February 25, 2025 • 12 mins
Why do people choose to travel solo? This captivating episode provides an in-depth look at the many facets of solo travel and the intrinsic motivations that draw people to explore the world on their own terms. The conversation dives into personal anecdotes, highlighting that the urge to journey alone often stems from the need for self-reflection, recharging, and embracing solitude. With engaging storytelling, you’ll learn how each solo adventure can lead to moments of self-discovery and empower you with newfound confidence and courage.
Our discussion addresses the deeper ‘whys’ of traveling solo, encouraging listeners to engage in their introspective journeys by asking essential questions about their motivations. Whether it's overcoming fears from past experiences or simply seeking peace of mind, solo travel holds the potential to be a life-altering experience. This episode resonates with anyone contemplating their next adventure, reminding you that taking the plunge into solo travel can unlock a world full of empowerment, creativity, and self-discovery.
Want to know how solo travel could change your outlook on life? Book a call with me for one-on-one coaching for solo travel if you want guidance in planning your next solo adventure!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, I could never do that.
How brave.
Don't you get lonely?
That's amazing.
Don't you want to share yourexperience with someone else?
Aren't you afraid why I getoften from other women and even
(00:23):
people in general, when I shareabout my solo travels?
And this past week, a new friendsincerely wanted to know why I
travel solo, and so in today'sepisode, we will talk about the
why of solo travel.
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures.
This is Cheryl Esch, your hostand advocate for Solo Adventures
(00:48):
.
Well, my friends sincerely wantto know why I travel alone, and
I had many answers and I wantto share with you what my
reasons are and then get into.
You know, obviously you haveyour reasons, we all have our
reasons, so I love to travelsolo.
(01:10):
And so then, as she got toasking again well, why, why do
you want to travel solo?
There are some I would sayprobably top three reasons for
me at this point in my life, butI will preface this to say my
why has changed, as yours may aswell, over the years, and it
(01:33):
depends a lot on what season ofyour life you're in, and I've
been traveling solo for severalyears now.
I should preface that to sayintentionally traveling solo.
There have been times I'vetraveled solo and maybe it was
to meet somebody, or I traveledsolo to get somewhere, maybe for
(01:54):
a conference by myself.
But to intentionally mean totravel solo.
That's been happening the lastseveral years for me and besides
the fact that I love it, thenyou ask again well, why do you
love it?
I love the opportunity toactually be alone.
Surprisingly, I consider myselfa little more on the introvert
(02:19):
spectrum because if you hearwhat I do as a job now, I do
have an actual another job.
Besides doing this lovelypodcast, doing my one-on-one
travel coaching, I have anotherpart-time job I teach Pilates.
I have another part-time job Iteach Pilates.
(02:40):
So as an instructor, I amfeeling like all the time that I
am on stage because I am upthere, I'm instructing people
for hours at a time.
Actually, I do hours back toback when I teach my classes.
So I'm talking for hours at atime.
I'm communicating, I'mconnecting with people that are
taking the class.
I'm trying to find better waysfor them to do an exercise.
(03:02):
I'm really in tune with otherpeople and particularly their
bodies and how they move inspace, and I'm walking around
talking.
So I get a little drained fromall of that extroverted kind of
position that I have.
So I love to actually be alone,and so solo travel actually
(03:24):
offers me that opportunity to bealone.
And then the another part ofthat kind of like part two of my
why, as I dig deeper into mywhy is that?
Why, well, being alone actuallyrecharges me, and so going on a
solo trip would recharge me, itwould give me that opportunity
(03:44):
to reflect and really thinkabout things, journal.
And then part three, kind ofeven deeper, is well, I love to,
um, can be really cerebral attimes, and so doing a solo trip,
getting, maybe doing somethingoutside, being in tune with
nature, um, really brings itfull circle for me in that this
(04:09):
is time to, uh, be alone,reflect, um, it is time to be
alone, reflect, recharge, asmore of an introvert actually,
and just enjoy the time, thesolitude that I find when I
travel solo.
So it's not all bad to be alone, folks.
I actually really cherish thattime.
(04:39):
And I think too, when we beginto accept and even love
ourselves or understandourselves, that solo travel can
be magical, it can be lifegiving.
Now there are other reasons tosolo travel that come out of
that experience and thosereasons I gave you, for me
specifically, are more intrinsicwhys.
