The Solo Journey: What Is It And Why Do It?
What Is The Solo Journey?
Most of us like to travel. Travel can take many forms, from a weekend trip to a whole year of vagabonding and hitchhiking. A lot of the time, however, we travel with a companion, friends, or family.
After all, the saying goes:
‘’If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’’
However, there are a number of reasons you might want to consider traveling alone.
Silence And Solitude
Our lives are filled with noise and stimuli. From the morning commute to talking with co-workers, friends, and family. Rarely do we have moments of silence and solitude. It’s exactly in those moments, however, that we have the opportunity to slow down and reflect.
Traveling alone in the wilderness has a rich history in ancient traditions in which people sought self-knowledge, healing, and spiritual insights. The truth is that most likely, humans did not evolve to sit in traffic or live in megapolis cities.
We use the same bodies and minds our ancestors used to hunt and gather in the wild. Experiencing a retreat in nature by yourself can have immense benefits on our mental well-being. Let’s explore some of the key benefits of traveling alone.
Learning To Deal With Loneliness
There’s a negative reputation that comes with loneliness. We’re social creatures, and we need human interaction in order to survive and to thrive. However, we discover that occasional voluntary periods of loneliness can calm your mind and untangle the web in your head. Even going on a long walk in a park can be an interesting journey into self-exploration.
Once you’re disconnected from your daily routine, you’ll find the overwhelming feeling of calmness and concentration. Finally, you have some time to escape the noise and understand your own rhythms, dreams, and fears. Loneliness and solitude give you the ability to come face to face with your own insufficiencies and confront them when there are no distractions around you.
Detaching Yourself From Technology
Like most of us, you probably spend a large amount of time sorting emails, scrolling in social media, and chatting with friends. We’re spending most of our time online rather than experiencing the world around us. The average US adult spends 3 hours and 43 minutes on their mobile devices.
If you think about it, most of us have a tendency to get lost while scrolling or surfing the web. Websites and tech companies analyze our activity in order and try to provide us with customized lists of content they know we’ll want to indulge in.
We’re at the point where there is more content to consume than we have time. Traveling alone and in nature forces us to reset. It makes us remember how we don’t need to be constantly engaged in consuming. It shows us that sometimes it’s ok to be bored and that we don’t need to always be satiated to the fullest. If you’ve ever been on a hike, you’ll know that just a piece of bread has the ability to taste ten times better than any five-star Michelin restaurant.
Sometimes, happiness hides in removing, not adding things.
Final Thoughts
It’s undisputed that nature has healing powers. Seaside’s, forests, mountains, or fields, no matter the landscape, the magic qualities of being one with nature are abundant everywhere. Harnessing them and choosing to occasionally detach ourselves from our daily hustles can bring a lot of benefits to our well-being.
If you decide to give solo wilderness travel a try, remember to be well prepared and do your research. The best thing you can do is to start small. Don’t overextend yourself with a month-long mountain climb. Go to the nearest park or forest in your local community.
Once you start gaining experience, you’ll find that the benefits will soon follow. Deprivation doesn’t always have to be negative. Abstaining from technology and the busyness of our interconnected world will bring your body and mind back and give it a gentle feeling of nostalgia for times long lost. When humans used to sleep under the open night sky and were one with nature. So, if you’re feeling depressed, distracted, or anxious.
Give nature a try.
