpose of this essay is to focus thoroughly on the
lives and the challenges faced by these travellers while travelling to newer and far lands on
their own risks and responsibilities.
Aspects which Inspire the Youth Generation towards Solo Travels
Our world is quite a huge planet and there are numerous kinds of wonders situated at the
different regions across the world. May it be a mountain covered with snow or a beach full of
crowd, a large number of aspects are present in this world which vigorously attracts the
travellers to visit different places (Yang and Tung, 2018). Moreover, with the intense
development in the transport based society, roaming far and distant places is quite simple
nowadays. The flights are the easiest and the fastest mode of transport till now. In terms of
the youngsters, travelling and experiencing the far and distant places alone is quite in trend
nowadays. This travelling alone factor enhances their confidence and experience to face the
outer society and the world. Travel Bloggers are quite demandable in the social media based
platforms. They are the ones who upload their experiences in the different areas of the planet
in the form of videos. They are quite preferred by the young generation people nowadays.
Moreover, this solo travel aspect is a kind of nomadic culture and it enhances the
responsibility of the travellers. Not only the youngsters, but a valid number of travellers with
ages above 40-45 also love to travel alone to distant places (Vassiliadis et al. 2016). There are
quite a number of reasons which are followed by these solo travellers for travelling alone.
Some of the major factors due to which they get inspired for travelling alone are described
below:
1. Discovering oneself is the biggest experience once can achieve throughout a lifetime.
With this aspect, may travellers belonging to different ages travel alone to the distant
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locations. The world seems to be more beautiful without the responsibility or
leadership of any elders or closed ones (Chung et al. 2017)
2. Independence or freedom is the aspect which is loved by human beings from the
beginning. As a solo traveller, one could do whatever he wants to do without any
bounding or limitations. This is the ultimate pleasure of freedom.
3. As a solo traveller, it is more likely that the travellers would communicate more with
the local people of that particular region. In this way, the different cultures and
traditions could be experienced more by the solo travellers.
4. The “more me” time is an important aspect of this solo travelling. The travellers could
spend more time on their interests and hobbies without any interference or
disturbances. This is one of the key factors that the people love solo travelling more.
5. With the aspect of travelling alone, the travellers could also discover their hidden
potentials and talents in the best ever manner.
All these aspects and the factors mentioned above are quite effective and influence a large
number of travellers towards the solo travelling aspects and experiences. With the gradual
increase and development of the mind-sets of the people more and more travellers are opting
for solo travelling rather than travelling with the closed ones (Bianchi, 2016).
Travelling with the loved and closed ones is one of the good practices which is followed
since the early ages. However, these kinds of travelling results in the limitation and bounding
in the travelling too. The travellers could not enjoy to the full extent with the closed ones. In
context to that, the aspect of solo travelling produces a touch of freedom in the minds of the
travellers. Along-with the fact of freedom, the solo travellers could discover the world in a
whole new manner. Experiencing the wonders of nature like the huge snowy mountains or
the waterfalls flowing with enormous energy refreshes the minds of the travellers in a whole
new manner. Moreover, the aspect of communicating with the local people and the guides of
the unknown regions, discussing about their cultures and opting for their unusual cuisines are
some of the quality aspects of solo travelling. These ravishing aspects are loved and preferred
by most of the travel loving people across the world. This is the main reason that, the
statistical reports related to the aspects of solo travelling are accelerating in a very smooth
manner (Yang and Tung, 2018).
According to the reports, it is justified and proved that there has been a sharp increase in the
opting of solo travelling across the planet by 42%. Moreover, out of these 42% solo
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travellers, the majority of the travellers are females. Thus, it is quite clear from the aspects
that, solo travelling is completely revolutionizing the segment of travelling in a whole new
manner. In United States only, 65% of the solo travellers are females. Moreover, 57% of
these solo travellers are highly educated in nature. Apart from these aspects, reports also
suggests that 80% of the travellers in the adventure based travel spots are solo travellers and
belongs to the age of 18-25. These reports clearly indicate the fact that most of the solo
travellers belong to the young generation and they prefer to visit the adventure based spots
for enjoying the moments in a thrilling manner. The report of sharp increase in the ratio and
percentage of the travellers from 15-24% have completely justified the statement that the solo
travellers are completely dominating the world of travelling. Solo travelling is indeed a
healthy practice for the purpose of refreshment of the minds of the traveller as one could
enjoy and live the life without any interrogations, intimations or limitations. It is simply a life
on its own and is inspired from the nomadic cultures of the society (Hung and Petrick, 2016).
Though Solo Travelling is one of the best strategies or practices implemented by the modern
day travellers for the purpose of refreshment but, there are quite a number of issues too that
are being faced by these solo travellers. Though these issues are minute in nature and do not
interfere much on the refreshment of the minds, but some of the minute issues which disturb
the mood for travelling alone are as follows:
 Having dinner is one of the major disturbances in the aspect of solo travelling.
Visiting and ordering the food for alone creates a sense of awkwardness for the
travellers. Restaurants are meant for having dined with the closed ones and having
dinner in a solo manner completely disturbs the mood of the solo travellers.
