Solo travel: 5 reasons why every woman should take a trip alone at least once in their lives

Thinking of taking a trip?

And more importantly, are you thinking of taking a trip alone? If you are, great, hop over to Skyscanner there and book yourself a weekend away. If you're not, just stay here for a bit and allow us to inform you of all of the important and necessary reasons why you should. Women are always told to be careful. We're always told to go home in pairs, to clasp our keys between our knuckles, to make sure that we've got someone else minding us at all times. These warnings aren't just borne out of nothing (there are good reasons why we've been warned against the dark alleyway featuring the shadowy figure) but they should exist to keep us safe, not to keep us from doing things. And one thing that every woman should do at least once in her life is take a trip alone. Whether it's New York or Berlin or London or Westport, just go. Take some AL, book yourself some flights, and go spend some time with yourself. Switching off these days is rare, impossible, and sometimes completely undesirable - but it's necessary, so you should do it, just once. Here's why: 1. It'll get you out of your comfort zone  Comfort zones are comfortable, that's the point. You sit in them, you get used to your surroundings, you do the same things day in and day out until one day you realise that you haven't experienced any excitement in your life since 2014. Nobody likes to think of themselves as having a vaguely dull or monotonous existence, and to be honest, if you're concerned about it and taking active steps to ensure that you don't, you probably don't. But having those fears and anxieties in your head can be suppressive - and a decent way to quell them is by doing something that you wouldn't usually do and reaping the vague sense of pride that comes with that. Plus you'll get a holiday out of it, so. 2. You'll feel extremely independent Nobody likes to think that they're at all dependent on other people, but they are. Everyone is, and that's pretty much alright most of the time, but the odd time we all need to take a long, hard look at ourselves and just book a solo trip to Krakow. Or go to the cinema alone, or buy lunch for one, or something equally less drastic. But if drastic is your brand and you've been looking for an excuse to prove that you can do things by yourself, this is it. Doing things by yourself is entirely terrifying. Right up until it's not. 3. The best way to make new friends is to go in alone  The above statement is fact and not an opinion. Think about it, if you get lost on a night out but don't want to go home in a premature drunken stupor, what do you do? Make friends with some gals in the bathroom. If you start a new job and are desperate to have somebody (anybody) to have lunch with, what do you do? Start chatting shite at the water cooler and hope that somebody bites. The above scenarios are far less likely to result in new friends right away if you've got your mate hanging out of you. So do it alone. It's just as fun, if not more. 4. Everyone'll be like 'Woah, you're going alone? So brave'  And who doesn't love a declaration or two from your mates that a thing you're about to do is worthy of praise? No one, that's who. There also isn't a soul among us who doesn't love talking about the trips they're taking before and after they've actually taken them. If you go alone, you've got even more of a reason to chat about your experience, all that you saw, everything you ate, and everything you did - because you did it alone, and that's mad.  5. The world is now your oyster - literally  Go on one trip alone and you'll be able to go on all the trips alone - or at least, go on the ones that are a vaguely similar vibe to the one you've already been on. Jumping straight from a chill weekend in Prague to an isolating month in the Congo might not be smartest idea, but if you feel like that's within your capabilities, go for it. Know what you're able for (more than you think, probably) and what's within your capabilities (more than you assume, definitely) and just go. You've done it already, sure.