(04:59):
There could be some external orextrinsic whys of solo travel.
A big example that I run acrossis women are often they've
planned this trip, maybe withsomebody else, and that person
has backed out, and so therethey are, they're left actually
(05:21):
to do it alone really, maybe noton their terms, but they go
anyways, and I applaud them forthat, because many have backed
out at last minute because theirfriend couldn't come, or maybe
they're in a position wherethey're tired of waiting for
other people to join them and sothey do it alone anyways, and
(05:43):
that takes courage.
But that also might be anextrinsic reason to go, because
you're just going to go.
Or maybe you have a bucket listof places you want to get to,
and so this is part of that,that bucket list.
So those, those are not wrongreasons.
Those are just differentreasons, different whys as to
(06:05):
why you are solo traveling.
Now there are some deeper waysto figure out why you want to
solo travel and it's kind ofthis five layer, five question
thing.
So, as my friend did and I'lluse that as an example she asked
me why, and my first responsewas I love to solo travel, which
(06:31):
is very vague, right.
So then we dug deeper.
Well, why do you love to solotravel?
So you have to keep askingthose why questions?
Well, because I like to bealone.
It recharges me.
Well, why?
And as I shared, as anintrovert, this is kind of
important to me.
And then again, well, why is itimportant for you to, as an
(06:54):
introvert, recharge?
Well, why, again, is I needthat reflection, that time alone
with nature and God, and that'skind of a foundational
importance for me.
And one way to get there issolo travel for me, and that's
one way I can find myself inthat place where I have that
(07:17):
solitude to experience that.
So I would ask yourself you'rewise, why do you want to solo
travel?
And maybe you've never solotraveled.
So this is a great opportunityto ask yourself these questions
and then keep digging, askyourself that why five times, or
have someone else ask you andyou give a response, and you
(07:41):
will find that you have gottento the true meaning of your why.
And that's important as you goto plan your trip.
Maybe it's your first solo trip, or maybe you have not been
intentional about your solotrips in the past, but you want
to make them more meaningful,more transformative, and so this
(08:04):
would be a way by asking thatwhy, question five times until
you get to that deeper meaningfor yourself.
I encourage you to do thatbecause when we ask the why,
that's when our trips becomemore meaningful, more valuable
(08:24):
to us and not just a waste oftime or checking off a box I
should say, and that is notwrong, and that could be your
motivation, is not wrong, andthat could be your motivation,
and that's okay.
There are other reasons thatsolo travel is fabulous, and I
(08:44):
also shared this with my friendas I was explaining how my
travel coaching, my one-on-onetravel coaching, helps women who
are maybe fearful of travelingsolo.
Maybe they have somethingthat's holding them back,
whether it's, um, a painfulbreakup, some grief that they
have not been dealing with, andso they want to take this trip
(09:05):
to maybe help process that.
Well, I'm here to help.
That is what I have been doing.
Uh, lately I've been doing someone-on-one travel coaching, and
so I shared with her the why Ifelt it was important for my
clients to get to do a solo tripand to discover their why.
(09:26):
Once they discover their why andthey take that solo trip, the
things that come out of thissolo trip.
Besides, everybody has had atransformative experience
because of it, but there areother little nuggets of things
that have developed on this solotrip.
(09:48):
One thing I've seen come out ofsomeone venturing out maybe on
their first solo trip is, firstof all, they develop courage.
Courage to maybe even just takethat step or book that flight
that they've been holding backon, or go anyways, despite maybe
a friend backing out on them.
So courage.
(10:08):
Then they build confidencebecause they've taken that step,
and they build confidenceduring their solo trip.
As to I can do this by myself, Ican don't need anybody else, I
can handle this.
Or, thirdly, you get, youdevelop some problem solving
(10:29):
skills.
You have to do this on your own, so you have to figure things
out, so you become resilient,and so these are some wonderful
traits that come out of takingthat solo trip and also making
sure it is intentional.
And so if you struggle withpotentially wanting to take the
(10:51):
solo trip or maybe you've takensome in the past and you have
felt empty because they haven'thad any meaning to you, I
encourage you to book a callwith me and see if one-on-one
travel coaching is for you andif it could help you get to that
next step, get to that solotrip, or make your next solo
(11:12):
trip more transformative, moremeaningful for you.
We've based all of our sessionson your needs you as my client,
as your needs, and I want to getyou past those hurdles.
