Going On A Solo Trip Is So Overrated, Here’s Why

There has been a lot of talk about solo travelling recently and by looking at the beautiful Instagram pictures shared by friends and strangers alike, all of us are getting encouraged to travel solo at least once in our lives.

But are solo trips as fun and happening as they are made out to be?

Is the reality of these trips the same as the one being projected and reflected by those Instagram/Facebook pictures and blogs?

Well, I was certainly eager to find that out and so decided to go on a weekend getaway of my own. Like every other person getting excited about travelling solo, I was expecting a lot of adventure as well. But alas, all I got was great disappointment.

Now that I have actually gone on a solo trip, I can surely say that it is extremely overrated. Don’t believe me? Well, allow me to elucidate a bit further.

First of all, being a woman, I was feeling pretty powerful till the time I actually got into my car and started driving. As soon as I found myself driving on empty highways at 2:00 A.M., some horrible scenarios started revolving around my head. In a matter of seconds, my playlist went from Katy Perry’s Firework and ‘Roar’ to Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Yeh kaha aa gye hum’.

And if my not-so-unfounded fears weren’t enough, there was no one on the passenger seat to help me stay awake or someone on the back seat keeping me entertained after getting drunk (as is the case with trips taken with your gang of friends).

It was just me and my loneliness and suddenly the idea of taking a solo trip wasn’t seeming all that great.

When I reached my destination and checked into the hotel, I had a whole itinerary planned. But I was too tired to hop out of my bed and, as I was alone, there was no one who could force me to get over my tiredness and explore the location instead. And although it was a great luxury to decide my travel schedule on my own, that too ended up being an epic fail when I missed almost half of the things I had planned and only woke up when the room service came to invite me for dinner.

I went for the buffet at 10 o’clock and while there were groups of family and friends that were enjoying glasses of champagne along with a hot meal, I, on the other hand, was still trying to figure out who should I get drunk with.

Everywhere I looked, I either saw people laughing and sharing experiences or some lecherous perverts leering at me just for standing alone at a buffet. I decided to have my dinner delivered to my room instead and, once again, ended up being in my bed with my laptop.

The next morning was better and I decided to explore the city. Well, exploring the city was a fun thing to do but the bad part was there was no one to click my pictures. I mean, selfies are just as overrated as solo travelling and I was not ready to give my camera to any random person. So, I ended up exploring all those wonderful places alone, without even a single picture of mine at those places.

Needless to say, not being able to capture any memories of my trip pissed me off. By the time the weekend got over, I promised myself that I would NEVER, EVER travel solo again. And for good measure, taking this trip also made me realize that no trip is ever complete without your family or friends.