{"id":3699,"date":"2018-05-29T20:15:12","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T20:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?p=3699"},"modified":"2018-05-29T20:25:16","modified_gmt":"2018-05-29T20:25:16","slug":"me-myself-and-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2018\/05\/29\/me-myself-and-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Me, myself and I"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m definitely a social animal. While I need some \u201cme time\u201d once in a while, I tend to surround myself with people. This is why when I embarked on my first PhD journey, I wasn\u2019t too thrilled to learn that I\u2019d be travelling alone. That sounded so scary, I was afraid that something would go wrong or, in the best case scenario, I\u2019d just feel lonely and miserable for a few days.<\/p>\n

Since then I\u2019ve been to so many conferences in various countries, often extended to a mini-vacation<\/a>. Almost always, completely alone. And let me tell you, I learned to love it. Why?<\/p>\n

\"\"
And nobody to disturb…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n
  • Finally I don\u2019t depend on anyone. I do whatever I want, I don\u2019t need to consult my plans with anyone, I don\u2019t even have to plan anything. I just walk whenever I feel like walking, stop when I need some rest, eat whatever and wherever I fancy, just enjoy the moment. No need to compromise, to suffer through art museums just because my mum loves them, to skip a lovely walk in less touristy places because my friend is tired or to get hangry when my boyfriend thinks it\u2019s too early for lunch.\n

    \"\"
    Travelling alone requires some selfie skills \ud83d\ude00<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
  • Good company is great, and who\u2019s a better companion than the person I know and understand more than anyone else? Sometimes spending a lot of time just with myself is exactly what I need. Usually I don\u2019t get many opportunities to read, listen to the music, go for long walks or just think. And I forget how much I enjoy these activities.<\/li>\n
  • When I start the journey alone, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean I end it alone! Usually I spend a lot of time with strangers. Best places to meet them? Hostels or \u201cfree walking tours\u201d, where many travellers are in a similar situation. Hostels basically guarantee meeting very interesting people from all over the world. If I don\u2019t stay in a hostel, I like to google \u201cfree walking tour [city I\u2019m in]\u201d, walk around the city with a local guide and chat to other participants. Usually we form little groups afterwards and spend the rest of the day or weekend together. A few years ago in Cologne I even managed to meet one of my best friends on such a tour. Worth trying!\n

    \"\"
    During one of my lonely travels I met a good friend!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
  • My main concern used to be safety. However, I realised it\u2019s not such a big issue as long as I\u2019m not going to a jungle or a battle field. In European or American cities I feel perfectly safe, when in doubt I ask locals if a particular neighbourhood is fine to visit alone. I just make sure to stay in touch with my relatives, so that someone knows what I\u2019m up to, in case I disappeared. Better safe than sorry, but don\u2019t worry, it\u2019ll be ok!<\/li>\n
  • There are times when I wish I had a friend with me. For example, I felt a bit lonely spending a Friday night alone in Paris, while everybody else seemed to enjoy dinner with friends or family. I could have prevented it by making plans with other conference participants or using meetup.com, but I was just too tired to be bothered. But after a quick dinner (in a great vegan burger place, I doubt I\u2019d drag there any of my meat-eating friends, so yay, lonely travels!) I ended up in Pompidou. After seeing a few pictures, I decided it\u2019s enough modern art for one day, so I sat down on the terrace and enjoyed the view. Would I have done it with someone else? Probably not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    I could keep persuading you that travelling alone is great. But instead I suggest an easy exercise: find a cheap flight or train to a random place and find out yourself!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019m definitely a social animal. While I need some \u201cme time\u201d once in a while, I tend to surround myself with people. This is why when I embarked on my first PhD journey, I wasn\u2019t too thrilled to learn that I\u2019d be travelling alone. That sounded so scary, I was afraid that something would go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1026,"featured_media":3717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128832,7269,95710,127784,114,200972],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-me","category-conferences","category-leisure","category-practical-advice","category-travel","category-travelling"],"yoast_head":"\nMe, myself and I - Student blogs - Imperial College London<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2018\/05\/29\/me-myself-and-i\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Me, myself and I - Student blogs - Imperial College London\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m definitely a social animal. 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