Do I Get Lonely Traveling Alone?
So I’ve now been traveling alone for about a month now, and one of the questions that is starting to become more common from people is, “Don’t you get lonely traveling by yourself?” The answer is yes and no.
I am someone who enjoys my alone time. I always have been like that. There’s something about having a moment to yourself to just take everything in at your own pace. I don’t have to worry about anyone else’s enjoyment or time.
But the truth is, sometimes I wish I had someone traveling with me. There are places I go and think about certain friends or family members that I’d like to share that experience and moment with. Traveling alone can be lonely at times, but it’s also easy to make new friends along the way.
I’ve already shared a blog post and blog with some of my friends I made in Puerto Princesa, so for this post, I thought I’d share my experience in Cebu, Philippines.
I originally only planned on staying for 3 nights before heading off to Boracay for my final week in the Philippines. I stayed at Shejoje’s Capsule Hostel (read my review here).
The first day, I went out exploring the sights and sounds of Cebu City. I played tourist visiting the Basilica Del Santo Nino, Magellan’s Cross, and Fort San Pedro. For me, while I was alone, I didn’t necessarily feel lonely. I think part of the reason is because I was filming for my vlog (which you can watch here).
When I got back to the hostel, I had a conversation with Ma’am Acel, the manager of Shejoje’s, and it ended with her inviting me out with her friends to go salsa dancing the next night. While I didn’t think of the Philippines as being the place to go salsa dancing, I thought why not.
The next day, I spent the afternoon in the front lobby area trying to research the best way to get to Boracay. While sitting on the couch, I started having conversations with other travelers. After talking for a bit, they invited me to go to Sky Experience Adventure. It’s the tallest building in Cebu City, with an observation deck and a number of activities you can do. I told them I would but I also promised to go salsa dancing later that night, and that’s when Ma’am Acel invited everyone to go dancing.
Because dancing wasn’t until later in the evening, we decided we’d go to the sky experience, get dinner, and then go dancing. A few other travelers arrived to the hostel before we left so we invited them to come along as well. And like that I had 5 new friends. We experienced climbing to the very top of the Sky Experience Adventure building together (sadly we couldn’t bring cameras up but the views were amazing). After dinner, it was back to the hostel to pick up Ma’am Acel to get our dancing shoes on.
It was an incredible night. All of us a bit out of our comfort zones, but getting to share the experience with each other. And we had a great time. The smiles we shared with each other were so rewarding, and just what I needed. In fact, we had a great time, a couple of us extended our stay just so we could relax and just hang out again. And we did, including a few new travelers.
So while I don’t always have someone by my side to enjoy the world with, I get to share certain moments with strangers who are in the same boat, and those times are just incredible.