Solo Travel, LA, Santa Monica, Budget Travel, hostel, California
I realize I am quite behind on my LA updates. My only excuse is that I've been too busy regaling my tales to everyone I've run into that I haven't had enough time to write it down!
It's funny, but before I left home, people were asking almost accusingly what I thought I could find to keep me entertained for an entire week by myself. I appreciate their concern for my well being, as I'm sure everyone was just worried that I'd be incredibly bored... or end up the victim of someone who enjoys preying upon incredibly bored & lonely female tourists. However, I managed to placate most of my inquisitors and calm their concerns with the story that I would be content to merely sit and read on the beach all week, but in reality... I was hoping for a slightly more exciting holiday.
Last year when I took my first solo trip to New York City, I'll admit, I let my insecurities get the better of me & failed to venture very far out of my comfort zone. I went to several tourist sights by myself, trying my best to look inconspicuous while taking those awkward, one-arm-extended, self-portraits with my camera. Most of my meals were spent in restaurants, with my nose in a computer, avoiding eye contact... After all, since elementary school, I was taught never to talk to strangers; especially in a big city. Despite my extreme solitude, I ended up having an overall great experience, and I saw some amazing sights. But by about day 3, I was so starved for human interaction that I couldn't wait to get back home to my own friendly, southern culture, in which you are guaranteed to hear the entire life story of anyone you stand next to in the grocery line. (Usually including their most embarrassing of medical ailments...) But It was because of my lonely New York trip, that I came to California determined to do things differently!
Recently, a friend reminded me of a great quote by Eleanor Roosevelt--a challenge really, to "do one thing every day that scares you." Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? The higher the risk, the higher the reward, etc? Keeping this concept in mind, I found my (normally somewhat shy) self sitting in the hostel's lobby on my first night in LA. There was a pub-crawl scheduled that evening, so I staked out a spot and waited to see who showed up. I was still considering the possibility of chickening out and playing Angry Birds in my room for the rest of the night, but as a crowd of my fellow travelers began to gather, my sense of adventure finally began to surface. I was able to strike up a conversation with a girl standing nearby, and as it turned out, she was also traveling solo from her home in Vancouver, and trying to make up her mind whether to join the pub crawl. With a connection made, I realized very quickly that this was not some exclusive & judgemental high school clique. Almost all of these people were in the same unfamiliar situation as me & were also hoping to make friends with new people.
Throughout that night & the rest of my trip, I encountered travelers from at least 11 different countries and 5 continents. I had more fun than I've had in years! Ironically, I would say that this "solo" trip was far more social than any I've taken with friends in the past. And aside from all of the new people I was able to meet, I learned to more deeply appreciate my own company, as well as gaining confidence in my ability to take on new experiences...even the slightly scary ones.
If you are looking for a chance to grow as a person and challenge yourself... or even if you are just in grave need of a vacation, but can't find anyone with the time and resources to go with you, I highly recommend that you go online right now and book a plane ticket to somewhere you've never been! You will be surprised by what solo travel will enable you to discover about both the world around you and yourself!
More to come on LA later :)
It's funny, but before I left home, people were asking almost accusingly what I thought I could find to keep me entertained for an entire week by myself. I appreciate their concern for my well being, as I'm sure everyone was just worried that I'd be incredibly bored... or end up the victim of someone who enjoys preying upon incredibly bored & lonely female tourists. However, I managed to placate most of my inquisitors and calm their concerns with the story that I would be content to merely sit and read on the beach all week, but in reality... I was hoping for a slightly more exciting holiday.
Last year when I took my first solo trip to New York City, I'll admit, I let my insecurities get the better of me & failed to venture very far out of my comfort zone. I went to several tourist sights by myself, trying my best to look inconspicuous while taking those awkward, one-arm-extended, self-portraits with my camera. Most of my meals were spent in restaurants, with my nose in a computer, avoiding eye contact... After all, since elementary school, I was taught never to talk to strangers; especially in a big city. Despite my extreme solitude, I ended up having an overall great experience, and I saw some amazing sights. But by about day 3, I was so starved for human interaction that I couldn't wait to get back home to my own friendly, southern culture, in which you are guaranteed to hear the entire life story of anyone you stand next to in the grocery line. (Usually including their most embarrassing of medical ailments...) But It was because of my lonely New York trip, that I came to California determined to do things differently!
Recently, a friend reminded me of a great quote by Eleanor Roosevelt--a challenge really, to "do one thing every day that scares you." Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? The higher the risk, the higher the reward, etc? Keeping this concept in mind, I found my (normally somewhat shy) self sitting in the hostel's lobby on my first night in LA. There was a pub-crawl scheduled that evening, so I staked out a spot and waited to see who showed up. I was still considering the possibility of chickening out and playing Angry Birds in my room for the rest of the night, but as a crowd of my fellow travelers began to gather, my sense of adventure finally began to surface. I was able to strike up a conversation with a girl standing nearby, and as it turned out, she was also traveling solo from her home in Vancouver, and trying to make up her mind whether to join the pub crawl. With a connection made, I realized very quickly that this was not some exclusive & judgemental high school clique. Almost all of these people were in the same unfamiliar situation as me & were also hoping to make friends with new people.
Throughout that night & the rest of my trip, I encountered travelers from at least 11 different countries and 5 continents. I had more fun than I've had in years! Ironically, I would say that this "solo" trip was far more social than any I've taken with friends in the past. And aside from all of the new people I was able to meet, I learned to more deeply appreciate my own company, as well as gaining confidence in my ability to take on new experiences...even the slightly scary ones.
If you are looking for a chance to grow as a person and challenge yourself... or even if you are just in grave need of a vacation, but can't find anyone with the time and resources to go with you, I highly recommend that you go online right now and book a plane ticket to somewhere you've never been! You will be surprised by what solo travel will enable you to discover about both the world around you and yourself!
More to come on LA later :)
Well done my friend. You make me want to travel to strange foreign lands like L.A.!
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