Everyone has a unique journey when it comes to travel, so I wanted to share my solo travel story.
My background
I was born and raised in Romania. We didn’t travel much when I was little, except for visiting my aunt in Vienna. She was living there and those trips to Vienna were the highlight of all my school breaks.
I remember I was 7 or 8 years old and I was navigating the subway in Vienna like a pro, spending hours in the Schönbrunn museum because I was fascinated by Princess Sissi, and having chocolate covered fruit at their Christmas market.
I think that having the opportunity to visit Vienna so many times made me fall in love with travel ever since I was little.
Then, in high school, I started to participate in international chemistry olympiads. I represented Romania at 4 international competitions and I had the opportunity to travel to Siberia (twice!), Turkmenistan, Istanbul (a one day layover), and Tokyo. Plus, I had the chance to meet people from all over the world, and I loved learning about new cultures, and making friends from so many different countries.
I knew I wanted to continue to travel and explore the world.
But then things changed. I moved to the US for college, then I did a PhD, and then I worked a very demanding job for 4 years. And I stopped traveling because I was either a broke college / PhD student or I had no time to do it while working 16 hour days in this job. I didn’t travel to any place, except Romania to see my family, for 13 years.
It was a long 13 years. My only focus was to get my degrees and perform well in this job.
Why I started to travel solo
Once I had some savings from this demanding job and flights were operating again post-pandemic, I decided to travel again. It had been way too long since I’d been on a trip and my soul was craving it so badly.
But now I was in my 30’s. My family lived on a different continent. My friends were all working and had limited time off. I don’t have a partner. So I quickly realized that I have nobody to go with.
I had to make a decision: I either go by myself or I don’t go at all. I couldn’t bare the thought of not visiting new places, not trying new foods, not exploring new cultures. So I decided to take my first solo trip.
My first solo trip
I was 31 when my solo travel story started. I went to Paris. While still working this demanding job, I took 2 days off and I booked a 4 day trip to Paris around my birthday, in late September 2022, to celebrate the beginning of a new era: the solo travel era.
I took this selfie when I was about to go to the airport to catch my flight to Paris. I was so excited to visit Paris! A city I had so many layovers in when I was going to visit my family in Romania, but that I never had a chance to explore.
But I was also so scared! It was my first time traveling solo and there were so many thoughts going through my head: will I be safe? will I enjoy this trip even though I’m by myself? will I be able to communicate with Parisians with my very basic French?
A huge mix of emotions. But you know what? I did it anyway: I headed to the airport, hopped on that plane, and the next morning I was in Paris. I didn’t let my fears or thoughts about what people will say about my solo travels stay in the way.
And I had an amazing time. I walked around Paris, ate delicious food, I took a Bateaux Mouches boat ride on the Seine. It was spectacular. My soul hadn’t felt this alive in years and I so needed this trip. This is one of the few pictures I have of me in Paris, but you can see the joy on my face. This marks the beginning of my solo travel story and, as low quality as this picture is, it holds a special place in my heart.
What happened after my first solo trip
Once I came back home from Paris I decided that I need to do it again. I needed to continue my solo travel story. It couldn’t have just one chapter. So I booked another trip, this time to London, and I went there over Thanksgiving break that same year.
Once I realized how short life is and how much I crave exploring new places, I decided to switch jobs and gain my life back. So at the beginning of 2023 I left my demanding job and I moved to a job with a much better work-life balance.
This switch allowed me to solo travel to Toronto, Niagara Falls, Cancun, Milan, Venice, Florence, Madrid, and Dublin in 2023.
I became much more comfortable with traveling solo, I learned so much about the world and about me, and, as the title of this post says, I ignited life in my 30’s. I’ve never been happier and I’ve never felt so alive than when I travel.
This is my solo travel story. I hope you enjoyed the read. If you’re on the fence about solo traveling, I hope my story inspired you to book that solo trip. If you have questions about solo traveling, feel free to reach out through the contact form or through Instagram.
Happy travels!