As I write this article, I’ve been living in Skopje, Macedonia, for 8 months. During this time, I started reflecting on how I ended up moving abroad alone without knowing anyone… It made me question whether traveling alone is really being alone? 

Since I have never been afraid to travel or do stuff by myself, my parents allowed me to be as independent as possible. From childhood, I spent a lot of time away from home, either spending holidays with my grandparents or going to teenage camps in Poland or abroad. 

The first time I traveled completely solo was for my 18th birthday in Rome. I wanted to experience independence and to test myself. I planned basically everything. I also think I am more into planning than being spontaneous but I gave myself a bit of space to adjust the plan over time. My goal was to spend the trip mostly alone, but as it turns out, Polish people are everywhere.

On the eve of my birthday, after a full day of sightseeing, I decided to buy a bottle of sweet wine from a local supermarket. In Italy, that’s not as easy as you’d think. While searching, I ran into a couple from Warsaw, and we ended up celebrating my birthday together. Another time, when I was coming back from Sofia to Skopje, I wanted to rest but after small talk with the driver, he asked me to sit in the front to help him write something. Then we spoke for like an hour. Was it unplanned? Yes. Was it nice? Absolutely!

Experiencing these moments made me realize something: when you travel alone, you actually open yourself up to talk with new people. During my solo trips I could observe more, either in a cafe, or walking. Many times I haven’t revealed my Polish identity because I haven’t spoken with people. Sometimes it happened that some Polish people were talking, so I could speak with them or observe. When I was in Malta, directly after Rome, I went to a restaurant to buy pizza. I was ordering in English, but I recognized her by saying “super” with a characteristic accent, and then we started to talk. She was going to Poland with the same plane so we could change seats with her husband. 

Before, I focused more on the positive sides of traveling alone. But, of course, I can say there might be some moments of boredom, tiredness or loneliness. The trips that we usually see on Instagram are not that perfect. Sometimes, bad moments also happen, at those times, I usually try to call somebody to talk, chill and reset. When I am too tired I stop the activities because traveling for me is not only taking pictures, tick and go… It is something more – experiencing. That’s why sometimes I choose to take a nap rather than being exhausted and not enjoying the trip. 

From my experience, I can say that traveling solo and traveling with someone are two very different experiences. Before I started, I saw many influencers posting perfect pictures in Instagram spots, only good moments which seemed to me unrealistic. After all my travels, I can say that not everything is perfect. There were crisis moments, but despite this I would call solo traveling or basically independent travel a form of freedom. Also, I think solo traveling is not being alone. After all, even when traveling alone, you are surrounded by people you don’t know, and there is always an opportunity to meet someone new.

Jakub Pokuciński