I want you to develop courage,I want you to develop these
intrinsic skills that you justnever knew would come out of
(11:34):
doing a solo trip, and we'll digdeep into developing your why
and intention for your trip.
So if that is you and you wantto take that leap, you want to
book your first solo trip andyou're not sure how to get past
that hurdle of fear, please booka call with me.
There's a link in the shownotes for you to schedule one on
(11:57):
my calendar.
Well, I'm even more soencouraging you to get out there
and have those solo adventures.
My sisters,
Wow, I could never do that.
How brave.
Don't you get lonely?
That's amazing.
Don't you want to share yourexperience with someone else?
Aren't you afraid why I getoften from other women and even
(00:23):
people in general, when I shareabout my solo travels?
And this past week, a new friendsincerely wanted to know why I
travel solo, and so in today'sepisode, we will talk about the
why of solo travel.
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures.
This is Cheryl Esch, your hostand advocate for Solo Adventures
(00:48):
.
Well, my friends sincerely wantto know why I travel alone, and
I had many answers and I wantto share with you what my
reasons are and then get into.
You know, obviously you haveyour reasons, we all have our
reasons, so I love to travelsolo.
(01:10):
And so then, as she got toasking again well, why, why do
you want to travel solo?
There are some I would sayprobably top three reasons for
me at this point in my life, butI will preface this to say my
why has changed, as yours may aswell, over the years, and it
(01:33):
depends a lot on what season ofyour life you're in, and I've
been traveling solo for severalyears now.
I should preface that to sayintentionally traveling solo.
There have been times I'vetraveled solo and maybe it was
to meet somebody, or I traveledsolo to get somewhere, maybe for
(01:54):
a conference by myself.
But to intentionally mean totravel solo.
That's been happening the lastseveral years for me and besides
the fact that I love it, thenyou ask again well, why do you
love it?
I love the opportunity toactually be alone.
Surprisingly, I consider myselfa little more on the introvert
(02:19):
spectrum because if you hearwhat I do as a job now, I do
have an actual another job.
Besides doing this lovelypodcast, doing my one-on-one
travel coaching, I have anotherpart-time job I teach Pilates.
I have another part-time job Iteach Pilates.
(02:40):
So as an instructor, I amfeeling like all the time that I
am on stage because I am upthere, I'm instructing people
for hours at a time.
Actually, I do hours back toback when I teach my classes.
So I'm talking for hours at atime.
I'm communicating, I'mconnecting with people that are
taking the class.
I'm trying to find better waysfor them to do an exercise.
(03:02):
I'm really in tune with otherpeople and particularly their
bodies and how they move inspace, and I'm walking around
talking.
So I get a little drained fromall of that extroverted kind of
position that I have.
So I love to actually be alone,and so solo travel actually
(03:24):
offers me that opportunity to bealone.
And then the another part ofthat kind of like part two of my
why, as I dig deeper into mywhy is that?
Why, well, being alone actuallyrecharges me, and so going on a
solo trip would recharge me, itwould give me that opportunity
(03:44):
to reflect and really thinkabout things, journal.
And then part three, kind ofeven deeper, is well, I love to,
um, can be really cerebral attimes, and so doing a solo trip,
getting, maybe doing somethingoutside, being in tune with
nature, um, really brings itfull circle for me in that this
(04:09):
is time to, uh, be alone,reflect, um, it is time to be
alone, reflect, recharge, asmore of an introvert actually,
and just enjoy the time, thesolitude that I find when I
travel solo.
So it's not all bad to be alone, folks.
I actually really cherish thattime.
(04:39):
And I think too, when we beginto accept and even love
ourselves or understandourselves, that solo travel can
be magical, it can be lifegiving.
Now there are other reasons tosolo travel that come out of
that experience and thosereasons I gave you, for me
specifically, are more intrinsicwhys.
(04:59):
There could be some external orextrinsic whys of solo travel.
A big example that I run acrossis women are often they've
planned this trip, maybe withsomebody else, and that person
has backed out, and so therethey are, they're left actually
(05:21):
to do it alone really, maybe noton their terms, but they go
anyways, and I applaud them forthat, because many have backed
out at last minute because theirfriend couldn't come, or maybe
they're in a position wherethey're tired of waiting for
other people to join them and sothey do it alone anyways, and
(05:43):
that takes courage.
