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Is Solo Travel Right for You? Discover the Freedom of Traveling Alone · Inspired Travels With Patti

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Would you take the trip of a lifetime, even if it meant traveling solo?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I would have answered that question very differently over a year ago.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: But in the past year I've had very different experiences.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: And today I hope that my experiences help you discover possibilities for travel, what you really want when it comes to travel, and most importantly to realize that you may be scared doing it, but if I can do it, you can too.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Inspire Travels with Patty.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Patty Hunt, and I created this podcast and YouTube channel to inspire you to live life more fully.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: For me, that is through adventure, the incredible experiences, visiting awesome new places, and meeting wonderful new people.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I've done a lot of travel in my lifetime and I've traveled internationally, I've traveled around the country, and I spent three years living full-time in an RV.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, that was incredibly scary, but also incredibly rewarding.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: This past year, another scary step in my travel adventures, and that was solo travel.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, for the past year, I've done a lot of solo travel, which I gotta be honest, I never thought I would do.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: I never thought I would like.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And near the end of the podcast, I will tell you what my final thoughts are on solo travel compared to traveling with a partner, a friend, family, a group of people, the whole nine year old.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'll let you know.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I will say, over the past six months, I've sort of been forced to travel solo.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let me explain.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I took a position six months ago with a company called Happy Grounds, and they have 18 campgrounds throughout the Northeast.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So of course I had to go visit these campgrounds.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, you probably say, well, that was work, so that's different than solo travel.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, while it was work, I also made sure doing during those times when I was going to visit a campground, I was also looking to have experiences and visit new places and embrace the idea of solo travel.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't all business.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things absolutely recommend is that you enjoy the journey.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So whether you live on the road, whether you're on the road for work or whatever the case may be, enjoy the journey.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I really did and saw so many things while traveling in our RV from one place to the next.
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  SPEAKER_00: Things that, you know, we just decided to stop and, you know, check out.
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  SPEAKER_00: Same thing while traveling to the campgrounds.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: I picked places I wanted to stop and um experience.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: This year has been, as I said, full of adventures, and they weren't all big over-the-top type places.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go through this list and give you some ideas of some things that you might want to do, or ideas of ways to find experiences or places to visit without it being something big.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: So this year I traveled through New York and I really saw the Anirondack Mountains, which I'm sure I've visited before, but never really saw them.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just beautiful.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: I visited the Cat Skills.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I spent the day at Lake George and had the opportunity to cruise on the historic steamboat.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I also got to be on the bridge with the captain, which was an over-the-top incredible experience.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: I swam in the Hudson River.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: I, you know, for me, I've seen the Hudson River like being in New York City.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: You see the Hudson River.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: I never think about, okay, I'm going to go swim in it.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I was swimming in the Hudson River, huge boulder in the river, the Aniron Deck Mountains in the background, beautiful, warm, sunny day.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that was just a great experience.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I did that solo.
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  SPEAKER_00: The other thing that was an over-the-top experience for me, I drove my car onto a ferry and crossed over Lake Champlain.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And Lake Champlain in itself is just beautiful.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: I highly recommend going to Champlain, New York, visiting Lake Champlain.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Just beautiful.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of these places I visited were through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And each area is slightly different and just has a beauty that I had noticed before.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the other things I did was just staying in a cabin in the campground, getting my coffee in the morning, and sitting out on the deck, just being in nature, journaling, just sitting quietly.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And doing that solo, I gotta say, I did enjoy that.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So what I learned with traveling by myself, first thing I learned is that I needed to believe that I could do it.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: That that belief system, was it scary?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it was scary.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: The first trip I took was scarier than the others.
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  SPEAKER_00: As I did it more, it was less scary, but I'm going to be totally honest.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Scary being six, seven, eight hours away in a car by myself.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing that I think is good to realize, and I had to realize for myself is that even though I was alone, I wasn't alone.
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  SPEAKER_00: I had people I could call on, I had people I could ask questions.
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  SPEAKER_00: I highly recommend that.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: I recommend if you're going to be out driving alone, that somebody knows where you're going, they know when you're arriving.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: These are all good safety things to, you know, think about as you travel alone.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: But I also learned that I was waiting for the perfect situation, the person to go with me, the money, the what place did I want to go because I might never go back.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted the perfect place that doesn't exist.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Going out and having a little day trip, going somewhere an hour away, and just starting there and just enjoying little places that you could go to that are close to home.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think that is a great thing to help you get started.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I've realized for me, when I took those smaller trips and I traveled by myself, then that helped give me the confidence to say, okay, I could do it.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I'm gonna tell you, scary, but doing it even if you're scared, and I don't care who you are, most people are scared when they first start anything.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: So the I don't have to figure it all out myself.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: I could ask questions, I could ask for help.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: That also came to me because I had a number of people I interviewed on the podcast that talked about solo travel.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put the episodes in the show notes if you're thinking about solo travel.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of them did it in an RV, but some of them, you know, um did all different types of travel that wasn't in the RV that they did solo.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: I had Janine put it on from Girl Camper who said solo doesn't mean alone.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing I realized was even though I was traveling solo, I could still get together with people.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the uh great experiences I had was to meet up with a group of people in one of our campgrounds.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was Charlie Grace of Adventure Crew.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: She had an event where there were 18 people, mostly in vans, that got together.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then we uh sat around the campfire and chatted.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about, you know, things.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: They talked a lot about their vans and fixing them and things like that.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: But they also talked about great places to go, places to eat.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of incredible information.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was so much fun.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: We went took a hike one day, and that was nice to then be with other people and enjoy that.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that could be part of I want to travel solo, or I'm thinking about traveling solo, but you can meet up with people.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing I learned, maybe this is a smaller thing, but I learned that my previous I won't drive alone more than two or three hours expanded.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I could say I've driven over four hours, close to five hours some days.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't like I was just, oh, I've got to get somewhere or I'm pushing it.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was, hey, I'm going.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I could stop if I want, but I just kept going.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, I know for myself, I don't want to do that often.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I do like the two to three, four hours if I'm driving.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: My point in saying all this is discovering what works for you and what you thought worked for you, what you thought you wanted, may change as you do these things.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the thing that I've really learned was what I thought I liked and wanted and knew about myself.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Very much changed, being on the road, traveling alone.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: So what's next?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Is there more solo travel for me?
