Should you travel alone?

“What’s it really like travelling alone?” “Don’t you get lonely?” “What if something goes wrong?”

These are questions I get asked a lot, either when I’m travelling or when I tell people about it. So here are some honest answers to each of those questions.

What’s it really like travelling alone?

Exhilarating, scary, exciting.

I will admit that there are things I wanted to do that I backed out of because I was alone and unsure of myself or my abilities. I worried that something might go wrong and I wouldn’t be able to fix it. But I’m getting better at pushing that limit, too. I have just come back from crossing the Simpson Desert on my own.

Read more from Kathleen: Just do it: Travelling the Simpson Desert solo

In my early 20s I backpacked around Southeast Asia. On my own. It was the first time I’d been away like that, and I landed in Hong Kong at 9pm, where I knew nobody, with no booking for accommodation. I survived and thrived. And stayed away for 18 months.

Now I’m happy to sit in my car for hours, driving in silence, with only sounds of the wind or birds outside for company. Most of the time I don’t even turn the radio or music on. I stop where I want, when I want and spend as much time there as I want. I can sit for hours and just listen to the sounds of the countryside, or wait for the perfect time to take a photo.

Even though I travel on my own, if I want company there’s always somebody around, if you want them to be. Another campsite with people to talk with, or a pub to go to, or a communal campfire to join. You never have to be alone if you don’t want to.

Often you do have to make the first move, so you really need to be the type of person who can walk up to strangers and start a conversation. And handle rejection! Some people aren’t always welcoming of strangers, and some think that as a woman travelling alone you must be chatting them (or their husband) up. Seriously – that’s the last thing I am looking for.

But generally, other people are great. They find the fact that you’re alone interesting, and they too just want to talk about their travels, and what the road up ahead might be like.

Don’t I get lonely?

Sometimes I do wish there was somebody there to share things with. To enjoy a sunset with, share the excitement of doing something new, or just to help set up camp. But I’m more likely to get lonely in a crowd. I’m a loner (and no, that’s still not a typo). I’ve always been a bit of an outsider. As a matter of fact, my friends at high school described ourselves as “the outsiders group”. We’re the ones that didn’t really fit in anywhere else.

Even as a child I’d sneak off to find my own place, where I could indulge my imagination and do what I wanted without anybody around to judge me. Yes – I was always afraid of appearing ‘stupid’ or ‘different’. I wanted to fit in, really I did, but it just always seemed like too much hard work, like I had to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. And … if I’m totally honest … like putting up with too many idiots.

Actually, if I’m really, really honest, it still seems like that sometimes.

That’s not to say I dislike other people (well .. not all of them, and not all the time). It’s just that sometimes I can’t understand them.

And yes, I’m selfish. Sometimes I resent having to do what somebody else wants to do, or miss out on what I want.

What if something goes wrong?

There seems to be an assumption inherent in this question that as a woman, I couldn’t fix a problem myself.

No, I’m not a mechanic, but I have learnt a lot about what might go wrong with my car and how to fix it. If I can’t fix it myself then most places have mechanics and auto electricians to take it to. The most important thing I have learnt about fixing cars is that most blokes don’t know how to fix them either. It’s not something inherent in male DNA, yet nobody asks men what they will do if something goes wrong.

Whether you’re travelling on your own or with other people, you should have at least some understanding of what you might be dealing with. I know what to do for a snake bite or other injury, I always carry a first-aid kit, I can put up and pack up my own swag or tent, and I can fix basic things on my car.

And I’m getting better at not doing anything too stupid

Nobody is expected to know everything. That’s what experts are for. If I’m sick, I go to a doctor. If my car isn’t working, I take it to a mechanic. And I have no hesitation in asking for help – even if it’s to undo a bolt that is done up too tight. I no longer care about appearing stupid or hopeless.

I love travelling on my own and would do it anytime.