1. Enjoy being you.

You learn to be alone, you are content with who you are and who you want to be. You feel good about it when you sit down and enjoy lunch with yourself in a restaurant full of couples.

2. Learn to respect little acts of kindness.

Instead of judging each and every stranger that you come across on your trip, you rely on the kindness of these strangers. You learn to trust them without being prejudice.

3. Cherish little things in life that you don’t everyday.

When you’re traveling alone, you get a lot of time to notice and cherish little beautiful things about nature that you didn’t have the time to look at before. Sunset, ocean waves, fresh breeze, chirping of the birds – all these seem outstanding when you spend time alone traveling.

4. You learn to not get disappointed with anything that doesn’t work according to what you “planned”. You become more accommodating in life

Not everything works your way, this is life. Itineraries are only there to give you a broad picture of what you CAN do on you trip, they don’t decide what and how you should gauge the most out of this experience. This is what you learn on your trip. There will be times when you wake up late or you miss your bus but you don’t get disappointed. Instead, you make an opportunity out of it to explore.

5. Learn that you have the potential to adapt to any kind of environment you want.

You learn to acclimatize any and everywhere. You blend with the beauty of the place you’re at because that was the motive to travel alone at the first place.

6. Live in the present and cherish it fully.

You tend to forget about where you came from and remember what you’re here for. Experiencing the foreign culture to the fullest teaches you more than you could have ever imagined. You realize that life is short and you may never return to this place ever again so why not gauge the most in this experience.

7. Step out of your comfort zone, confidently.

It’s a test for you to survive in a place you know noone and sometimes, you don’t even know the language and you have to talk in actions or learn the language. Meanwhile, you also learn to be humble to foreigners in your own country – you help them, make them feel at home because that’s exactly what you needed when you traveled alone.

8. Patience is the key to everything.

You’re not running short of time or energy ever because you’re the only person YOU’RE dependent upon. You don’t have to rush into doing or seeing things, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you and you know it. You learn to be patient by sitting back and relaxing for a change.

9. Expect the unexpected..

You experience new or unexpected emotions, feelings and challenges. You learn that it’s just another part of the same world you’ve been living in for so long. You don’t assume, you experience. You understand you can’t live depending upon assumptions in life.

10. Understand your individuality.

You discover your soul during the most empowering trip of your life. Traveling alone gives you enough time to think about what you are and what you want to be. You never know, there may be a writer or a poet hidden somewhere inside you and you only realise that when you read your travel journal after the trip.

11. Make room for any kind of knowledge that is completely different from whatever you already know.

You have all the time in the world to choose your favourite corner and read books, gauge knowledge and do things you’ve not done before. You’re most definitely an enlightened soul once you’re back from this trip.

12. Feel confident in asking anything, no question is ever inappropriate (at least while you’re traveling).

You don’t/can’t assume, you have to ask questions from strangers and learn from them. You learn a new story or an event that open a new realm of thoughts and arguments.

13. Learn to live with less.

Sometimes, a backpack is all you need to provide you with the kind of happiness and satisfaction that you need. When you’re alone, you learn to live with less like one backpack. This is where you learn the meaning of the word ‘economical’.

14. Take it easy.

If and when you miss your family and friends, you treat yourself to a couple of drinks and realise the importance of your loved ones. You have no choice but to spend this time in bringing all your feelings and emotions together and appreciate the comfort of mundane routines. You grow some respect for the life you are blessed with when you’re home that you often forget to appreciate when you’re actually living that life.

15. Feel at peace and be humble.

You’ve made some unforgettable memories and friends, you make sure you don’t let this part of the trip go a waste because this is what you’ve learnt in the past few days. As you realise the importance of your family and your normal life, you realise the value of the new family and friends you’ve earned on this trip. You’re more thankful to God by the end of this trip for blessing you with the life you’re living. You’re content.