9/24/2022 0 Comments Loneliness in solo travelThis week I have been pondering a lot on the feeling of loneliness, so here’s some rambling thoughts -
I assumed when I left home (and still believe) that long term solo travel and/or being a nomad is best suited for introverts. There’s just no way to get around the fact that there is a lot of alone time involved. I LOVE this fact and very much look forward to my first day alone in a new city or unwinding by myself after a long week of socializing. That’s what fills my cup back up to keep going, keep exploring, and keep meeting new people. But even for me, loneliness - or more so just the awareness that I am alone - can sometimes make me feel ashamed or like I’m doing something wrong. I heard on a podcast recently that we have to let go of that guilt or shame that is often associated with feeling lonely. This goes for nomads, solo travelers, or really anyone in that weird stage of life where you and all your friends are trying to figure out what you want to do, where you want to live, etc. It’s very uncommon that the people you are close to align to the choices you are making 100%, which is fine and as you grow into this “new you” you will find people running in parallel. But I know first hand that this in between time can feel a little…… lonely (at the sake of repeating myself lol). The podcast goes on to say that our minds are mechanisms to make sense of our outside world. We wouldn’t have these feelings or thoughts if they didn’t have a purpose. So maybe the purpose of loneliness can be to push us out of our comfort zones - I know for me, it makes me WANT to try new things and look for new connections and put my energy out into the world, where I used to have maybe isolated myself because I knew I had my comforts to fall back on. Not really sure I have a full point to make here because I am currently going through this myself, but all this is just to say, no matter where you are or what decisions you’ve made, our 20s is a very weird time. One of the emotions that gets thrown in our face often is loneliness but we don’t have to let it make us sad & instead use it to create more meaningful experiences going forward! If you were hoping for some tips, here are some things I do to feel better when loneliness has got me feeling down:
And if you follow my social media or blog, you can always reach out to me for a chat! :)
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AuthorCourtney Golman Archives
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