Traveling the world... alone.

Traveling the world alone. This is something I've seriously began considering over the last few months.

I'm currently 30, single and living at home. I have no debts. I have no children. I have absolutely no obligations at all. I get along splendidly with my family and we are all very close. I've managed to save a good chunk of money over the last few years and my intention was to use it to put a down payment on a house.

I've always held this belief inside that once I move out things will be different. As I delve deeper and deeper into researching home ownership, I'm starting to wonder if that's really the case. Will living on my own really solve any of my problems with social anxiety or just make things worse? In some ways, living at home forces me into social situations that I'd probably otherwise avoid. I already isolate myself enough as is, so I can just imagine how distant I'd be when I'm on my own.

I feel like I need to do something daring and big for once in my life and the idea of traveling alone is starting to appeal to me more and more. I feel like I need to cleanse myself and my mind and just open up and try new things for once. Be daring and adventurous and take some risks!

Has anyone else ever done or considered solo traveling for an extended period of time? I'd love to hear some thoughts and stories!

I travelled alone a couple of times and it was among the best experiences of my life. But all my life's plan is based on travelling alone, I have no intention to buy a house any time soon, so I don't mind putting all my money into this.

If you always dreamed of travelling, you should do it now. If you do it wisely you shouldn't have to burn all your house money.

I have often thought and dreamt about travelling but have too many responsibilities to do so, so I would say go for it if you have the chance

Just go.

In my opinion, home ownership is overrated. It's a lot of work, and there is literally no point to owning a huge house unless you have a family. I know that when I lived in an apartment with more than just a bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom I mostly just had junk in the empty rooms.

If you're just in it for the investment, a good index fund will probably give you a better return in the long run. Maybe renting it out could give you a better return, but there are risks with that as well.

I would definitely ask yourself why you want to buy a house before buying one... is it because you need one, or because you think it's just something that adults do?

On the other hand, the experiences you will get from travelling and the changes they will have on you psychologically, politically, emotionally and spiritually will be with you forever, and if there's a next life I'm sure they'll be with you there to some degree as well.

Travelling is probably going to get a lot more expensive in the future with the whole climate change issue and pressure on the fossil fuels industry... I don't think they're working on solar powered airplanes. And they're definitely cramming more seats onto the airplanes they do have so they're becoming less comfortable. Also, as you get older, it gets harder and harder to leave your comfort zone... so now is a great time to start.

I don't know how extensive your travel plans are, but I would start out with maybe two weeks somewhere and see how you like it. There are very few times I have travelled alone and not met people... but if you go to the more family-friendly touristy areas this is probably not going to happen. The best places to meet people are scuba/snorkel trips, safaris, hiking, and hostels. You won't even have to be outgoing-- I definitely wasn't and I met people every single time.

You'll probably come away from that trip with a desire to see more, but if you don't then you haven't spent too much time or money on something you're not sure you enjoy. But don't save the best for last-- wherever you most want to go, that's what you start with. Have large goals (must-see/must-do) but don't try to do too much... I've found that 1 or 2 activities per day is usually good, and anything else is a bonus. But be sure you do lots of research beforehand... it can save money and time.

Haha sorry for rambling but I was really excited when I first started travelling so it's kind of great to see someone considering their first trip.

Travelling is my motivation to overcome my anxiety. I would love to visit other countries, meet new people, new places and live new experiences... But I'm too young and even if I had money I couldn't do it because of my anxiety. So go ahead, do it because it will be wonderful for you.

Do it, your able to do what I can't do and that's travel. My anxiety is to bad that I can't travel, especially alone. Do it and go out there and explore you will discover new things and have interesting stories to tell. I'm super jealous you have this opportunity

Andreas84 said:

Traveling the world alone. This is something I've seriously began considering over the last few months.

I'm currently 30, single and living at home. I have no debts. I have no children. I have absolutely no obligations at all. I get along splendidly with my family and we are all very close. I've managed to save a good chunk of money over the last few years and my intention was to use it to put a down payment on a house.

I've always held this belief inside that once I move out things will be different. As I delve deeper and deeper into researching home ownership, I'm starting to wonder if that's really the case. Will living on my own really solve any of my problems with social anxiety or just make things worse? In some ways, living at home forces me into social situations that I'd probably otherwise avoid. I already isolate myself enough as is, so I can just imagine how distant I'd be when I'm on my own.

I feel like I need to do something daring and big for once in my life and the idea of traveling alone is starting to appeal to me more and more. I feel like I need to cleanse myself and my mind and just open up and try new things for once. Be daring and adventurous and take some risks!

Has anyone else ever done or considered solo traveling for an extended period of time? I'd love to hear some thoughts and stories!

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If you do travel, I suggest paying a visit to Cappadocia.

I have travelled alone within Australia, and it's great. I hope you get to do this! With no obligations tying you down, you will never get a better opportunity to do it. You will relish all your experiences.

Andreas84 said:

Will living on my own really solve any of my problems with social anxiety or just make things worse?

Has anyone else ever done or considered solo traveling for an extended period of time? I'd love to hear some thoughts and stories!

Click to expand...

I live with my dad, unlike what you were saying, I absolutely hate it, I hate everything about it. Thats why I'm going through college now so I can hopefully use it to find something decent eventually, otherwise, for some reason everything around here that isnt food service requires some form of degree. I tried to get a job for an entry level mail office position and it required a bachelors degree, the frak is up with that?

I've also thought about doing some traveling when I wasnt financially ruined, but I don't think I would enjoy it by myself, I'd want to have my best friend with me.

I travel a lot to fun runs and athletics competitions. My thoughts seem to be more open to enjoy the experience in my own company. Being on my own and enjoying independent travel makes my life worth living.

If you ever get to South Africa I will give you food and a place to sleep.

Do it. Stuff wear out, experiences not.

Vagabonding

I'm currently targeting March/April as the starting point of this journey. It'll give me a few months to save up even more cash and also give me some time to get things in order and plan accordingly. I've already got a few ideas in mind of how I'd like to go about this.

I feel like this idea has turned from something I'd like to do into something that I actually need to do if that makes any sense.

Thank you for all the encouragement!

Cool, keep us updated if you have a chance, it's always nice to hear about people's travelling adventures

Visit me in Brazil, please.

I was going to do this myself, in the end I realised the only way I would be able to travel and see the world was if I worked in various jobs while travelling. bought a book on it and thought about doing it. but I was afraid of the financial risks involved, it seemed far too daunting and hopeful and much of a gamble where I would be relying on my capability to get myself into a job and be social enough to blag my way around the world. I have never had enough financial security to travel and taking the chance that I might find work while travelling just seemed far too risky to me. I became incredibly worried about it and never went through with it, I only feel comfortable when I have enough money to do things. its like a safety net for me and I know I can rely on money to get me out of difficult and anxiety provoking situations, I wish I didn't have such a dependence on it but its just the way the world works.