I’m officially in Thailand! Honestly – it’s been great to get out and be traveling again. I’ve mentioned it before, but staying so long in Albania caused me to feel a bit stuck. The time looking back didn’t seem so long – but 3 months is a long time and for me, just a bit too long for the pace I want to be going at I think.
For now – I’m in Bangkok and enjoying being back in Asia. I’ve always loved it and it’s been great being here again.
That said – I’ve been traveling with a friend for the last week or so and it’s made me think about some things. Such as Solo Traveling vs Traveling with Friends.
It’s one of those things that we don’t really think about until the differences are shoved in our face to be honest. You may think that it’s pretty straightforward what the differences are, but it’s still good to reflect on them I think.
Obviously – everyone is different. But for me, solo traveling is where I really thrive.
When I’m traveling solo, I don’t need to communicate with anyone about what I want to do or where I want to go. I don’t need to set my schedule around anyone but myself. Even when I meet up with people in hostels – it’s still my own schedule and I can say yes or no at any point.
When you’re traveling with friends – that all changes. As it should. Even when you’re traveling with others that have the same travel style as you – there’s a difference. You may not make a plan but once you’re both up and going, you need to talk about things. You have to set your expectations – even if it’s that you’re going to do your own thing one day – because you are traveling with another person.
When I’ve traveled with people from one hostel to another in the past 6 months, even that was different. I was still solo traveling, it was just that I happened to be going to the same place as someone else. Initially meeting up with someone to spend time traveling with them is a different beast. One that I’ve realized I need to be in the right headspace for which admittedly I wasn’t this time around. And yes – I’ve acknowledged that and communicated that to my friend once I realized it.
I’ve traveled with friends before, but the difference with those times was that we were meeting up specifically to go on Vacation/Holiday with each other. It’s great to have people to do things with – but when you spend so long solo traveling it can be difficult to switch gears when you yourself aren’t doing anything new. Throw in the fact that even before I was traveling I was living by myself having to be accountable to no one but myself for many years and it’s been a switch. It is different when I went to visit my parents or traveled with them. It’s my parents – there’s a dynamic that is there no matter what (and yes, sometimes that is the curse of turning into my teen self a bit. There’s just something about being around your parents that can bring that out no matter how old you are). Even my visits to my friends last year were different because I traveled to them and with the very real plan to hang out with them as their schedules allowed – and when it didn’t? I literally hung out on their couches and relaxed.
It’s just been different and a bit draining – no matter how good it’s also been to travel with someone for a short while.
So yeah – that’s where my mind is at today.
