Do NOT Try Solo Backpacking, ever!

What is “solo backpacking” ?

Almost everyone loves travel, or at least, they think they do.
In Cambridge dictionary, backpacker is defined as a person who travels with a backpack. So it is just simply pack your everything up in one backpack, carry it on your shoulders, then go travel.

Nowadays, it seems like more and more people of all ages are hooked by this kind of traveling for its’ temptation. However, I feel like I am responsible to warn you about doing solo traveling since it might devastate your current life significantly. Therefore, I make this list of 67 reasons why solo backpacking should be avoided (from an introvert female’s perspective)

Check it out!

1. It might be tough for those who used to the comfortable city life (at first)
2. It is addictive (really!)
3. You will be a traveller, not a tourist
4. When you get back home, instead of carry you ID you will stick to your passport as a habit
5. Sneakers and hiking shoes will be your best friends, not high heels or shining leather shoes
6. You will have less time for dramas, movies and other stuffs on TV since you have more real-life hobbies
7. You are no longer a materialism person (if you were)
8. You will stop buying and start collecting
9. You might drop your career and have less income, and the most scary thing is that you don’t even mind
10. You have to learn how to organize everything you need just fit in your backpack
11. You have to learn how to leave things behind
12. You have to train yourself quite a lot to be able to carry your backpack everywhere
13. You have to be able to run after trains/coaches carrying your backpack

    

14. You will gradually learn to live your life without any plan
15. You have to navigate yourself from one to the other side of a totally new town
16. You have to get used with seeing new people, falling in love with them then letting them go
17. You have to be disconnected sometimes
18. You will find yourself almost a stranger after solo backpacking for a while
19. You might be called “weird” when you are back home again
20. You will be bored after staying home for too long
21. You will find yourself quickly adapt to new places
22. You will start questioning about your existence after coming back for a while
23. You will find yourself in situations that you’ve never thought you might be in
24. You will be less demanding for money (trust me, you definitely will)
25. You will learn at least a few survival dialogs in different languages (definitely you will know how to swear in foreign languages)
26. Routine will be unbearable to you
27. You will be less influenced by other people’s thoughts
28. You will make new friends everywhere
29. You will find yourself making weird decisions
30. You will be able to sleep in any situation, at the airport, at the train station, on a bench, on a hammock, on a couch whatever
31. You will find yourself out of your comfort zone
32. You will find the list-of-things-you-can-not-live-without becomes shorter and shorter
33. You will have extraordinary experiences
34. You will be (too) open minded
35. You will grow spontaneous love with nature
36. You will feel less desire for luxury hotels, luxury flights, luxury things in general
37. You will start reuse-recycling things and be annoyed if people back home don’t do that
38. You will have too many stories to tell when people ask you to brighten them with only one
39. You will be lonely sometime
40. You will be so independent
41. You will be more patient
42. You will develop empathy, respect and understanding of treating people as you would like to be treated yourself
43. You might be trouble sleeping on your own bed back home
44. Your hair will grow spontaneously
45. Your skin will be tanned
46. Your cooking skill will be improved
47. Your friends back home will be upset (in fact, you might lose some)
48. Your boyfriend/girlfriend will be upset (your status might change)
49. Your style might change, become more flexible more individual
50. Your taste buds will definitely change
51. Your pets back home might be given away
52. Your parents will be upset
53. Your parents will start to worry about your “maturity” based on your changing life decisions
54. Your physical health will definitely improve
55. Your ability to get into troubles will increase
56. Your ability to solve problems will (also) increase
57. Your ability of instantly knowing if a person is worth approaching or not will grow
58. Your ability of reading a map will be surprisingly good

    

59. Your photos from now on will be about landscapes, life style, foods, animals, people… almost everything but not you
60. You will never be tired of travelling too much
61. Your definition of “success” might change
62. Your definition of “happiness” might change
63. Your definition of “love” might change
64. Your definition of “home” might change
65. Your perception of “distance” will change
66. Your life purpose will change
67. You will feel alive more than ever in your life

Actually, the list can be carried on and on but I will stop right here, and leave the decision making to you. In the end, it is you who know what life you want to live, to be a solo backpacker or not. In case these reasons are not strong enough to stop you from traveling, remember to arm yourself a good English skill to make your trip become enjoyable.