Traveling in foreign countries can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t know the language. You may feel nervous about setting off all alone to study Spanish halfway across the world. However, if you give yourself fully to the experience, you’ll find that you can in fact get past the initial awkwardness of being alone and enjoy this voyage of self-discovery.
Here are 5 excellent reasons to travel through South America on your own:
1. Escaping the comfort zone.
In order to grow, you need to be challenged. That’s why it’s so important to seek out new experiences that will broaden your horizons. Traveling alone through South America will definitely expose you to a wide variety of new customs, ideas, values, and circumstances. As you travel, make an effort to abandon the familiar and seek out the new and strange. This means no McDonalds!!
2. Learning self reliance.
Without the safety net of friends and family to fall back on, you will need to take more responsibility for your plans and actions. You will need to handle all the details of your travels on your own, such as managing money, finding lodging, navigating through new cities, and entertaining yourself. Solo travel is a great time to be alone with your thoughts and to become comfortable with yourself and confident in your own abilities.
3. Forcing yourself to practice Spanish.
Without companions from home constantly tempting you to speak your native language, you will find it much easier to speak Spanish 100 percent of the time. When you do this, your language acquisition will go faster than you ever imagined.
4. Embracing spontaneity.
When you travel with a group, you waste a lot of time trying to make plans that please everyone. Even choosing where to eat dinner can turn into an hour-long discussion! When you travel solo, on the other hand, you are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. When you embrace this spontaneity, you gain the freedom to follow the whims of the season and your heart. If you hear of an amazing festival in a nearby town, just drop everything and go to it!
5. Making friends with strangers.
The fact is, no matter how alone you may feel, you’re never really alone when you travel. You’re surrounded by people–locals and fellow-travelers–every step of the way. Without your own friends to distract you, you will find the idea of meeting new people much more attractive. You’ll soon discover the easy camaraderie that springs up between travelers on the road, and you might just turn a stranger into a life-long friend.