Traveling Solo ~ Finding Courage in Small Steps

We’re on a campaign here at Wanderlust and Lipstick to challenge you to Be Bold during your travels (and your life!).

What’s stopping you from pursuing your dreams? Are you afraid to fail? Are you concerned about what other people will think? Are you intimidated by how big of a task something seems?

Consider this:

“One isn’t born with courage. One develops it by doing small courageous things–in the way that if one sets out to pick up a 100-pound bag of rice, one would be advised to start with a five-pound bag, then 10 pounds, then 20 pounds, and so forth, until one builds up enough muscle to lift the 100-pound bag. It’s the same way with courage. You do small courageous things that require some mental and spiritual exertion.”

I read this quote from Maya Angelou recently and thought about how true this is of travel.

My first real trip abroad was a three-month trip to India and Nepal. Yeah, India.

I wasn’t trying to be courageous and hadn’t given any thought as to whether this was a small thing or a big thing. I was just following a boyfriend who wanted to go to India. Though the relationship didn’t last much beyond that trip, I was glad the travel bug did.

You likely know that feeling when you’ve taken on something a bit bigger than you can handle or when you start a new routine. You feel a bit out of sorts at first, don’t you? Whatever it is that you’ve started, you have to kinda slip into it, get your feet wet, until you’ve gained some confidence and are ready to stand tall with it.

It’s no different with travel.

I wouldn’t recommend starting your travels with a three-month journey to India and Nepal but if you’re traveling solo for the first time or you’re an experienced traveler looking for some new challenges, here are some things to consider and small steps you can take to building up your courage when stepping out of your travel comfort zone.

* Have a safety net at your destination. Consider staying with a friend and using her / his place as a home base. You can venture out during the day and have a place to come “home” to at night.

* If you’re staying in a hotel, make sure you’re in a safe area but also one that’s within walking distance of plenty of things to do. When you’re on your own, this will help ensure you’re not bored or lonely.

* Ask the locals what their favorite place is for food, drink or entertainment. They are usually more in tune with what’s popular than guidebooks that were researched at least a year before publication.

* Incorporate things you already love to do. Rather than diving completely into new experiences, just keep doing the things you love to do at home and do them while you travel (eat, dance, exercise, shop).

* Bring some creature comforts with you. What better way to feel more comfortable than to travel with your favorite tea, snack or even clothing item? It’s almost like being a kid when you had to have your favorite blanket, except for grownups. Because I drink decaf tea and coffee, I always have these with me on trips as it’s sometimes hard to find on the road and it brings a bit of home with me.

* If you’ve got a bigger dream trip that’s just bursting to come alive, take the intimidation factor out by breaking it down into smaller chunks and working on it bit by bit until it comes to fruition.

Ultimately, it doesn’t take a whole lot of courage to make those first few steps into the world of travel or to create that dream trip you’ve been pining for.

We want to hear from you. What do you do to feel more comfortable when you travel?

Travel Well,

Beth

Related links:
How to Travel By Yourself
The (Travel) Glass Half Full
My Personal Packing List

Photo credit:
Footstep: Free Images