Traveling solo definitely has its pros and cons. For starters, traveling on your own will teach you how to be responsible for yourself, it helps you grow as a person and learn more about yourself. You are free to go wherever your heart desires, and you get to make important decisions. It will also teach you a great deal about punctuality and keeping yourself organized. However, on the other hand, it can definitely get a bit lonely sometimes, or even boring especially if you’re stuck on a plain or train ride for a minimum of three hours.
Thankfully, it’s all about perspective, and as long as you use that free time well, then you can actually get quite a bit accomplished! So on that note, here are some ideas on how you can beat the boredom:
- Escape from Reality
What is the best way to escape reality? Well, by diving into another one of course! Nobody should be traveling without a book with them. Whether it’s a work of fiction that immerses you into a world of excitement, or just an interesting documentary that will help to expand your knowledge about a particular topic, a good book is definitely hard to beat. And if you need some help with that, check out Goodread’s list of books to read before you die – there’s a hundred of them, so you’ll definitely find something that interests you!
2. Create a Travel Playlist
Do you love music? Of course you do, who doesn’t right? Creating a playlist is an excellent way to pass time when you’re on a flight or just enjoying downtime in between two destinations. With apps like Spotify, creating playlists is an easy task. So make sure you put together a great playlist before you set off on your trip, and of course, don’t forget your headphones! Nobody wants to listen to screeching songs coming out of a phone speaker (especially if you’re on a plane or a train, always be mindful of others).
3. Carry a Foreign Language Handbook
Are you traveling to a foreign country? Then you need to take advantage of the time you have got to learn some words and phrases like Good Morning, Excuse me, Do you speak English? and Can you help me?. There are a lot of benefits to learning a new language before you travel. Getting to know the local lingo can be an excellent way to improve your experience when you travel abroad, plus, it also shows the locals you are making an effort to try and communicate with them in their language. This shows a level of appreciation you have for them and their culture.
4. Play games
Sometimes it’s ok to just relax and play a few games to de-stress from your long journey. The good thing is that nowadays you can enjoy a good deal of games on your mobile so you don’t have to carry extra devices with you. You could download the latest games from the App Store, or, if you don’t have games on your phone and do not want to download games, you can also look for a range of games online such as first-person shooter, car racing, puzzles and more. And if you’re one that likes to live on the edge, then you could get your hands on some free cash bonuses and try your luck with money games. Who knows, you might end up winning a few bucks to use on your travel. The important thing here to remember is that, if you will be using your phone a lot, make sure that you always carry a battery pack in case your phone dies!
5. People Watching
So you’ve finished your book, and your phone battery died? You probably think there isn’t anything you can do at this point right? Well, think again! Because, if you look around you, you will soon realize that there is a lot to see and study. Start observing people around you and their interactions; every person has their own story and although it is very unlikely that you will come to know their story just by observing them, it is definitely interesting to see what you can make out of their behaviour and body language. Developing an observant eye can help you think deeper about life and people, and who knows, some characters might interest you so much, that they could end up as characters in your own book.