 Managing the luggage and backpacks all by alone is also a major headache faced by
the solo travellers while roaming around to the distant places. Without any assistance,
carrying all these baggage is quite a major headache and it creates a kind of negative
impact in the minds of the travellers travelling alone.
 Communication is one of the biggest issues faced by the solo travellers in their
journeys. There are different languages at the different lands and regions and it creates
a miscommunication amongst the solo travellers and the guides or the local people.
Thus, without assistance, it is quite difficult to have a quality journey in terms of
communication.
 The world is quite attracted to the concept of selfies and social media websites
nowadays. These posts and images are judged by the society for identifying the
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characters and the nature of the people. So, a solo traveller travelling to the distant
areas and posting selfies alone could be termed as an introvert character by the
people. This is one of the negative impacts of solo travelling in the view of the social
media platforms.
All these minute factors could drastically affect the moods of the solo travellers in a negative
manner. However, refreshment is the main aspect of solo travelling and the travellers
travelling alone could perform this aspect in the best ever manner, Apart from these minute
issues, there is a huge world to be discovered and the travellers opting for solo travel could
enjoy and discover the wonders of the planet in the finest way.
Each of our working lives is full of stress and pressure and it completely demoralizes the
mind-sets of us to work with much dedication in the work-spaces. This is the situation when
the aspect of travelling plays a vital role. The touch of the soothing nature and the
discovering of unknown lands create a positive impact and motivates us for handling the
stress and pressure faced by us in the corporate and working sectors. Solo travelling is the
ideal way of escaping from the modern day stress and issues faced by most of us. It
completely rejuvenates us in the form of communicating with the unknown locals and
spending quality time with oneself. This is the best form of break humans could avail in their
lives. However, there are some kinds of disadvantages too in the form of solo travelling in
comparison to travelling with the closed ones. Some of the negative impacts of solo travelling
are as follows:
• The first and the most vital disadvantage is the sense of loneliness in the minds of the
solo travellers. Many situations arrive in the aspects of travelling when one feels to get
support and care from the closed ones. This sense of loneliness makes the journeys
completely gloomy and dusky in terms of the solo travellers (Cheng and Chen, 2018).
• Expenses are a major component for travelling to distant lands. Solo travelling is
disadvantageous in this manner as the travellers have to manage the expenses of travelling all
by alone rather than splitting into two or more. So, it badly affects the economic aspects of
the solo travellers (Skinner, 2012).
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• The risks of being safe while travelling is less in cases of solo travelling. Amidst the
unknown people of the unknown lands, it is very difficult to manage everything for a solo
traveller as the world is dangerous though wonderful. In such aspects, travelling in a group or
with closed ones reduces such risks in a worthy manner.
• Sharing impressions with the closed ones is one of the major advantages of travelling
in groups over solo travelling. The journeys with the closed ones to the far and distant lands
transforms the experiences into life-long memories, unlike the aspect of solo travelling which
is experienced by oneself (Doran and Pomfret, 2019).
All these disadvantages of solo travelling make it a negative aspect over travelling in groups.
However, in order to cherish quality moments without any hesitation and interruption, it is
quite preferable to opt for the solo travelling factors over the others.
Conclusion
Solo travelling is much in demand amongst the people and the travellers all across the planet.
From the reports mentioned above, it is quite clear that the solo travelling aspect is gradually
gaining demand amongst the youngsters and the educated people nowadays. With a touch of
nomadic culture, the travellers could enjoy their lives to the full extent. Be it the aspects of
adventure or related to soothing environment, it is quite justified that the solo travelling
practice could efficiently refresh and motivate the minds of the travellers in the finest
manner. The purpose of this essay regarding the lives and the challenges of the travellers
opting for the solo travelling activities are clearly mentioned and justified on the basis of the
facts and the reports provided. So, it could be concluded that solo travelling is a new form of
refreshment and it could cherish the minds of the travellers in a worthy manner.
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References
Berryman, G., 2015. Solo Female Travel: Barriers and Benefits.
Bianchi, C., 2016. Solo holiday travellers: Motivators and drivers of satisfaction and
dissatisfaction. International Journal of Tourism Research, 18(2), pp.197-208.
Cheng, T.M. and Chen, M.T., 2018, June. IF YOU MEET THE BARRIER, HOW DO YOU
FACE IT? BY YOURSELF OR BY OTHERS? THE MODERATING MEDIATION
EFFECTS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT. In 8th ADVANCES IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM
MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT (AHTMM) CONFERENCE (p. 224).
Chung, J.Y., Baik, H.J. and Lee, C.K., 2017. The role of perceived behavioural control in the
constraint-negotiation process: the case of solo travel. Leisure Studies, 36(4), pp.481-492.
Doran, A. and Pomfret, G., 2019. Exploring efficacy in personal constraint negotiation: An
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Hung, K. and Petrick, J.F., 2016. Investigating the role of motivation, opportunity and ability
(MOA) on travel intentions: An application of the MOA model in cruise tourism.
Skinner, J. ed., 2012. Writing the dark side of travel. Berghahn Books.
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Yang, R. and Tung, V.W.S., 2018. How does family influence the travel constraints of solo
travelers? Construct specification and scale development. Journal of Travel & Tourism
Marketing, 35(4), pp.507-516.
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