Traveling Alone - Lonely or Alone?
Dear readers
Recently I returned from my little trip to Europe. Started in Switzerland, I am via Germany, Denmark to Sweden to Stockholm and Uppsala. By ferry to Estonia and Helsinki in Finland. Then south across the Baltics Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania on to Poland to Berlin. South to Prague and Vienna. Then back home. Overall, I was traveling about 7400km in 4 weeks.
So much for the facts.
The actual topic which concerns me and is interested in how you feel about traveling alone.
Lonely or alone?
In my first year as a motorcycle traveler, I have met some countries and people in the last 40'000km. A question that was asked again and again was whether I make this trip alone and if I'm not afraid. The answer to this question is actually simple: Yes, I usually travel alone. But the reasoning is much more difficult to put into words. I travel alone because I do not bother riding with others on these trips because in April of this year I went to Belgium with a good friend to the Tesch Travel meeting. It's much more about being free. When I drive away, I want to gain experience on these trips and learn to cope with problems that arise on my travels. As Ted Simon (Jupiter's Travel) said, "The best experience you have if something goes wrong." That does not mean that I care about something going wrong. Instead, it is about experiencing an adventure as it actually happens. At the beginning of my career, I planned too much. I wanted to prepare every day to experience a lot in the shortest possible time. However, I've noticed that you do not stick to a plan anyway. Freedom is when you leave without a plan and without a destination. But why alone? Because I do not want to restrict myself. If I do such a motorcycle trip and someone else is with me, then I have to consider. Where does the other want to go? What does the other want to see? Do I want the same? So if you travel in pairs or even threes, then these should be people that you know very well and that you trust. It should be people who have the same interests as you. And unfortunately, there are very few of them. Of course, this is a personal attitude and by no means do I want to pretend this to other travelers as the only right way. Because everyone is individual. Maybe there is one or the other who feels alone on a journey alone. Lonely travel is not lovely. So I want to ask you:
How much you like this? Do you travel alone or with others?
Let me know :-)