Personal Growth: My Favorite Moments As A Solo Traveler

 Not so very long ago, if you’d asked me my opinion about solo travel it wouldn’t have been an entirely positive one. For a long time I traveled with other people be it with my partner or part of a group and I honestly never thought of myself as a solo traveler. I always saw them as intrepid backpackers, going around the world on a gap tour or something similar. But of course that’s not reality. No, the reality of travel in 2017 is that more and more of us are solo travelers and as I looked back on the last few years of travel, I suddenly realized that the vast majority of my travels have been as a solo traveler. More than that though, I also realized that some of my most important, most impactful travel experiences have been while I was alone. Left only with my thoughts and the purity of the moment, there have been some travel experiences that go beyond the norm and have helped shape who I am today. So I thought I’d share some of those moments, those instances of clarity when a trip became so much more than just a nice holiday.

Via Dolorosa

While not a religious person per se, I am a spiritual one and learning about the world’s religions has always fascinated me. While traveling in Jerusalem, it was impossible not to be lured in by the most important sites for three different religious, including the Via Dolorosa. The Path of Suffering, these are the Stations of the Cross, the path Jesus took as he was forced to walk through the city with the cross on his back. We’ve all seen the depiction hundreds of times, but in Jerusalem you can walk the very path itself as it winds from the Lion’s Gate to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Think about that for a moment. The sites and places in Jerusalem are the real deal. These are the places we’ve all spent our lives learning about whether you’re Christian, Jewish or Muslim and to be there, to visit these oh so important places is almost too much to process intellectually. That was a recurring theme for me throughout my time in this most ancient city but by the end of the trip it had all resonated and I think changed me for the better. While I may not necessarily believe every word of scripture, I do appreciate the intent with which it was written and it was deeply humbling to be there in Jerusalem, undergoing my own sort of personal pilgrimage.

France

Standing on the banks of the Charente River in southwestern France on a drizzly May afternoon, I tried to concentrate as my tour guide explained the architectural marvels of the bridge that loomed high above my head. But I was barely listening. All I could think about was the phone call I’d just received. Five minutes earlier, my boss had told me he thought I was on the wrong track in life; that being a Washington DC lobbyist probably wasn’t the best use of my skills. Standing there, as a light mist fell from French skies, I agreed to resign from my job. Still numb, I made some excuse to leave the tour group, sat in my rental car and sobbed. What had just happened? It was a life changing moment in every sense of the word and although I didn’t realize it at the time, it was the firm closure of one chapter of my life and the beginning of a very exciting new one.