But that also might be anextrinsic reason to go, because
you're just going to go.
Or maybe you have a bucket listof places you want to get to,
and so this is part of that,that bucket list.
So those, those are not wrongreasons.
Those are just differentreasons, different whys as to
(06:05):
why you are solo traveling.
Now there are some deeper waysto figure out why you want to
solo travel and it's kind ofthis five layer, five question
thing.
So, as my friend did and I'lluse that as an example she asked
me why, and my first responsewas I love to solo travel, which
(06:31):
is very vague, right.
So then we dug deeper.
Well, why do you love to solotravel?
So you have to keep askingthose why questions?
Well, because I like to bealone.
It recharges me.
Well, why?
And as I shared, as anintrovert, this is kind of
important to me.
And then again, well, why is itimportant for you to, as an
(06:54):
introvert, recharge?
Well, why, again, is I needthat reflection, that time alone
with nature and God, and that'skind of a foundational
importance for me.
And one way to get there issolo travel for me, and that's
one way I can find myself inthat place where I have that
(07:17):
solitude to experience that.
So I would ask yourself you'rewise, why do you want to solo
travel?
And maybe you've never solotraveled.
So this is a great opportunityto ask yourself these questions
and then keep digging, askyourself that why five times, or
have someone else ask you andyou give a response, and you
(07:41):
will find that you have gottento the true meaning of your why.
And that's important as you goto plan your trip.
Maybe it's your first solo trip, or maybe you have not been
intentional about your solotrips in the past, but you want
to make them more meaningful,more transformative, and so this
(08:04):
would be a way by asking thatwhy, question five times until
you get to that deeper meaningfor yourself.
I encourage you to do thatbecause when we ask the why,
that's when our trips becomemore meaningful, more valuable
(08:24):
to us and not just a waste oftime or checking off a box I
should say, and that is notwrong, and that could be your
motivation, is not wrong, andthat could be your motivation,
and that's okay.
There are other reasons thatsolo travel is fabulous, and I
(08:44):
also shared this with my friendas I was explaining how my
travel coaching, my one-on-onetravel coaching, helps women who
are maybe fearful of travelingsolo.
Maybe they have somethingthat's holding them back,
whether it's, um, a painfulbreakup, some grief that they
have not been dealing with, andso they want to take this trip
(09:05):
to maybe help process that.
Well, I'm here to help.
That is what I have been doing.
Uh, lately I've been doing someone-on-one travel coaching, and
so I shared with her the why Ifelt it was important for my
clients to get to do a solo tripand to discover their why.
(09:26):
Once they discover their why andthey take that solo trip, the
things that come out of thissolo trip.
Besides, everybody has had atransformative experience
because of it, but there areother little nuggets of things
that have developed on this solotrip.
(09:48):
One thing I've seen come out ofsomeone venturing out maybe on
their first solo trip is, firstof all, they develop courage.
Courage to maybe even just takethat step or book that flight
that they've been holding backon, or go anyways, despite maybe
a friend backing out on them.
So courage.
(10:08):
Then they build confidencebecause they've taken that step,
and they build confidenceduring their solo trip.
As to I can do this by myself, Ican don't need anybody else, I
can handle this.
Or, thirdly, you get, youdevelop some problem solving
(10:29):
skills.
You have to do this on your own, so you have to figure things
out, so you become resilient,and so these are some wonderful
traits that come out of takingthat solo trip and also making
sure it is intentional.
And so if you struggle withpotentially wanting to take the
(10:51):
solo trip or maybe you've takensome in the past and you have
felt empty because they haven'thad any meaning to you, I
encourage you to book a callwith me and see if one-on-one
travel coaching is for you andif it could help you get to that
next step, get to that solotrip, or make your next solo
(11:12):
trip more transformative, moremeaningful for you.
We've based all of our sessionson your needs you as my client,
as your needs, and I want to getyou past those hurdles.
I want you to develop courage,I want you to develop these
intrinsic skills that you justnever knew would come out of
(11:34):
doing a solo trip, and we'll digdeep into developing your why
and intention for your trip.
So if that is you and you wantto take that leap, you want to
book your first solo trip andyou're not sure how to get past
that hurdle of fear, please booka call with me.
There's a link in the shownotes for you to schedule one on
(11:57):
my calendar.
Well, I'm even more soencouraging you to get out there
and have those solo adventures.
My sisters,
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