Not all of us are fortunate enough to have a perfect travel partner — maybe you haven’t found someone you get along with enough to spend extended time in a car together or you just haven’t been able to line your schedules up.

But just because you don’t have a travel partner, doesn’t mean you can’t travel! Solo traveling is becoming more popular and normal (especially with women travelers). You don’t need to put your life on pause for other people. If you want to travel, go travel! It might be scary, but it can be freeing at the same time.

Here are 8 reasons you should consider traveling solo at least once. You may find that you don’t like it, and that’s okay. But you may find that you have found the perfect traveling companion — yourself!

Go on your own time schedule.

Finding time that you and your friends all have free to travel can be a tad frustrating — especially when you all have family obligations over most holidays. When you are traveling by yourself, you can go whenever you’d like for as long as you’d like!

Get outside your comfort zone.

If you are exploring the world on your own, you are forced to get outside your comfort zone. You can’t rely on your best friend, boyfriend, spouse, or parent to haggle in the market or ask for directions.  

Meet new people.

When you are solo traveling, you have so many opportunities to meet interesting people. Especially in Europe, there are tons of solo travelers and backpackers who form an exciting, welcoming community.

Learn about yourself.

Having just yourself for company most of the time can teach you a lot. You’ll be put in situations you don’t normally have to face at home, and you’ll see how you grow outside your comfort zone.

Make your own schedule.

With no one else traveling with you, you get to choose every day what you do and don’t do. Don’t want to go to a museum? Don’t! Want to spend the afternoon reading a book at the local park? Go for it! You can do whatever you like, without worrying about if you travel partner is going to like it or not.

See another side to the world.

With all of the shootings and depressing events on the news, it can be easy to lose faith in humanity. But when you travel alone, you get to see a different side of people. When people see your brave soul exploring the world on your own, more often than not, they are willing to help you out and lend a hand.

Face your fears.

If you are scared of traveling by yourself, that’s okay — and maybe a reason that you should go solo! There are risks every day, and traveling is not without them, but there are plenty of safe options for solo travelers. Be smart, use common sense, and don’t stress about it too much. Check out this list of 10 cool and safe cities to travel to.

Be empowered!

Traveling solo is empowering! Don’t be afraid to adventure out on your own and experience our big beautiful world.

“Don’t be scared to walk alone. Don’t be scared to like it.” John Mayer

Have you traveled solo before? Did you like it or not so much? Share your experience in the comments!