Traveling Alone

November 02, 2014

Traveling Alone

this is pretty much all the research I did for the trip

This post is not about a particular trip or place, but more about an experience. I already talked a bit about traveling alone last August and September in previous posts. This will be about that because I want to write about it while I can still remember not really the details but just the things that went through my head while I was doing it. Also, since I am already veering off the "1 Trip" concept, I might as well go completely bonkers and just temporarily abandon the 8 photos idea too. So here goes.

Traveling alone started out as something I was hoping to do. A new and fun activity that would serve as a wonderful climax to my year in Japan. The idea of getting lost, trying to figure out what the maps and signs say, and possibly sleeping in a park somewhere, believe it or not, excited me.

Then this "want" turned into a NEED to go on a solo trip. I had to clear my head and get out of Tokyo.

So without making any hotel reservation or doing any research except checking how to go from one train station to another, I went straight from school to the JR Station in Shimbashi and bought a Juhachi Kippu, a special pass that lets you take unlimited rides on all local JR trains for five days. I left Tokyo on the same day.

It was the most spontaneous thing I have ever done, and also without a doubt one of the greatest.

I love traveling with my friends, I really do. But I think, based on how much I enjoyed the whole thing, this would not be the last time I would explore new places alone.

There's a serenity that being alone among strangers brings. The experience of looking out the window of a train as golden fields, curving rivers, and mountains that take on different shades of blue when seen from afar pass by is better enjoyed without the chatter and laughter that come with traveling with friends. I'm not sure why. Maybe because when you're alone, you have the luxury of giving your surroundings your full attention.

Being alone also means you are answerable to no one but yourself. I got on the wrong train in Niigata, got delayed in Takeda because I lost my ticket, and took a long time to find the capsule hotel I booked (while on the train, 10 minutes before I arrived) in Kobe. These would have bothered me if I had companions with me, but since there was no one there, I accepted everything with a shrug and a sigh. As the Japanese say, shikata ga nai.

True spontaneity and freedom, I think, are also only possible when there's no one else with you. On a whim, I decided to head to Kobe from Takeda instead of going to Tottori so I can cross out one item on my Bucket List: Eat kobe beef in Kobe. My friends are all lovely, but I'm not sure they would agree to stay an extra night just to eat beef (but man, that steak was awesome). Actually, I don't think I would have even dared to suggest that to them because, well, this is not something sane people do, right?

I've noticed, too, how strangers seem to be nicer to you when you're traveling alone. Like I said, I lost my Juhachi Kippu while in Takeda. I had to go to the station master in Takeda and ask him if it's possible to get a replacement ticket. It wasn't, and my only choice was to buy a new one. Being that this particular pass is quite expensive (¥11,500), the man worriedly asked me if I still had money. Before I could answer, he went inside his office then came out with a free pass which I could use to go to the bigger station where, he said, the employees spoke better english and could perhaps be a better help to me. When I got to the bigger station, Himeji, I found out that he also called the office there in advance to tell them about my situation. Then there was this teenage boy who, because he didn't know where my hotel was himself, actually helped me look around for someone who did.

It felt like they were going out of their way to be nicer and more helpful because they were worried for me as I was alone. Or maybe it's only because they are Japanese and the Japanese are among the nicest and most polite people in the world (or at least the Japanese whom I have met are :) ).

Not having anyone else you can rely on while you travel makes you braver, too. For example, I don't usually like talking to strangers because---and my friends may contest this---I am really quite shy, but I had no qualms about this during these solo trips. It was partly because I really had no other choice but to talk to strangers when I got lost, but also because I thought this was the perfect time to get out of my comfort zone. In Toyama, I even asked a nice grandmother (after greeting her "good morning," of course) where the train going to Korube Gorge was---in Japanese! It was a proud moment for me.

Of course, one of the best things about solo trips is the chance to get away from everything and everyone you know. Or at least that's what it seems to me because I desperately needed that at that time.

People who take solo trips have different reasons why they choose to, for a few days at least, brave the world alone and leave the comfort and security only being surrounded by people you know can bring. Some may do it because they crave the adventure; to nurse a broken heart; or to momentarily put a stop to everything that's going on in their life and try to put everything in its proper perspective. Others might have a far less dramatic reason: they simply could not find anyone to go with them.I'm not sure. I just know that everyone must, at least once in their life, be courageous or stupid enough (take your pick) to leave everything behind and explore what lies behind their front door alone.