3 ways to travel the world
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Todd Sullivan Become a contributor
When you’re first afflicted with the travel bug, your trips seem dominated by transport, sleeping arrangements and destinations. But as the bug spreads, as it firmly takes hold, you quickly realise that the lifeblood of travel is much simpler; it’s about the experience. And that experience isn’t driven by flight paths or landmarks or hotels; it’s driven by people, especially the people you enjoy your journey with.
That brings us to an age-old question: who should you travel with? Is it best to travel solo, travel with mates, or travel with complete strangers? Here are a few thoughts on each:
Travelling Solo
Some people swear by solo travel. They argue, it’s what true vagabonding is all about: exploring remote places, meeting different people, but most importantly, discovering yourself. And in many ways, they’re right; trooping the globe without any companionship or support is the ultimate challenge.
But there are numerous limitations to solo travel. For starters, some trips are just too dangerous to undertake by yourself. And others are either too costly or just a lot less fun without company.
My experience is that solo travel is best suited to people looking for something more in life. That doesn’t mean you have to be on the cusp of mental breakdown, it just means that you want a challenge and you don’t want to soften the impact by depending on other people.
I think everyone needs to travel by themselves at some point in life, but solo travel is by no means for everyone all of the time. It can get very exhausting, very quickly. And regardless, there are countless benefits to enjoying your global discoveries with other inspired nomads.
Travelling with Mates
Real mates are more than just people you share a coffee or beer with. They’re soul mates, even if you don’t openly share that fact. They think like you, they act like you, and they want what you want.
With that in mind, it makes complete sense to travel the globe with your mates. In addition to sharing the experience, you get to plan the trip together (arguably half the fun) and reminisce and relive the mischief for many decades to come.
Also, the culture shock of some regions can be mentally draining. And when travelling with your trusted mates, that shock isn’t just cut in half, it’s decimated. Just knowing you can turn to someone to shrug/laugh/scream, is all you need to survive in most foreign situations.
The only real downside of travelling with mates, apart from potential fallouts, is that you’re taking a piece of home with you. If your intention is to learn new ways of life and rediscover yourself, then you may not get the full impact unless you go it alone. With that said, you can’t beat travelling with your mates for pure enjoyment value.
Travelling with Strangers
If travelling solo is the ultimate challenge and travelling with your mates is the ultimate enjoyment, then travelling with strangers is the ultimate compromise. On one hand, you have the support of other people, but on the other hand, you don’t know them, so it’s still an exercise in self-discovery.
But aside from the compromising factor, travelling with strangers provides you with a chance to make friends on another dimension. These ‘strangers’ aren’t from home and they aren’t from your destination. They’re usually from an entirely different region and possess the skills, experience and stories to make your trips more memorable than ever.
In some cases, you have no choice but to travel with strangers. Not only do you need their support, but often your mates just aren’t interested in travelling with you (for example, not everyone wants to climb Mt Everest). Other times, it’s just great to meet people whom have similar aspirations. These people can even become your new best friends and before you know it, you’ll just be ‘travelling with mates’ again.
The obvious downside is that you can get stuck with the ‘constant complainer’. The person who just doesn’t enjoy themselves and decides that you shouldn’t enjoy your travels either. This can be somewhat mitigated, but the risk is always there.
So, with whom should I travel?
To sum it up… Travel solo for maximum impact; travel with mates if you’re looking for fun times; and travel with strangers if you want to meet lots of new people. Of course there are exceptions, so just use this as a general guide. And don’t stick to just one; make sure you try all three at some time in life. After all, global travel is founded on exploring the unknown.
Which way suits you? Tell us what you think (you can comment below).
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By Todd Sullivan
I'm a Co-Founder of Globetrooper.com, a place where people travel, explore and discover the globe together.
What do you think? Post your comments
Matt says:
Excellent post Todd. I’ve traveled at least temporarily each of these three ways and I’m not sure if I could pick a favorite. As you say, it depends on what you hope to gain from the experience – and they each have there advantages and disadvantages.
I love the challenge of traveling solo, yet then you don’t have anyone but yourself to share the memories with. This, to me, is so much of the traveling experience – the memories you walk away with.
Juno says:
Solo travel + stranger is my choice. I didn’t mean to but always end up with this method. And I became really good friends with them. Meeting people is really big reason why I travel so maybe that’s why :)
Eli says:
Hey Todd, I’ve done the solo travelling thing, and it was good, though it was for a short period of time. I’m going on a huge trip soon with a partner, and I think it will be good to have someone to lean on when things get wierd out there. It was interesting to read about travelling with strangers. I’ll have to try that, too.
Thanks for the article.
Andrew says:
Why be so picky about trying them all just I your life. I often end up with all three on the same trip. Start a trip solo, make new friends from strangers and then after a while have the need to strike out a day on my own or have a long dinner with a friend who happens to be in the same corner of the world.
