I’m a failure at solo travel, and I’ll admit it’s not in the movies

And yet, in a quiet moment, on this godforsaken intercity bus, I began to worry. Even though Spotify insisted on recommending the ‘My Life is a Movie’ playlist to me (and, it’s a bit weird), the journey didn’t come off like we see it in Hollywood scripts.

A toothless driver asked me for a ticket and I experienced a series of miscalculations at the currency exchange. Most embarrassing of all, he never had a moment of self-discovery to brag about. I completely failed to meet myself The tale of a solo traveler who changes his life.

We see this cliché everywhere in pop culture. It’s among the best movies in the genre Eat, love, pray and under the Tuscan sun. It’s Celine in Before Sunrise, Ann in Roman Holiday and the ladies from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It is inevitable. It is the standard against which you will inevitably be measured if you ever meet Traveling alone to the other side of the world.

Even if you’re not a movie buff, you can’t avoid that culture shock. In this age of ‘me’ and intensified individualism, it has become a ridiculous cliché and an envied ideal on networks.

As of this writing, there are approximately 7.7 million posts tagged #solotravel on Instagram. When I toured New Zealand with my monstrous backpack, I regretted not wearing a pair of toe rings I bought at some local Indonesian market and kept romanticizing other people’s posts about their adventures.

Many of us will find ourselves wandering alone at some point in our lives, and women are undervalued (and bewildered). 84% of all solo travelers.

A 2019 HostelWorld report declared that ‘Women are the future of travel’: ‘Traveling alone was previously seen as daring and risky for women travellers’, the report says, ‘attitudes have changed to now it is an adventurous and exciting experience. It allows them to feel independent and empower other women to do the same.