the night for a whole week. I was as nervous as i was excited. The fear i had was not of being robbed or cheated or molested in a strange place or a new country; it was a fear of very basic human nature - of being Lonely. I was doubting my communication skills & had a thoughts like i would not make friends or be totally lonely.
I think one can only get over this fear if you take that one small step & just take off by oneself. It was only then that i realized people globally are generally very welcoming, friendly & nice. Sometimes in my, own city, my set of friends, my comfort zone i have felt lonely but out there in new places & new towns & cities i was alone but NEVER lonely. It was one of the best realizations of my life.
All it takes is to get out of your comfort zone, a smile here, a small hello there & you find that every person out there wants to feel the same kind of connection with the universe. While I discovered this connection with the universe sub consciously i found a connection with myself which i didn't know was missing all these years. It felt
amazing to explore & discover myself under a new light.
There was so much i learnt from every person i met on the trip. Travelling solo made me acknowledge the fact that we as an Indian kids take our parents and their care for us for granted. We are so pampered through our lives & always looked after that it becomes our psyche never to feel grateful. Thats when i wrote a postcard to my folks thanking them for letting me take up this adventure being a gujarati girl. Everyone around questioned my parents judgement for letting me go alone. But they trusted in me & i love them for showing this trust.
I landed in Lisbon & traveled to Lagos to Seville to Granada & finally to Malaga. Each place was amazing & beautiful with stunning beaches of the Atlantic ocean & the Mediterranean sea, historic monuments, World heritage sites, old colorful neighborhoods, gypsy living in caves, i can not decide which place i like more. Lisbon is a very beautiful European city, with those paved road ( all roads lead to rome ), amazing suburbs of Caiscas & Bellem, adjoining fairytale town Sintra. Lagos (called lagoosh) on the Algarve Curve had crystal clear blue water beaches. Seville had orange trees lined up throughout the city so there was this refreshing fragrance in the air of Seville. Granada had so much Arabic influence which was visible through the La Alhambra & the Albaibcin neighborhood. Malaga is a very cosmopolitan kind of city with a super beach.
I met people as strangers & parted as super cool friends. I made my first ever travel mate. Did walking tours & pub crawls with my hostel mates, got drunk together & played games.
In short doing this solo trip changed me for the better, i learnt to be little more patient & tolerant towards others & my surroundings & nature.
I would like to end this note saying " Solo travel at least once in life for all individuals is a must".