Matt and Debz says:
It’s often all about your own personality. Some people feel travel experiences are very personal and are rewarded the most when traveling solo. I personally love to feed off the excitement and emotion of others so I love travelling with friends. I’ve yet to travel with total strangers though.
Soren says:
Prefer solo-travelling because it makes me need to open up more and approach people, both fellow travellers and also the locals. It also mean I can do exactly what I want when I want it, just say your goodbyes and of you go.
Have tried all 3 ways and prefer solo, even tho company is nice from time to time
Niccolo says:
I mostly used to travel with mates, but recently I discovered I cannot stand anymore the limitations in routes, places to visit, time to spend or accomodations, given by others. So I tested travelling alone with my motorcycle and – gosh – it pays!!
Yes, before leaving you have to be sure that you feel comfortable with yourself and you are not worried about loneliness. And that your packing ability is excellent….
Enjoy.
mumun says:
Another choice, is to travel with a friend that you don’t really know. It’s a bit of traveling with a mate and with a stranger. You get to understand them so well after it :D
Todd Sullivan says:
Hi all; thanks for the kind words.
@Eli – you can also travel with your partner and with strangers. I did that last year with my partner when we went online to find someone to climb Kili with us. Had a ball; wouldn’t have done it any other way.
@Matt – I find the same thing with travelling solo. But it’s a great option to find yourself again.
@Juno – when you say solo + stranger, do you join adventure groups, or do you meet the ‘stranger’ on the road/hostels? I think meeting different people is the main reason I travel too.
@Andrew- didn’t mean to sound picky; just analysing ways to tune your travels to your needs. I want to climb Aconcagua in a few months and don’t think it would be wise to start it solo. Definitely need to start with some strangers.
@Matt and Debz – first, thanks for the opportunity to post. You’ll have to pop around to Globetrooper and consider joining a trip with strangers to the other side of the planet :)
@Soren – I see your point. Even though I’m about to travel with a partner soon; I’m travelling to meet new people and open up a bit more. It’s clearly one of the main virtues of global, especially solo, travel.
@Niccolo – love it, “must have excellent packing ability”. As I prepare to take only carry-on luggage for a world tour, I can see your point. You can read my post about my “carry-on only philosophy” here: http://globetrooper.com/notes/the-carry-on-only-philosophy/
@mumun – I did that about 4 years ago; it didn’t work out the best because we had very little in common and felt restricted, but I can see how it would be amazing if you found you were alike.
Gray says:
I prefer solo travel. Do what you want, when you want, no compromise. I like that it forces me to be more extroverted than I usually am, and I’ve met some great people this way.
Romantic bed and breakfasts says:
These are all the three different ways of traveling, and all have got different taste and charm of traveling for sure.One must learn different things and new experiences in life, while a person do travel and seek new destinations and meet new people in his life.
Ray says:
After 30 years traveling the U.S.,in every form I can think of walking,biking,bus,ect.And meeting all kinds of people.It comes down to being solo in the U.S.But now planning the next 30 years traveling Mexico,Central and South America.I'm thinking that doing,just whatever happens will be ok with me.All I need at the moment is to learn spanish the best I can.
Jools Stone says:
I’ve only travelled solo once in my life. I was dreading it beforehand but absolutely loved it when I did it. Next weekend I’m doing it again, to the same place funnily enough, and a place where I’ve been to twice since, but I’m still dreading it, it’s silly, I don’t know why! No takers yet on my little globetrooping (not!) adventure, boo! Anyway my question is how much impact does where you stay have on your likelihood of meeting interesting people when travelling? How do you choose a hostel where you feel you might ‘fit in’, if that’s even possible. I’m of an age where most of my friends have settled down too much to travel other than with their partners for the occasional city break or package holiday, will I be too old and uncool to fit in with the twenty-something backpackers you’re likely to find in most hostels or is simply it more mixed than I imagine?
Christine B.Osborne says:
If you are sincerely interested in a country’s culture and society, solo is the only way to go.
soultravelers3 says:
Only 3 ways to travel the world? Hmm, I’ve done the three above, but many other ways as well. My favorite has to be traveling as a family with a young child as we’ve been traveling the world like that for the last 5 years…with no end in sight.
Another great way to travel is with multi-generational family travel. We’ve done that a few times around the world and happen to be doing it now with my very fit 83 year old mother. We were celebrating Chinese New Year today at the UNESCO world heritage site Georgetown in Penang and she and my 10 year old daughter had so much fun trying new food at Hawker markets, watching a lion dance and getting interviewed by two TV stations and 3 newspapers! LOL Certainly a day we will never forget.
Cole and Adela (fourjandals) says:
I feel like you missed a category. Couples. Although I guess it does fit under mates as hopefully they are your soulmates…
Definitely agree with each scenario. I am getting more and more against group trips with friends but we seem to do it a lot as it can be easier.