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what are my plans that I'm thinking about?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Where am I going next?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: What am I doing?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: For me, I will be doing more solo travel.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be visiting our campgrounds more.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: I will be going back to the areas I visited in all of the northern, the northeast states.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just so many amazing places.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: I've made a list, and it's not just the big bucket list items.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: I made a list of places I want to go, things I want to do, experiences I want to have.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I actually write that list down, and I'm gonna highly recommend you make the list.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people make the big bucket list items, they put it aside and they don't do anything with it.
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  SPEAKER_00: I make a list of the things big and small.
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  SPEAKER_00: I make a list of I'm going to the Northeast to see the leaves changing colors.
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  SPEAKER_00: There are so many beautiful areas to just take a drive and see the beautiful fall leaves.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: I also have on my list the bigger items.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: My recommendation is sit down, make the list.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you're thinking about doing solo, make the list.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Don't stop yourself and think, well, I don't think I could do that solo.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do that solo.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just put it on the list and then think about making plans.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: What is something you are going to look to actually do?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe plan something for 2027.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: In 2027, I'm going to do this and then work on figuring it out.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it doesn't have to be perfect.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you are traveling with other people, have them make their separate list.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then you could come together and see which things you want to do together.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Even if it's a family, what does the family want to do?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing I will say about solo travel, which was which was great, which is an advantage, is I got to go where I wanted, when I wanted, what time I wanted.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I I made all the decisions.
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  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have to compromise.
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  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have to ask somebody else.
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  SPEAKER_00: I got to eat when I wanted and where I wanted, what food I wanted.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: That is a nice part of solo travel.
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  SPEAKER_00: No compromising, no thinking about the other person, no giving up what you want.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: You just go and do it.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that was nice.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta, I gotta admit, that was nice.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: But truth be told, I like traveling with other people.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like I said, I've traveled with family.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: We do Disney trips, my family and I, and sometimes there's as many as 15, 16, 17 people.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Again, being honest, there's only so long you can do that, like so many days that you could handle that.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so many gays that I could handle that, but it is fun, and there's compromises big time.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: I have a brother who organizes the whole thing.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: He's got schedules, he's got plans, and I just say, okay, I'm just going with the with the program, and that is totally fine.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: I have traveled with friends, and you know, there's again that compromise that what do you want to do?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I like that too.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: I will say at the end of this, I do enjoy solo travel and I will do more of it, but my absolute preference is to not travel alone.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: I do really love traveling with people.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: I love being outside, sitting outside and seeing that rainbow in the sky and going, look, wow, isn't that cool?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Or watching the sunset or the sunrise or actually going on excursions and doing big things.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: For me, I do enjoy doing that with that person, with someone.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: So what does future look like?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: What are the big things I'm looking to do?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've always wanted to see the northern lights.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go to Italy.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go back to Paris, to the Eiffel Tower.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many places.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And every time somebody tells me about another place, I'm like, yes, I want to do that too.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: There is so much I want to do.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I think sometimes that could get overwhelming, and that could get where you just say, okay, I'm not going to get to do those things.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: So you put it aside.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: For me, the big thing I've learned is to put it out there, to make a plan.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's not in the next three months or six months, but maybe those bigger things, there is a plan for it.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: I actually did an episode with somebody who does the most, the coolest tours I've ever heard of in Greece.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Grace was a place that was like, wow, that's beautiful.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to go there.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: And she talked about, you know, being in Greece and really being part of the culture and, you know, being eating the food like the the locals do and embracing the places that aren't just filled with tourists.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that just sounds amazing.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's on my list of places to go.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: And again, for this year, what are my plans?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to still be in the Northeast planning to visit campgrounds.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm adding in extra days to do some of the things that as I travel this year, I want to do.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go to Niagara Falls.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not that far from Niagara Falls.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's doable.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll just see if there are people who want to go with, or I'll do it myself because I don't know that I want to wait around again for the perfect time, the perfect person, the perfect situation, all of that stuff.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect doesn't ever happen.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to start making plans.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that this episode inspired you to think about travel, whatever kind of travel you are looking to do.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: As I said in the beginning of the podcast, I created this podcast and YouTube channel to inspire you to live life more fully.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, it is about trying new things, having new experiences, and meeting new people.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this episode inspired you.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: And if it did, I'd love for you to hit the subscribe button or the follow button or whatever button you have on the platform you are on.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you could always reach out to me on social media at Facebook or Instagram, all of it at inspired travels with patty.