Having only previously travelled internationally with friends or a group, my first experience alone was to Europe and I thought I was prepared enough. It’s easy, just plan where you want to go, book flights and accommodation, pack your bags and off you go! Well, yes that’s the easy bit.

What I hadn’t considered though was little things like you can’t choose who you sit next to on the plane, what if my flight was delayed and I missed my connection, getting from the airport to the hotel in a taxi with a person speaking a different language or finding the bus terminal (at night), would my bags even arrive to my destination, getting mugged or losing my documents. As soon as I boarded my flight, all of these and more started crossing my mind. And they were only fears about day 1! I realised I had no backup plan should things go wrong. Fair to say there was some praying being done those first two flights. But my possessions and I both arrived safely. The ice now broken, I felt a small sense of achievement. But it brought with it new doubts whether I could actually complete my trip without a melt-down or unexpected troubles.

Out of your comfort zone? – Image by aTripinside

The next day presented new issues. Hiring a car and driving in a new environment, on the other side of the road! Luckily they had English speaking reception staff. However the car model I booked online was not available. Oh no I thought, what are they going to offer me? Something more expensive or unsuitable for my long legs? I felt a little annoyed and vulnerable, and I believe they could sense that, taking advantage of my situation and forcing me into something I didn’t really want. What could I do? Money was paid. Anyway, eventually I drove off in a smaller, more compact car and headed for the highway where I had a 4 hour drive ahead to visit a friend.

Now I am a fairly cautious driver, one of the last few slow drivers left on the road. But what I was met with nearly made me pull over, catch a taxi back to the airport and book the first flight home! Forced to drive at 140 km per hour to avoid being run over by multitudes of slick sports cars whizzing past me at 180+ kms an hour, I felt anxiety and fear I had never experienced before. But something else kicked in at the same time and that was the determination to not quit. I was scared but was somehow also getting a weird buzz out of it. Look at me, boy from the bush mixing it with the crazy dare-devils! It probably came from my sporting background and wanting to put myself up against the best, to test myself. And afterwards feeling like, yeah I can actually do it, they are not that much better than me. All I had to do was leave my comfort zone.

Smart? Game! – Image by aTripinside

Was pretty happy and relieved to finally arrive safely, despite taking over 6 hours due to road works. Again I reached new ground for me, and was able to safely negotiate the quieter roads over the next week or so. It put me in pretty good shape to tackle the next obstacle which was a 14 hour journey through 3 countries to meet another friend, mostly driving at night. My nightmare could be getting lost.

Learning from my previous lack of preparation, this time I planned a little better and it all went smoothly. Still a few anxious moments, but I was getting better at adapting to different circumstances. There are just so many things that can block your path or take your attention, so I found my senses being worked overtime to remain focused.

On the final day I had to return the hire car to the office of a different airport, this time a little closer but I still calculated it would take about 8 hours. How wrong I was! I found myself in a 10 km queue at a border early into my drive and although I had allowed an extra hour for traffic, this line-up of tourists and border-jumping displaced immigrants was not moving at all fast enough. I found myself panicking in despair knowing I would unlikely make my departure flight, a feeling I’d never really felt before. There wasn’t anything I could do, just sit and wait. Then I had a moment of genius or as it turned out madness! I’ll try a short cut that showed up on the GPS to avoid the traffic. Well, putting my trust in technology didn’t work either, the road led to nowhere and only took me further off track. I was devastated. I gave in to the fact I wouldn’t make my flight. A new low. People were waiting for me.

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The rest of the drive was in silence apart from cursing myself. A huge lesson for me. The only positive I could see at the time was feeling much more comfortable driving in unfamiliar conditions. But I had a sense of failure knowing I had stuffed up, even if it was out of my control. Upon returning the car, which cost me an additional days rent, I made my way to the check-in counter knowing my plane was halfway to my next stop having left some 2 hours earlier. The lady knew straight away by the look on my face something wasn’t right. I was expecting a big lecture and a hefty price to catch the next flight out. But to my delight she was able to book me the next plane in 2 hours time at a very reasonable re-schedule price of €25. I nearly jumped the desk and gave her a hug!

All was well and ended well. Over the next few days as I reflected and had a bit of a laugh, I realised my fears and anxiety were unjustified really. A lot of what happened was out of my control. In hindsight I spent a lot of energy worrying about what could happen instead of being prepared and accepting things can change very quickly.

As with everyone embarking on a trip alone, I learnt so much by testing myself and putting myself in situations outside of my comfort zone. Subsequent trips alone since have been much easier and enjoyable because of that first encounter.

My advice if you’re thinking of travelling solo would be to definitely do it! If you plan well, keep your wits about you, keep an open and positive frame of mind, it will be life changing.

If you spend too much time thinking what could go wrong, you’ll probably miss some of the best parts of your adventure!

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