What solo travel has taught-Part I
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What solo travel has taught me about the world - and myself
There are
many views on solo female travel – some encouraging women to travel solo,
others questioning it. Personally, in the past six years of frequent solo
travel as an Indian woman, I have found many reasons to continue 'Say Yes to
the World: Why Travel Solo? Read on:
As I boarded
my flight to Japan earlier this month, my senses were overwhelmed by the
familiar anxiety and excitement of traveling solo to an unknown country. I
thought about the first time I faced the world alone. It was 2009 and I was in
Hong Kong for a job interview; with my flight covered by the company and no
other commitments, it made sense to extend my stay by a few days and explore a
bit of the city. In those days, I still relied on my family's approval for such
a decision and luckily they agreed on the condition that I stay with some
family friends.
I had no
agenda for those three or four days in Hong Kong. I vaguely remember walking
alone along the waterfront and taking the cable car to the giant Buddha statue.
I mustered up the courage to go hiking in the mountains around the city. But
the thing that sticks in my mind is how starry-eyed I felt watching the world
go by in an unknown land. How disoriented I felt trying to find directions and
explain food preferences in a language I didn't know. How human I felt when I
smiled at a stranger—whose life, upbringing, color, and perspective were
completely different from mine—and the smile returned.
These
feelings often return on my solo adventures, even after all these years. So
when Lufthansa India approached me about their new campaign and asked people
what makes them travel and love the world, I felt compelled to write down all
my reasons for traveling solo:
Discovering the world made me question the social norms I grew up with
You may know
that I grew up in a small town in India. Regular education and training with
average ambitions to become an engineer or banker. I was lucky and got a chance
to study abroad in Singapore. A regular college with average ambitions to land
a well-paying corporate job.
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